Towards achieving $respect and security$ at the workplace .

For many women who leave their oppressive personal spaces to join the workforce, harassment is a daily reality. Their decision to leave the domestic sphere, adversely affects their mobility, productivity, general well-being and overall economic potential. This potential can not be realised until we address the discrimination, bias and violence that impacts their personal lives in homes and communities.

According to a recent report by the Fair Wear Foundation, in the apparel industry alone, as many as 75% of the employed women have faced some sort of verbal or physical abuse. This along with the challenging working conditions on the factory floor, such as long hours and safety violations, make the act of stepping out to claim their place in the public domain an even bigger battle for women.

Women in the workplace are often victims of the age-old sexist power dynamics and silently deal with issues of violence – physical, verbal, sexual and mental – as an extension of the violence they are subjected to in their private spaces.

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This normalisation of violence is what we aim to dismantle with our StreeLink programme. By identifying various forms of violence, we wish to address them help find the support they need to tackle the same.

Through sensitisation sessions at the workplace, and by bringing women together to be aware of and to access their rights, we aim to impact a shift by at the workplace.

Challenging the gender disparities that prevents them from stepping out of home
Providing them with the information to help access economic resources
Address the shift in power dynamics at home as women become financially independent

The Streelink Programme has been working with over 12,000 factory workers in Faridabad, employed by Shahi Exports, one of the largest garment manufacturers in the country. The programme is aimed at building equitable, safer and inclusive workspaces for women, free of gender-based violence and discrimination.

We work at three levels to create change and dismantle the norms that sustain the culture of violence and discrimination against working women –

The Factory: Build an inclusive workplace by engaging factory employees through workshops that urge them to introspect. Prevent incidents of sexual harassment at the workplace by reviewing policies and delivering trainings, in partnership with senior management and human resources.

The Commute: Build a safer environment by partnering with public transport staff to ensure women are not harassed on their way to work. Build bystander accountability and community awareness to ensure timely interventions.

The Community: Mobilize community through events, dialogues and the usage of audiovisual material to reduce the stigma. Create a support system to help women take on issues like domestic violence or sexual harassment.

We also set up kiosks on the factory floor for women to gain better knowledge about healthcare, nutrition and even financial literacy, handing them the reigns of their own economic independence and resources.

As we destroy age-old inequalities and patterns through insistent conversations, we also help build a sisterhood that empowers women to find hope, help and peace in other women – solving issues at home, in the workplace and other public spaces together.

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Arundhati Agomacharyya 29th May, 2020 Are We Talking Enough About Gender Roles This Lockdown Or Otherwise?

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