The launch event included garment workers and union leaders sharing their experiences. “Women workers can create real change only by standing together, building power together, and taking a stand against injustice. Without independent unions, without the ability to collectively bargain and join a union, women will not be safe if they raise a complaint against violence and abuse,” said Yang Sophorn, president of the Cambodian Alliance of Trade Unions (CATU). Responsible investors and allies from the U.S. women's rights movement were also on hand to show their support, including Elise Bryant, President of the AFL-CIO’s Coalition of Labor Union Women, and Caroline Boden, Director of Shareholder Advocacy at Mercy Investments. “The coalition of labor union women stands with all of you to envision and demand a world free from gender violence and harassment. We need our unions and our governments and our employers to make this issue a priority, or we will vote them out. Violence is out of fashion. And we want it out of our lives,” Elise Bryant said. The campaign demands that fashion brands sign enforceable supply chain agreements - such as the Dindigul Agreement to Eliminate Gender-Based Violence and Harassment and the Central Java Agreement for Gender Justice - with union-led grievance mechanisms, worker shop floor monitors, and concrete protections for freedom of association. Ratna Tri Utami, an Indonesian garment worker and Union Secretary of SPSI TSK PUK spoke about the powerful impact of the Java agreement in her factory. “This agreement changed my workplace and it showed that real safety is possible. Every woman worker deserves that protection,” she said. Violence Out of Fashion is calling on global fashion brands to commit to implementing the Safety Engagement for Women Workers (SEWW) commitment. SEWW is a comprehensive framework to prevent and eliminate GBVH based on best practices from the Dindigul Agreement and other global agreements. SEWW centers women workers and survivors in its implementation and oversight. “We are encouraged by the launch of the SEWW commitment framework and Violence Out of Fashion campaign that leverage and seek to scale the success of the Dindigul Agreement in addressing and preventing gender-based violence and harassment. We look forward to learning more…and helping to advance safe working conditions via this new initiative,” Caroline Boden said. The Violence out of Fashion campaign is a powerful call for real change. |
