Project profile

Sexual harassment[1] is a global issue. It knows no borders. It is a human rights violation that is rooted in unequal power and gender relations and disproportionately affects women and girls. Businesses and government have a clear interest in ensuring violence-free workplaces.

 

The project, Addressing Gender Based Sexual Harassment in the workplace, is working in two countries to address sexual harassment in the garment industry. The project will develop, test and adapt workplace models for the prevention of and response to sexual harassment in Cambodia and Vietnam.

 

The project is funded by Primark. The project draws on CARE’s success in Cambodia in developing a workplace package for garment factories. CARE’s package includes a workplace sexual harassment policy; implementation guide for factories and a comprehensive multi-media training for factories to deliver to staff to prevent and report sexual harassment. The package was developed in consultation with government, industry and garment workers. CARE will continue to work in partnership with factories in Cambodia to implement and test the package.

 

CARE’s approach in Cambodia is being replicated in Vietnam, working with unions, industry, NGOs and government to identify, test and roll out appropriate models. Models and packages will be designed to respond to the legal and gender issues in each context and will be tested with stakeholders including garment workers.

 

Female garment workers are key stakeholders in ensuring the project is effective. CARE is actively engaging with female garment workers in the development of models, mechanisms, training and monitoring and evaluation. CARE will support women to elevate their voices in debates and policy surrounding sexual harassment.

 

The project will strengthen the evidence-base on the effectiveness of workplace interventions to tackle sexual harassment in factory settings.  Evidence and research from the project will inform national advocacy efforts in relation to legislative reform and regulation in each country.

Through its regional approach, the project will also support CARE International and Primark in global campaigns such as that surrounding the proposed ILO Convention to eliminate Workplace Gender-Based Violence. The project will work in collaboration with CARE International’s Dignified Work Strategy team and related Global Advocacy efforts by CARE.

 

Objective

Women workers in garment factories experience safer workplaces and improved working conditions due to a reduction in sexual harassment

 

Key activities

 

• Supporting garment factories to develop effective workplace mechanisms to respond to sexual harassment

• Supporting female garment factory workers to feel safe to report sexual harassment, and through engaging with garment factories, to do so free from negative consequences

• Collect and provide evidence on what works in tackling sexual harassment in wirjokace ti scale anti-sexual harassment model beyond this project.

 

   

[1] Sexual harassment is any unwanted or uninvited behaviour of a sexual nature that can make a person feel humiliated, intimidated or offended. In international law it is included as one form of gender-based violence. Gender-based violence is any act that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life (Article 1, Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women, A/RES/48/104)