From Awareness to Action: Advancing Gender Equality in Bangladesh’s Fair Trade Artisan Sector

Lessons from the Gender Equity Awareness Training in Fair-Trade Artisan Groups

Contributed by Development Wheel

Introduction

Fair Trade is fundamentally about more than producing and selling products at a fair price. It is also about dignity, rights, equality, decent working conditions, and creating opportunities for producers and workers to participate meaningfully in economic and social life. For the thousands of women who contribute to Bangladesh’s handicraft sector, these principles are particularly important.

Women constitute a large proportion of the artisan workforce in Bangladesh, yet their contribution to household economies and the wider handicraft sector does not always translate into equal decision-making power, recognition, remuneration or freedom from discrimination. Gender inequality can affect women’s lives both inside and outside the workplace, influencing their access to employment, income, mobility, leadership and control over decisions.

Against this background, the Gender Equity Awareness Training in Fair-Trade Artisan Groups project was developed to address gender discrimination, violence and unequal power relations within Fair Trade artisan organisations. Implemented by Development Wheel (DEW) in cooperation with the ECOTA Fair Trade Forum and participating member organisations, and supported by Christian Aid and People Tree Foundation, Japan, the initiative sought to connect gender equality with the principles and practices of Fair Trade. The project positively impacted more than 900 trained individuals, with particular attention to empowering women artisans.

The project had two complementary objectives: first, to strengthen the capacity of ECOTA (National Network of Fair Trade Enterprises in Bangladesh) and its member organizations’ middle management to address gender-based discrimination in the workplace; and second, to promote the rights and agency of artisans by reducing gender-based violence and discrimination in their working environments.

An independent external evaluation provides important evidence that the intervention contributed to changes not only in knowledge and awareness, but also in attitudes, confidence and organisational practices.

From Training to Transformation

The intervention worked at several levels. It involved artisans, peers and management while encouraging participating organisations to examine their own policies and practices. Training addressed gender sensitivity, violence against women, women’s rights, legal rights and workplace practices.

This multi-level approach was important because gender inequality is not created by individual attitudes alone. It can also be embedded in organisational systems, workplace cultures and institutional practices.

The external evaluation used both quantitative and qualitative methods. A total of 202 artisans—181 women and 21 men—were interviewed, while qualitative evidence was collected through focus-group discussions and interviews with managers, peers, group leaders and organisational leadership.

Changing Knowledge and Understanding

One of the clearest achievements was increased understanding of gender and violence.

The evaluation found that between 85% and 94% of respondents gave correct answers to questions concerning gender issues discussed in the training. The evaluation concluded that the project had noticeably enriched participants’ knowledge and awareness regarding gender issues and different forms of violence.

The evaluation records the experience of a woman artisan who explained that, before the training, she did not understand that abusive language and inappropriate looks could constitute harassment or violence. Following the training, she became more aware of women’s rights and began discussing these issues with her husband and other male members of her family. She also described gaining confidence in negotiating with wholesalers over the prices of her products.

Awareness is not simply knowing a definition. It can change the way a woman understands her own dignity, recognises unacceptable behaviour and negotiates within social and economic relationships.

Building Women’s Confidence and Agency

Gender equality ultimately requires more than knowledge. It requires agency—the capacity to make choices, express opinions, negotiate and participate in decisions.

The evaluation found evidence of increased women's participation in household decision-making and negotiation. Many respondents reported discussing major issues with their spouses and making decisions jointly. Women's mobility was also relatively high among the participating artisan groups, with many women reporting that they could travel independently. Approximately one-third of women reported being able to visit places without obtaining permission from their husbands.

Nevertheless, the findings suggest that gender awareness can contribute to a process through which women become more confident in understanding and exercising their rights.

The qualitative evidence reinforces this interpretation. One participant described gaining confidence from knowing that the law and her organisation would support women facing violence.

For women artisans, therefore, gender equality is closely connected with economic empowerment.

Changing Men’s Attitudes

An important strength of the project was that it did not treat gender equality as a “women’s issue”.

Men are colleagues, supervisors, managers, husbands, fathers and community members. Sustainable change therefore requires men to understand gender equality and recognise their own role in creating respectful workplaces.

The evaluation found encouraging evidence of changes in attitudes and behaviour.

Among respondents reporting workplace changes after the training:

• 53.8% said men no longer viewed women colleagues as inferior;
• 38.6% reported reductions in inappropriate comments about women’s dress and appearance;
• 31% reported reductions in inappropriate words directed towards women.

Overall, 73.8% of respondents reported that some changes had occurred in the workplace following the gender training.

These findings point towards an important lesson for Fair Trade organisations: gender equality requires men to be active partners in change rather than placing responsibility for equality solely on women.

From Individual Awareness to Organisational Change

Perhaps one of the most important achievements of the project was that its effects extended beyond individual participants.

Gender equality becomes sustainable only when awareness is translated into organisational systems, policies and accountability mechanisms.

The external evaluation found that all five organisations assessed at organisational level had introduced or strengthened policies and practices related to gender sensitivity and equity.

The changes included:

Organisational mechanism	Before the project	After the project
Safeguarding policy	2 organisations	5 organisations
Gender policy	3 organisations	5 organisations
Anti-sexual-harassment committee	1 organisation	5 organisations
Day-care centre	1 organisation	3 organisations

The project also supported the development of a comprehensive gender-equity policy and a safeguarding booklet that could serve as a resource for other ECOTA members and handicraft organisations. Three participating organisations renovated daycare centres.

Furthermore, all five organisations were maintaining practices such as routine anti-sexual-harassment committee meetings, prioritising female candidates in recruitment, ensuring maternity benefits in accordance with law, and providing separate toilet facilities for female staff.

The project moved gender equality from the training room into organisational policy and practice.

From Awareness to Action: The Way Forward

The experience of the Gender Equity Awareness Training in Fair-Trade Artisan Groups demonstrates that focused interventions can contribute to broader organisational change when they connect knowledge, confidence, leadership and institutional reform.

The project produced a replicable Gender Equality Awareness Training Module and generated evidence of improved awareness. More importantly, it demonstrated that conversations about gender can influence workplace relationships and encourage organisations to strengthen their policies and practices. The external evaluation concluded that the project had made significant progress towards its objectives and recommended that the work be scaled up and continued.

Gender norms are deeply rooted and cannot be transformed through a single training intervention. Awareness needs reinforcement, organisational systems need to be maintained, and new generations of workers and managers need to be engaged.

The next stage should therefore be to move from awareness to sustained action.

This means expanding gender training across the Fair Trade sector; strengthening the participation of men; developing accessible complaint and referral mechanisms; integrating gender equality into human resource policies; supporting women to develop leadership and business skills; strengthening childcare and maternity support; and ensuring that women artisans understand both their rights and the mechanisms available to protect those rights.

It also means recognising that women artisans are not simply beneficiaries.

They are workers, producers, entrepreneurs, decision-makers and leaders.

Their knowledge, skills and creativity are central to the future of Bangladesh’s handicraft and Fair Trade sector.