Approximately between 60 and 75 million people work directly in the fashion and textiles industry and around 70 to 80% are women. Many are subject to exploitation and verbal and physical abuse. They often work in unsafe conditions, without basic healthcare and with very little pay.
What is gender equality?
Gender equality refers to the equal rights, responsibilities and opportunities of women and men and girls and boys. Equality does not mean that women and men will become the same but that women’s and men’s rights, responsibilities and opportunities will not depend on whether they are born male or female. Gender equality implies that the interests, needs and priorities of both women and men are taken into consideration, recognising the diversity of different groups of women and men. Gender equality is not a women’s issue but should concern and fully engage men as well as women. Equality between women and men is seen both as a human rights issue and as a precondition for, and indicator of, sustainable people-centred development
The fashion industry has historically been divided by binaries – London Fashion Week Men takes place at a different time to the main womenswear shows, for instance – and we need to look at how the industry as a whole can be more inclusive of LGBTQIA+ communities and work to reduce gender-based discrimination, exploitation and violence towards all people working across the value chain.
Why does gender inequality persist?
Gender inequality exists because men have been dominant throughout history. If we look back at thousands of years of cultures, societies, religions, economies and political organisations, they have one thing in common: women’s status is subordinate to that of men. Men possessed the political and economic power in the pre-industrialised world and, as a result, were able to take advantage of the opportunities industrialisation presented and this perpetuated the subordination of women.
Textile and garment factories take advantage of a large pool of young, female workers, often from rural areas, who can be employed at low wages. This model has persisted from the early days of the Industrial Revolution through to present-day developing economies. For example, Cromford Mill in Derbyshire, the world’s first water-powered cotton spinning mill built in 1771, employed 1500 workers, four-fifths of whom were women. Today in Cambodia, most garment workers are young women (aged 18-25) who migrate from poor rural areas to the capital Phnom Penh where the majority of garment factories are located. A 2019 World Bank report found that just six countries give women and men equal legal rights. This is an improvement from a decade ago, in which the report found that no country guaranteed full legal equality.
Globally, women are estimated to earn 77% of what men earn, although these figures understate the real extent of gender pay gaps, particularly in developing countries where informal self-employment is prevalent, and almost 40% of women in wage employment do not have access to social protection. Sexual harassment is a regular occurrence. According to CARE International, nearly one in three women working in garment factories reported experiencing sexually harassing behaviour in the workplace over the last 12 months. Out of 180 workers in Bangladesh, interviewed for the Microfinance Opportunities/Fashion Revolution Garment Worker Diaries project in 2017, 60% reported gender-based discrimination, over 15% reported being threatened and 5% had been hit . More than one-third of countries around the world do not yet have any laws prohibiting sexual harassment at work, leaving nearly 235 million women vulnerable on a daily basis . It has been estimated that not responding to issues of gender-based violence in factories in Cambodia has cost the fashion industry US$90 million.
What are fashion companies doing to address gender inequality?
Despite global fashion brands’ reliance on women in their supply chains, on the shop floor and within their companies, they are doing surprisingly little to address gender inequality and empower women. In the 2020 Fashion Transparency Index which covers 250 of the world’s biggest fashion brands and retailers, only 7 brands (3% of brands) disclose how they involve affected women and women’s organisations in their due diligence process. Meanwhile, only 2 brands (less than 1% of brands) publish data on the prevalence of gender-based violations in the supplier facilities.
It is estimated that gender gaps cost the economy some 15% of GDP but whilst 49% of brands in our Fashion Transparency Index publish policies on equal pay, only 34% of brands publish the annual gender pay gap within their company and these tend to be UK companies which, as of April 2018, are required to do so by law
Women must be able to participate in and benefit from development if we are to achieve SDG 1: No Poverty and SDG 5: Gender Equality. The ongoing marginalisation of women at work has prevented them from developing their full potential and impeded inclusive and sustainable development. However, there is a growing body of evidence demonstrating that happy, healthy, protected and empowered women are good for business and ultimately good for the world.
Research by the Good Business Lab was carried out at five factories operated by Shahi Exports, India’s biggest garment exporter, around the impact of Personal Advancement and Career Enhancement (P.A.C.E.) training, a life skills course for female garment workers designed by Gap Inc. Workers who participated in the programme became more valuable employees: they were more productive and assigned more complex sewing tasks. Nine months after the programme had been completed, not only were the women happier, more confident, trained in problem-solving and decision making and financially literate, but the researchers calculated the net rate of return on investment in P.A.C.E. training for workers was around 250%. This means for every U.S. dollar they invested in training women, they got $2.50 back.
Garment Worker Diaries
Why the fashion industry must invest in women
Investing in women is a win-win for the fashion industry as it improves the wellbeing of workers and improves the bottom line. So why are more brands not investing in the women in their companies and in their supply chains? Dominic McVey, non-executive director of HELA clothing which has grown from US$20m to US$200m turnover in 5 years by investing in its workforce simply states: “There’s a lot of people out there with earplugs in”.
UN Women. Facts and Figures: Economic Empowerment
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