Preventing Gender-Based Violence in Textile and Apparel Industrial Parks
IDH, with technical support from Sakshi, has developed a comprehensive Gender-Based Violence (GBV) Prevention Training Module for textile and apparel industrial parks and factory workplaces. This practical, context-sensitive training tool is designed to help industrial parks, factories, and workers effectively recognise, report, prevent, and address sexual harassment and other forms of GBV at the workplace.
The module is rooted in global best practices and adapted to local legal, social, and cultural contexts. It strengthens awareness of workers’ rights, clarifies grievance redressal mechanisms, and equips supervisors, managers, and workers with the skills to respond to incidents safely, responsibly, and with accountability.
Developed under IDH’s INSTEP program, the training module supports the creation of safer, more inclusive, and dignified workplaces for women and all workers across the textile and apparel value chain.
This resource can be used by:
- Factory management and HR teams
- Industrial park operators
- Worker representatives and committees
- Trainers and capacity-building partners
- Organisations working on gender issues
Available for download: The module includes facilitator guides, participant materials, and communication assets for workplace sensitisation.
Based on this training module, IDH implemented a 4-week awareness and behaviour-change campaign across textile and apparel industrial parks and factories under the INSTEP program in Vietnam, Ethiopia, and Kenya.
The campaign aimed to raise awareness on workplace sexual harassment, strengthen confidence to speak up, and promote collective responsibility for safe and respectful workplaces. It focused on enabling workers and management to recognise what constitutes sexual harassment and identify inappropriate behaviour, report incidents safely by understanding their rights and available support systems, intervene responsibly as active bystanders to prevent harm, and address systemic barriers by strengthening accountability and trust in workplace grievance redressal mechanisms.
Through frontloading posters, on-ground participatory activities, and take-home items such as tote bags and mugs, along with other communication materials, the campaign reinforced key messages in local languages and encouraged both workers and managers to move from awareness to action.