Gender-Responsive Health Protection - News

Announcement of the Speakers Tour

Health Risk Textile Worker - Partner from India and Indonesia as Guest

What are the specific risks faced by women in the textile and footwear industry? And how can these be minimized? What responsibility do companies and politicians in Germany have to create fairer working conditions? These and other questions will be the focus of the upcoming Speakers Tour of FEMNET and the SÜDWIND Institute, which will take place from 20 to 28 November in Bonn, Cologne and Berlin. Four experts from India and Indonesia working in the textile sector provide insights into the health risks workers face on a daily basis – and what changes are urgently needed to improve the situation.

Focus: Health protection of women

The aim of the tour is to show how the often harmful working conditions in the textile industry affect the health of the predominantly female workforce. In producing countries such as India and Indonesia, overtime, lack of health protection, gender discrimination and the burden of care work lead to increased health risks for women. In addition, gender-based violence in the workplace (GBVH) poses a serious threat to the well-being and safety of workers, which not only burdens the lives of those affected, but also leads to absenteeism, loss of production and high turnover rates.

Our speakers

We are pleased to Kaveri Maletira Thimmaiya and Antony Raju V. from Cividep from India and Danardianingtyas Nitya S. and Didit Saleh from TURC Welcome to Indonesia. They bring valuable perspectives and experiences from the textile and shoe industry:

  • Kaveri Maletira Thimmaiya, Associate for Health and Safety at Cividep, is committed to the development of gender-sensitive occupational health and safety measures and works in particular to promote the health of marginalised workers.
  • Antony Raju V of Hungary, Coordinator of Worker Engagement at Cividep, brings many years of experience in improving working conditions for textile workers in Bangalore and Tamil Nadu and is committed to implementing safe and fair working conditions.
  • Danardianingtyas Nitya S., Programme Manager at TURC, works in the field of gender-sensitive OSH measures, especially for women in Indonesia's footwear and textile industry, and is dedicated to creating safer and healthier work environments.
  • Didit Saleh, Deputy Programme Director at TURC, conducts research in the field of labour rights and social protection and is committed to fair working conditions in the industry.

Stations of the tour & public events:

During the tour, we invite you to two public events where the speakers talk about their work and the challenges for textile workers:

Amelie Liebst and Anna Burst from Kleiderei Radio will talk to our partners. You will ask what makes the production sites in South India and Indonesia attractive, what health risks workers are exposed to and why a gender-responsive approach to health protection is needed? Come and ask your questions!

At this event, you will not only get insights from India and Indonesia, but also from Bangladesh. Drip by Drip recently carried out a project on hygiene and menstruation there. Thematically, the focus of the evening will be on reproductive health and we will clarify questions such as: Is reproductive health protection required by law? What rights do menstruating or pregnant workers have? What needs to change to ensure reproductive health protection?

On November 28, Kaveri Maletira Thimmaiya and Antony Raju V. of Cividep will also take part in a Panel discussion at the anniversary of the Alliance for Sustainable Textiles part. They will discuss the opportunities and challenges of multistakeholder initiatives to promote safety and health for workers in the textile industry.

The Speaker Tour will take place as part of the project “Gender-responsive health protection“ takes place and is carried out by FEMNET in cooperation with the SÜDWIND Institute.