Made by Women

Dignified Work

For more than 20 years, CARE has been working with women in garment. We use our experience and influence to ensure women garment workers are treated with respect at work and that they have a say in the decisions that affect their lives.

The problem

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, many women working in the garment industry faced unsafe conditions, low pay, and limited rights. The pandemic made things worse for women, and added new challenges at home and at work.

Goals

Made by Women works to support lasting change across the garment industry by:

  • Promoting fair and safe workplace practices
  • Strengthening women’s leadership
  • Working with governments to support public policies that benefitand protect workers

We do this by partnering with women workers and their organizations; factories and clothing brands; industry associations, governments, and community partners. We focus on countries in Asia and are expanding new sourcing countries such as Ethiopia.

Our approach

We work with industry leaders to push for a fair recovery from the pandemic that puts women workers first. We highlight their needs, challenges, and ideas for change.

We’ve seen powerful stories of women leading change in their workplaces and communities. Our goal is to make sure this progress reaches even more women around the world.

Program and initiatives

Preventing Violence and Harassment at Work

Garment factory managers in Asia are taking action to make women feel safer at work.

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Women Take the Lead

Women working in garment factories across Asia are becoming powerful leaders at work and in their communities.

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Working in Partnership

If we want to create meaningful change across the garment industry, we can’t work alone. CARE partners with like-minded organizations to increase the reach and depth of our impact.

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Results

CARE has pushed for stronger national and global laws to protect women in the workplace, including support for the International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention on Violence and Harassment.

We work with companies across industries to improve how workplace harassment is addressed. This includes helping create global standard operating procedures and country-level toolkits that suppliers can use to prevent and respond to sexual harassment in factories.

We also partner with workers and community organizations to help women hold factory management accountable and increase the number of women in leadership roles.

CARE’s COVID-19 response has supported women garment workers facing new challenges during and after the height of the pandemic. We continue to help women adapt to changing job conditions, become more resilient to economic shocks, and push to reduce the risks workers face.

Resources

Dignified Work: Crucial for Women’s Empowerment

Learn more about Dignified Work and our response to the impact of COVID-19 in the garment sector on CARE Insights, CARE’s information hub with in-depth research and commentary on key issues affecting women.

Read more on CARE Insights

This Is Not Working: A Global Opportunity for Change

CARE Australia’s report on violence and harassment in the world of work that outlines the key arguments for the ILO Violence and Harassment Convention. (March 2019)

Read the report

Made by Women: Impact Report 2017

Each year Made by Women publishes a report on the impact of CARE’s efforts to promote dignified work for women in the garment industry. Read to learn more about our achievements to date, programs which are leading to positive change, and how our partnerships are increasing our impact.

Read the report on CARE Insights