Gender Equality and the Fashion Industry

This is a notes-only lesson. We look at the Sustainable Development Goal No.5: Achieving Gender Equality and Empower All Women and Girls, and how the targets and indicators for development fit within the fashion and textile industry.

What should you be aware of as a creative business owner or employee of a fashion company when addressing the issue of gender inequality across your workplace and supply chain? What examples are there of product businesses using issues under the gender equality banner to push the targets positively onwards?

What tools and thoughts do you need to equip yourself with as a business owner in order to feel confident and resilient? In order to speak out for yourself, for those in your supply chain and for your idea, you need to be able to be agile and strong. What does this mentally take when trying to organise your work and personal life?

Natalie Hall is an accredited career, leadership and executive coach who specialises in wellbeing, emotional intelligence and resilience coaching for entrepreneurs and leaders. She is the director of coaching business Elevate Her and coaching practice for organisations Elevate Leaders, as well as co-founder of wellbeing and leadership programme, Uprising. In this lesson, Natalie provides five tips with practical advice that will help you as a creative entrepreneur build confidence and resilience to fight your fights.

This is a 6-minute Lesson.

In this 6-minute lesson from the feminist organisation Young Women's Trust, hear and learn about ways in which you can implement practices within your business structure and supply chain that will support economic justice - in particular for young women.

You will hear advice from the Young Women's Trust Head of Participation and one of the Work It Out service coaches to understand how you can support young women in work. There is also a case study from a young woman who has successfully used the service. This is a practical lesson that you can use to review your organisational practices and structure, and help achieve economic justice for young women in your workplace and supply chain.

Thumbnail image: Christina @ wocintechchat.com via Unsplash

This is a 4-minute lesson that will give you five tips to support you in pitching to angel investors for funding. Elizabeth Pirrie is the Chief Operating Officer for Investing Women and AccelerateHER, a vibrant network of female founders and partners who share a passion in accelerating the growth, visibility and backing of talented female founders. These organisations provide an inclusive and supportive environment for women to explore investment opportunities and to grow their collective portfolio, while identifying opportunities for angels to support, and invest in, female-founded businesses.

So how do you get yourself in front of an angel investor with your business idea or innovation? What considerations should you make so that they believe in your pitch, and subsequently invest in you?

This is a 19-minute lesson. Dr. Lucy Brill and Peter Williams from advocacy organisation Homeworkers Worldwide joined us to explain what a "homeworker" and "homeworking" is within the textile and apparel supply chain, and how to recognise then support this role within your own production.

This is part one. In part two, Peter and Lucy introduce their Finding Hidden Homeworkers Toolkit that gives you guidance and a case study to help you understand why you should implement a homeworking strategy for your business.

This is an 18-minute lesson. Dr. Lucy Brill and Peter Williams from advocacy organisation Homeworkers Worldwide joined us to explain how to use their "Finding Hidden Homeworkers" toolkit. This toolkit was produced following research as part of an EU co-funded project in collaboration with Cividep led by Traidcraft Exchange. This lesson also contains background explanations as to why a business would want to implement a homeworking policy, plus a case study of a successfully implemented policy.

This is part two. In part one, Peter and Lucy introduce what a homeworker role is, and how to recognise then support it within your fashion supply chain.

This is a notes-based lesson that covers responsible practices you may want to implement as an employer, or check exists within your organisation or supply chain, in order to achieve equal employment and fair working conditions. We cover key topics where issues of gender inequality may be found, and address practices and tools that can support a change in direction.

Thumbnail image: Brooke Lark

In this bitesize 14 minute lesson, understand what human trafficking is from Tamara Barnett, Director of Operations at Human Trafficking Foundation. This is an organisation that grew out of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery to support victims and disrupt trafficking networks in order to inform policy recommendations to Parliamentarians and Government.

Tamara brings her insight and expertise to raise our awareness on what human trafficking can look like in the textile and apparel sector, and what a creative business can do to ensure that they work with those in their supply chain to sensitively support victims into new directions.

One in every 130 females globally is living in modern slavery and in fact, women and girls account for nearly three quarters (71%) of all victims of modern slavery. So although modern slavery can affect anyone everywhere, women are disproportionately affected, and the issue is exacerbated by gender inequality and discrimination [Walk Free Foundation]. As a creative business with probably a complex supply chain, you have the responsibility to hold yourself accountable for the human lives that will make your products. You will also likely have a wide-ranging audience where information-sharing is a force for good in itself. Dive in to this lesson to understand how to monitor and support those in your supply chain.

Thumbnail image: Survivors of slavery in Varanasi, India celebrating the freedom gained for themselves and their children. Photo Credit: Grace Forrest via Walk Free Foundation.

A 31 minute lesson from the women's advocacy organisation Women In Prison, to support in your understanding of what the criminal justice system looks like for women, and how your fashion brand can sensitively become a mouthpiece for the issues surrounding women in prison.

Kate Fraser is the Northern Development Manager for Women In Prison, a national UK charity that is centred on women's experiences and advocacy for radical change in the criminal justice system. Purdy Sutcliffe is a Project Worker for WomenMatta, a Manchester-based women's centre that provides intense, holistic support to women affected by the criminal justice system and to those at risk.

In this Lesson, hear what the issues are within the criminal justice system specifically for women, and why support before, during and after is crucial to reducing unnecessary convictions and future additional trauma to those imprisoned and their families. From the outset this does not shout out "fashion business", but we also explore thoughts and facts on prison labour, employment in prison, and what steps you can take as a fashion entrepreneur to raise awareness and compassionately advocate for women's rights everywhere.