7 - Women's rights

For centuries women have had to endure violence and discrimination, exclusion from spaces of influence and roles of power, and face specific risks and experience higher barriers in seeking justice than men do. Yet, women workers and trade unionists are often front and centre of the struggles for workers’ rights.

Few garment workers are paid a living wage, but women garment workers are paid less than men with fewer opportunities of promotion, keeping their wages low. Women are often deprived of social protection, equal treatment and fair labour standards, which can mean no maternity leave, patriarchal settings in decision making , no child care and unsafe travel to work. Some women workers are forced to take mandatory pregnancy tests.

Not only women share a large part of the work in garment value chains, they also often are the backbone of their families and their communities. This unpaid labour, combined with workplace discrimination, means that they are put in a position of higher vulnerability than their male counterparts.

To achieve a just transition, the re-organisation for the fashion industry must be centered around principles of eco-feminism, recognising, valuing and de-gendering work of care for workers and the planet.

We cannot achieve a just world without eradicating sexism, promoting the need for equality and equity on the way to a Just Transition. Policies and practices should promote diversity and inclusion at all levels of the industry. Empowering women workers through capacity development and education on their roles and rights at work is essential in reskilling and upskiling towards a just transition.