1. Solidarity Fund: Visit to Munnade in India, developments in Bangladesh

At the end of April 2012, FEMNET CEO Dr. Gisela Burckhardt visited the Munnade project in India. She spoke to the activists of the local initiative of textile workers who are trying to build a local trade union against all odds. FEMNET has been raising funds for the project as part of the Solidarity Fund since the end of 2011.
To the detailed visit report...

With the Solidarity Fund, FEMNET e.V. also supports the work of the Bangladesh Textile Workers' Union NGWF, as it is important to us to change the unbearable working and living conditions of the majority of female employees. In June 2012, the NGWF's current actions achieved their first successes. After several weeks of protest, the government has now announced that it will introduce rice subsidies for workers in the textile industry in the form of a 'fair price card'.
Read more about this topic...

2. FairSchnitt First project phase completed: Study presented, the project continues!

At the end of May, the first phase of the FEMNET project 'FairSchnitt - Studying for a socially responsible fashion industry' expired. The central concern of the project is to expand the curricula of the universities with information on the living conditions and rights of seamstresses in supplier companies, codes of conduct of companies, social and environmental standards in the value chain, etc. The project was funded by the Stiftung Umwelt und Entwicklung Nordrhein Westfalen for 12 months.

The FairSchnitt project consultant Steffi Holz presented a study with the analysis of the teaching content of six universities examined in North Rhine-Westphalia. As a conclusion, it can be stated that in all fields of study (clothing technology and management, fashion design and pedagogy) sustainability elements are included, but are discussed in different depths and often not sufficiently. It depends very much on the respective lecturers how intensively the questions of social and environmental standards are dealt with.

In order to pursue the project objectives, FEMNET e.V. has submitted several funding applications, which were fortunately approved. From August 2012, Cornelia Korte will continue the work of Steffi Holz as the new project manager. We would like to thank Steffi Holz for their dedication and commitment!

Project office set up
With the beginning of the 2. Project phase for the FairSchnitt project gets the project its own office: The project will be located in the premises of the International Women's Centre Bonn, Quantiusstraße 8, 53115 Bonn from August onwards.

3. Save the date: Fair-Schnitt-Conference on 18th and 19th October 2012

FEMNET e.V. will hold a conference on ethics and transparency in the clothing industry on 18 and 19 October 2012 at the Wissenschaftspark Gelsenkirchen. The event takes place as part of our current project "FairSchnitt - Studying for a socially just fashion industry" and is supported by funds from the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

With the conference, FEMNET e.V. addresses students, lecturers and professors of fashion-related education and study programs. The aim is to sensitize participants to social standards, to anchor the topics of social and sustainability in training in the long term and to promote networking among universities.

4. Sumangali: Young women and girls exploited

The list of exploitative systems in the textile industry is extended by one method: Sumangali, which translates to 'the happy bride', is a principle reminiscent of slavery in which: Girls and young women - often from the caste of the Dalits, the 'untouchables' are sold for three years and more to textile factories in southern India. At the end of the contract period, there is a premium, often only a few hundred euros, which is intended to serve as a bride's price. If a young girl does not keep up with the contract period with inhumane working conditions, everything was in vain and she gets almost nothing.

• Press release on the publication of the study "Maid in India"
• Current video recording of the program Monitor with an interview with Gisela Burckhardt

5. Appeal and protest mail campaign to Minister of Labour von der Leyen and Aldi

German business associations and the German government are currently trying to prevent the EU Commission from adopting a transparency directive requiring companies to report regularly on the effects of their activities on the environment and people throughout the entire supply chain. Through its blockade stance, the federal government covers the payment of starvation wages, exploitation and ill-treatment in the workplace, suppression of trade unions in the suppliers of German companies. The Ministry of Labour is in charge of blocking the EU Transparency Directive.

Together with the Clean Clothes Campaign, FEMNET is organising a signature campaign addressed to Ms von der Leyen and, on behalf of other companies, to Aldi, a private company that does not communicate anything about its activities and refuses any transparency.

Participate in the signature campaign now...

6. Theatrical Workshop in Berlin Successful

Government instead of blocking. Reveal instead of blankets! Transparency now! This was the motto of the theatre workshop, which FEMNET organized as part of the campaign for clean clothing on 15/16 June in Berlin and which ended successfully with a street theatre performance.

The participants dealt with the topic "Federal government slows down transparency obligations for companies" and practiced creative forms of action.

Watch the short video on the FEMNET homepage!

7. CCC talks with Lidl and KiK

In March and June, the Clean Clothes Campaign, represented among others by FEMNET CEO Gisela Burckhardt, held talks with LIDL management and the KiK-CSR department.

Issued by the CCC (FEMNET and CIR) in January 2012, the topics of the talks were the investigation into labour rights violations in Bangladesh "Im Visier Discounter". Lidl commissioned GIZ to conduct trainings in Bangladesh and China for the management of suppliers. KiK carries out a qualification program with 20 suppliers in Bangladesh. Both trainings have so far not led to any significant improvements in working conditions.

