Femnet e.V.

Women@Work - Feminist Perspectives on labour

Women@Work: Feminist Perspectives on Work

Millions of women keep the global economy going. You sew, care, educate, drive, click, organize. Their work is systemically important – and yet it is systematically underestimated, poorly paid and rendered invisible. Against this background, FEMNET has been focusing on working conditions in the global apparel industry for almost 20 years. With Women@Work we widen our gaze.

Because what we see in the textile factories of Dhaka does not end at the factory gates: Precarious working conditions and a lack of recognition or even targeted devaluation of women's work are not exceptions to the globalised economy, but deeply rooted in it.

While there has been some movement over the last two decades, workers have organised, trade unions and women’s organisations have exposed maladministration and international campaigns have put pressure on brands. However, it often feels like "one step forward, two back", as implementation often remains patchy and real improvements on the ground are rare. At the same time, we are seeing a shift to the right around the world – and with it a new aggressiveness against human rights and their defenders. Anti-feminism is not a ‘sideshow’: It serves as a political tool to threaten women, undermine solidarity and cement precarious conditions.

Together with the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation, the Feminist Perspectives on Work project puts these interrelationships at the centre of attention. As part of the Women@Work exhibition, we let women* speak along supply chains. Whether as an activist in Dhaka or as a kindergarten teacher in Holzwickede. The exhibition combines portrait photos, O-tones and videos; so voices, stories and background material can be retrieved directly. In addition, a digital booklet with thematic dossiers is published.

Women in Focus: The exhibition "Women@Work"

Women@Work shows portraits of women* along global supply chains and in – often precarious – employment relationships. Large-format photographs, short videos and O-tones make voices audible that are rarely heard. The activist from Dhaka. The day-care centre manager from Holzwickede. The courier driver. The content moderator. Women who produce, nurture and resist. The exhibition will be produced in 2026 and then shown step by step online. The posters of the exhibition will be available for free download at the end of the year – for printing, hanging, sharing.

Women@Work live: Kalpona Akter on tour in Germany

In June 2026 Kalpona Akter comes to Germany. The Bangladeshi trade unionist, who herself worked as a child in a textile factory, talks in several cities about feminist labour policies, global supply chains – and why anti-feminism is not a marginal cultural phenomenon, but a tool for stabilising exploitation.

Launch of the exhibition: Feminist Futures Festival

The exhibition will be shown for the first time as part of the Feminist Futures Festival (25-27 September, Bochum).