The critical role of social dialogue in GBVH prevention

Protest over sexual violence against women in Manipur, Gurgaon, India. Photo credit: Shutterstock.

Strengthening freedom of association (FoA), workplace cooperation, and effective collective bargaining is central to preventing gender-based violence and harassment (GBVH). Ultimately, sector/industry-wide approaches are critical to ensuring that all workers in unionised and non-unionised workplaces also benefit from shared agreements, as demonstrated by ACT and the Bangladesh and Pakistan Accords. 

Why is respect for FoA and union recognition so critical to preventing GBVH? Unions provide the collective power, protection and voice that women workers need to challenge harassment, coercion and unsafe conditions in the world of work. Where FoA is absent, factories generally show higher levels of retaliation, victim-blaming, and the normalisation of abuse, while women facing low wages, job insecurity, and entrenched gender norms remain silent and dependent on supervisors who control their hours, targets and contracts, ensuring that verbal abuse, sexual harassment and coercion continue unchecked. Brands play a critical enabling role by supporting FoA, social dialogue and union organising within their due diligence systems, ensuring trusted grievance mechanisms, multiple safe reporting channels and gender-responsive remediation.

The GRACE project showed that collective bargaining and union–brand collaboration have delivered practical GBVH solutions. Examples include legally binding agreements involving brands, suppliers and trade unions, such as the Dindigul, Lesotho and Central Java Agreement for Gender Justice (Indonesia); inclusion of prevention of GBVH in factory-level and multi-factory collective bargaining agreements; global framework agreements, such as the development of the Anti-GBVH Guideline under the Global Framework Agreement between H&M and IndustriALL Global Union; and the development of a new innovative global framework agreement on preventing GBVH in the transport supply chain between TFG and the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) that was inspired by the GRACE project. 

As a leading trade unionist internationally and founder of a national women’s NGO in Turkey, Pinar Özcan made clear in her presentation to GRACE members, 

“Without unions, we cannot end GBVH, and we must act in partnership to ensure effective solutions and prevention. More and more women see the positive role of trade unions and women’s leadership in trade unions in garment factories, unions give safe and collective protections for women”. 

Read Jane’s final blog tomorrow: Looking to the future and the role of collaboration amongst brands

Blog post

Blog series: Tackling gender-based violence through GRACE

Male and female garment workers, Bangladesh
A five-part blog series on ETI’s 18-month Gender Responsive Action Community (GRACE) programme, which established a community of practice in the A&T sector, to improve policies, processes, and practices to prevent and address GBVH in suppliers' supply chains.
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