Read the detailed reports of the two talks on the FEMNET homepage!

8. Protests against Fairtrade Award for Lidl

On 20 March 2012, Transfair e.V. awarded the "Fairtrade Award". Transfair awards the prize annually "for outstanding commitment to fair trade". In the trade category, Lidl has the 2. Place reached. FEMNET e.V. criticizes this award as well as some groups and companies that are active in fair trade. This is because: Lidl has only a small part of fair products in its range that it adorns itself with, but the large part of the range of goods is not produced under fair conditions. Such an award ultimately serves the purpose of 'beautiful colouring', as our Video clip "Beautiful! Dyer" so vividly depicted. The WDR broadcast MARKT interviewed Dr. Gisela Burckhardt on this topic.
Watch the interview video...

9th Conference on Corporate Responsibility of CorA

FEMNET has been a member of the CorA network since March 2012. In this network, civil society organisations have joined forces on the topic of "binding corporate responsibility". It calls for binding rules from the government to hold companies accountable for the impact of their actions on people and the environment and to oblige them to respect human rights and international social and environmental standards.

On April 29, a one-day symposium took place in Berlin, where the current sustainability reports of companies were examined by a FEMNET representative.

Read the detailed conference report....

10. UN Environment Conference in Rio and Women

The Women's Major Group (WMG), which represented 200 women's civil society organizations around the world at the Rio+20 Summit, is very disappointed and seriously outraged by the results of the "official" deliberations at the UN Conference on Sustainable Development, also known as Rio+20.

Read the full final statement...

11. Post from... Baku, Azerbaijan

Club member Dr. Melanie Krebs has been living in Baku for several months, which is still remembered by many as the venue of the European Song Contest in May 2012. She regularly writes us her observations of this society in a state of upheaval and upheaval.

Now read her theses on the 'headscarf' as a protest symbol.

12. Appointment information

20.09.2012: Eco-friendly clothing - where are they? Brands and shops from the Cologne/Bonn area present themselves as part of the Fair Week Bonn
Time: 6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Location: DGB Haus, Endenicher Str. 127, 53115 Bonn
Read more...

26.9.2012: Film evening with lecture and discussion on the topic: China is on the move. Women as losers of the growth model? at the Intercultural Week Bonn
Time: 8:00 p.m.
Location: IFZ e.V., Quantiusstr. 8, 53115 Bonn
Read more...

02./03.11.2012 Conference in Paderborn: 40 Years of Feminist Debates
The Center for Gender Studies at the University of Paderborn organizes this conference around forty years after the first feminist actions to take stock and to ask what became of the central topics and debates at that time: Are they still present in the social discourse (and if not, why not?) and how have they changed?
Read more...

21.11.2012: International Conference on Violence against Women
UN Women National Committee Germany will host an international conference on violence against women on 21 November 2012 in Bonn. Save the date!
More information...

13. Interesting publications

Gender Index (SIGI) 2012
On 5 July 2012, the OECD Development Centre (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) published the Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) for 2012. While most indices pin gender discrimination on education or employment figures, the SIGI wants to investigate the causes of this.
The index quantifies, among other things, social institutions and customs - these can include child marriage, discriminatory inheritance laws, violence against women, the preference of sons or access to public space or other resources. It collects data from over 100 countries, ranks them and monitors developments over several years.
http://www.genderindex.org/

Women in National Parliament
The Interparliamentary Union, a platform for the exchange of experiences and opinions among members of parliament based in Geneva, published data on the proportion of women in 189 parliaments worldwide on 31 May 2012. On average, only 19.8 percent of all MPs are female. However, there are major differences between countries.
Africa's Rwanda is at the forefront, with a 56.3% share of women in parliament. In small Andorra there is a parity rule: The proportion of women is 50 percent. This is followed by Cuba and Sweden with 45.2 and 44.7 percent female MPs. With 32.9 percent, Germany takes the 21st place. Take a seat.
http://www.ipu.org/wmn-e/world.htm

Guidance for counselling centres "Work exploitation and trafficking in human beings - giving workers their rights"
Based on the experiences of the project "Forced Labor Today: Strengthening those affected by human trafficking", which has been carried out by the German Institute for Human Rights since 2009 in cooperation with the Foundation "Remembrance, Responsibility and Future", this guide was developed. It serves to support the counselling centres that come into contact with those affected by labour exploitation and trafficking in human beings in advising their clients on the enforcement of their labour rights.
Download as PDF file

14. Disclaimer

FEMNET e.V.
Feminist Perspectives on Politics, Economy and Society
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Board of Directors: Dr. Gisela Burckhardt, Ines Holthaus, Anna Hoff
Editorial and responsible within the meaning of § 5 TMG: Ines Holthaus
Disclaimer: Despite careful content control, we assume no liability.

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