Story of Change
How STITCH bridges stakeholders to drive systemic change in the garment industry
To achieve industry-wide change, the garment sector must bridge diverse stakeholders, moving from siloed efforts to joint solutions. The highly fragmented nature of the industry, characterised by distinct interests and needs, requires a shared understanding of each other's perspective as well as alignment to create sustainable improvements in workers' lives. By fostering collaboration across the supply chain — both global and local — stakeholders can amplify their joint leverage to advocate for strong laws and ensure accountability.
This Story of Change discusses four examples of how the STITCH consortium, together with production country partners and key stakeholders, has helped create or revive structures, or put in place agreements between parties that allow for holding constructive conversations on critical issues faced in the garment industry in production countries:
The Gender Network Platform in Indonesia
The Gender Platform in Bangladesh
Strengthening dialogue structures
The Gender Network Platform in Indonesia
The Gender Network Platform (GNP) in Indonesia, established by Fair Wear in 2017, is a unique multi-stakeholder initiative aimed at promoting gender equality in the garment industry. It brings together key actors, including NGOs, trade unions, labour rights organisations, government, suppliers, and business associations. This platform has become a critical space for dialogue, allowing diverse perspectives to be shared in a safe environment.
Building trust among stakeholders was crucial to the GNP’s success. Fair Wear’s non-confrontational approach helped to bridge divides and build trust, enabling a safe space for historically divided stakeholders to collaborate.
Gender Network Platform meeting
“That all stakeholders come together for sharing and learning is a great accomplishment, but it is only the first step.”
– Didit Saleh, Trade Union Rights Centre (TURC)
To gain momentum and achieve lasting change, it is essential that all stakeholders advocate for a shared vision. One of GNP’s significant achievements was advocating for the inclusion of workplace sexual violence in the 2022 Sexual Violence Crimes Law. Despite initial reluctance from some trade unions, the GNP persisted in pushing for a “workplace-sensitive” law. Didit Saleh from TURC explained the hesitation of trade unions: “The scope of ILO C190 is much broader than that of the national law. It isn’t limited to sexual violence, but also includes physical, psychological or economic harm.” Several unions, including Garteks and APBGATI, did support the lobby for the new law once it gained momentum, whilst continuing to stress the importance of ILO C190 as the ultimate goal.
The law’s adoption in April 2022 prompted a strategic shift, with unions joining the GNP to influence the next critical phase: shaping the law’s implementing regulations.
To coordinate this, the GNP formed a working group involving TURC, the Indonesian Garment Workers Alliance (APBGATI), and women’s rights network JMS. Together, they reached out to ministries responsible for drafting the regulations, including Women and Child Empowerment, Manpower, and Law and Human Rights. "The Office of the President even actively requested our input and views,” recalls Saleh. GNP also engaged business associations, who enabled factory-level dialogue by facilitating discussions with managers.
These joint efforts resulted in five proposals for implementing regulations — covering survivor support funds, protection mechanisms, and gender-sensitive workplace safety standards. The GNP’s ability to harness collective influence through steady engagement proved vital.
Looking ahead, the political climate in Indonesia is shifting, yet the GNP is adapting. With TURC now coordinating the platform and costs shared among members, plans are underway for a rotating secretariat to ensure continuity.
The GNP’s story shows that real change comes not from any single actor, but from partnerships rooted in trust. A shift towards dialogue through networks, in combination with awareness raising campaigns, proved more effective in achieving legislative impact than confrontation.
The Gender Platform in Bangladesh
Founded in 2017 by STITCH partners Mondiaal FNV and Fair Wear, the Gender Platform in Bangladesh brings together stakeholders from across the garment supply chain to address gender issues. The platform’s focus has been on advocating for laws to prevent sexual harassment and to improve labour law protections. The platform includes national and international human rights organisations, trade unions, and multi-stakeholder initiatives.
One of the Platform’s major successes was pushing for a new Prevention of Sexual Harassment law and amendments to the Labour Law to mandate harassment prevention committees in all workplaces. The 2018 draft law, developed through extensive consultation with stakeholders internal and external to the Platform, became a foundational blueprint. Public pressure, spurred by media coverage, helped prompt the government to assign the task of drafting a new law to the National Human Rights Committee (NHRC). They gathered a group of experts to advise on this task, including the Gender Platform. In March 2022, the Gender Platform hosted a final stakeholder consultation for feedback and submitted one final draft to the NHRC, which later that year offered a consolidated version of the draft law to the ministry for enactment.
