ETI insights: Addressing GBVH in commercial agriculture and fisheries

Woman harvesting citrus fruits
  • Public
  • Tools, Guidelines & Briefings
Subject(s)
Gender
Violence against women
Sexual harassment

GBVH is widespread and can affect anyone, including men. However, it disproportionately impacts women: nearly one in three women and girls aged 15–49 will experience gender-based violence in their lifetime, excluding harassment. Yet, social and ethical audits often fail to detect GBVH or capture its true scale. This gap poses serious risks not only to workers’ human rights but also to businesses, through reputational harm, legal liability, and financial losses from ineffective or duplicated interventions. 

Effectively preventing and responding to GBVH requires coordinated action and shared accountability. ETI has co-created these principles with representatives from the private and public sectors to help initiate and structure dialogue, assess workplace realities, prioritise business action, and identify where civil society can provide support. 

This session explored the context and collaborative process behind the Gender Action in Agriculture (GAIA) initiative, highlighting how meaningful stakeholder engagement shaped the development of these principles. 

This event was part of our ETI Insights series.

Speakers:

Halima Ahmed​, Gender Advisor at ETI​

Ella Frankel​, Senior Advisor: Food, Farming & Fisheries at ETI​

Heidi Chan​, Gender Programme Lead at ETI​

Prof David Bek​, Professor of Creative Economies & Ecological Sustainability at Coventry University​

Dr Wilson Odiyo​, Corporate Affairs Director of Eastern Produce Regional Services (EPRS)​

Caroline Downey​, Executive Director of Women Working Worldwide

Irem Arf, Policy Advisor, ITUC

Document

GAIA principles to end gender-based violence and harassment in commercial agriculture and fisheries

Woman harvesting citrus fruits
These principles form the foundation for businesses to address the root causes of gender-based violence and harassment (GBVH) in commercial agricultural and fishery supply chains, through individual and collective action.
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Gender-responsive HRDD

As a cross-cutting dimension that is intrinsic to all labour violations, gender must be incorporated into the HRDD process.
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