“The Platform has provided a multistakeholder arena of likeminded organisations exclusive to the garment sector which allows members to consolidate their efforts in achieving systemic change.”
– Munir Uddin Shamim, ETI Bangladesh
While this long-awaited law is yet to be enacted, the persistent efforts by the Gender Platform have meanwhile led to a significant breakthrough. Recent amendments to Bangladeshi Labour Law mandate the establishment of functional Sexual Harassment Prevention Committees in all workplaces. This is a crucial step, and one of the key messages of the Gender Platform, toward establishing gender-sensitive and harassment-free workplaces. These amendments and the continued advocacy of the Gender Platform have instigated a butterfly effect in the industry, including the commitment made by the Interim government in December 2024 to ratify ILO Convention No. 190, which is the first global treaty on ending violence and harassment at work.
Beyond law reform, the Platform’s work is rippling through the supply chain. “Our member brands, while heavily committed to gender, often struggle to implement changes at supplier level because of a lack of strong regulation in production countries,” explains Munir Uddin Shamim, ETI Bangladesh. By contributing to stronger regulations, the Platform gives brands a clearer mandate to push for factory-level change and enforce accountability.
The Gender Platform’s democratic structure — with a rotating secretariat and shared contributions — has fostered ownership and learning among members, while its unified approach, combining grassroots mobilisation with brand advocacy, has been instrumental in driving progress. By engaging key industry actors like BKMEA and BGMEA, the Platform ensures diverse perspectives shape policy proposals and maintains pressure on policymakers. It continues to work with brands to ensure that regulatory changes lead to practical improvements on the factory floor.
Reviving previous dialogue structures:
The Tiruppur Stakeholder Forum (TSF), India
The Tiruppur Stakeholder Forum (TSF) in Tamil Nadu, India, originally formed in 2012 to address gender-related exploitation, was revitalised in 2023 by STITCH partner ETI. The goal was to address worsening gender issues and promote sustainable change through decentralised dialogue structures. The revival, driven by the Tiruppur Exporters’ Association (TEA), aimed to create a collaborative platform for stakeholders whose relations had remained strained for over a decade.
Relaunch of the TFS in 2023
Addressing gender issues in Tiruppur
Tiruppur, a major garment hub supplying around 55% of India’s textile exports, employs over 600,000 workers, the majority of whom are women, including many inter-state migrants. During the Covid-19 pandemic, economic pressure led to increased migration and limited oversight on the working conditions as physical audits were on hold. In February 2023, false rumours of violence against migrant workers led to mass departures, causing concern among industry leaders.
“The industry and the government were extremely worried about the panic-triggered exodus of workers and took immediate steps, including set up of helpline numbers and several meetings at workplaces, to build confidence among workers and dispel misinformation. The ETI team had several rounds of meetings during that period, which convinced the Tiruppur Exporters’ Association (TEA) to take the lead in reviving the TSF and to work with local stakeholders so that any challenges faced by workers, in the future, could be resolved through collective efforts.”
– Alok Singh, ETI
Rebuilding trust and collaborative dialogue
ETI invested in trust-building efforts, advocating for the revival of the original TSF rather than creating a new structure. As Singh emphasised: “We stressed that, while STITCH can be a catalyst and advisor for such initiatives, the actual leadership has to come from local industry stakeholders to maximise impact and ensure sustainability.” The TSF’s focus on collaboration allowed stakeholders, including unions, NGOs, and factory managers, to share concerns and seek joint solutions.
To facilitate open dialogue, ETI initiated a series of caucus meetings to manage conflicting interests among local stakeholders. These meetings created a safe environment where parties could voice their concerns before coming together to identify priority issues. This approach proved vital for rebuilding the trust needed to sustain the forum.
Gender-focused action
In June 2024, during the first formal TSF meeting, members collectively prioritised addressing gender issues. They committed to developing a Migrant Worker Policy aimed at ensuring gender-sensitive recruitment and employment conditions. The policy aims to mitigate vulnerabilities faced by migrant women workers, including wage exploitation and gender-based violence. By collaborating with brands and using the TSF’s collective influence, the policy is expected to set new standards for member factories.
Additionally, TSF partnered with UN Women on a project addressing gender-based violence (GBV) in small and medium-sized factories. The initiative, supported by the Tamil Nadu government, focuses on developing educational materials and conducting awareness training, aiming to cover the entire Tiruppur garment cluster.
Knowledge-sharing session, held within a series of activities for the 16 Days of Activism against gender-based violence and harassment
Reaching scale by engaging industry: A Memorandum of Understanding with BKMEA
In 2022, STITCH signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers & Exporters Association (BKMEA), one of the largest business associations in Bangladesh. Representing over 2,500 garment factories, BKMEA’s commitment to promoting gender-sensitive workplaces marked a significant step towards addressing gender-based violence (GBV) at an industry-wide scale.
From factory-level to industry-level change
Prior to the MoU, interventions aimed at tackling GBV were limited to isolated factory-level efforts. While these interventions had a positive impact, they lacked the scale needed to effect systemic change.
“This approach didn’t allow us to reach the scale required to align the broader industry with existing guidelines and address the concerns effectively.”
– Bablur Rahman, Fair Wear
STITCH recognised the need to move beyond factory-focused initiatives and work at an industry level. This led to the strategic partnership with BKMEA, leveraging Fair Wear’s established relationships to build trust and facilitate collaboration.
MoU signing ceremony between BKMEA and STITCH in 2022
“Coming to an agreement was not the hardest part, as we all realised the need and urgency... The difficulty was with understanding what needed to be done and who to trust to do the work.”
– Abil Bin Amin, ETI Bangladesh
Building trust to foster partnership
Trust played a crucial role in formalising the MoU. The long-standing relationship between Fair Wear and BKMEA, established through consistent engagement, was instrumental. The collaborative nature of the MoU, focusing on capacity development rather than monitoring, made it more acceptable to BKMEA members.
Joint commitment to gender sensitivity
The MoU set the foundation for piloting gender-sensitive practices in 50 BKMEA member factories, aiming to expand the initiative across all 2,500 members. A key component of the agreement was the development of a resource pack on gender sensitivity and grievance redressal. Created through rounds of discussions between BKMEA and STITCH members, the resource pack standardises awareness training, allowing the approach to scale efficiently.
BKMEA recognised the practical benefits, seeing the MoU as an opportunity to showcase proactive leadership on GBV issues. “The association saw this predominantly as a business case that could showcase how they are proactively taking steps forward on a relatively undisputed issue,” said Bablur Rahman.
A sustainable path forward
By focusing on building internal capacity rather than imposing external monitoring, the MoU laid the groundwork for sustainable industry change. The collaboration not only demonstrated the value of leveraging established relationships but also highlighted the importance of trust and strategic alignment. The commitment to a gender-sensitive workplace, driven by the collective influence of BKMEA, STITCH, and associated partners, is set to positively impact thousands of workers.
Key learnings from these Stories of Change
Trust as a foundation: Building and maintaining trust among diverse stakeholders requires time, consistent engagement, and a safe environment for dialogue. STITCH partners acted as neutral facilitators to create these conditions.
Collective ownership drives sustainability: Ensuring that local stakeholders, such as TEA in India and BKMEA in Bangladesh, take ownership of initiatives fosters long-term commitment and continuation beyond external funding.
Leveraging established relationships: The consortium's existing connections with local associations and unions, built through years of collaboration, were instrumental in achieving buy-in and support for new initiatives.
Strategic flexibility: The ability to adapt strategies to changing political contexts and stakeholder priorities, as seen in Indonesia and Bangladesh, enabled the consortium to maintain relevance and momentum.
The experiences of STITCH illustrate how bridging stakeholders promotes sustainable change in the garment sector. Collaboration, rooted in trust and inclusivity, enables joint advocacy that addresses systemic issues effectively. As the garment industry navigates evolving challenges, these models offer practical insights into fostering long-lasting, equitable change.