WORKER WELL-BEING

Advancing Gender Equality in Global Supply Chains

ESCP has developed a Gender Equality program for suppliers in any industry, to promote good business, empower female workers and help companies achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal no.5: Achieve gender equality and empower women and girls.

Achieving gender equality and empowering women and girls helps expand economic growth, promote social development and establish more stable and just societies. ESCP has developed a Gender Equality program, including a Gender Equality handbook, developed with the support of Mattel, to be deployed in factories all over the world.

According to the 2024 Global Gender Gap Report, at the current rate of progress, full gender parity will not be achieved until 2158, 5 generations away.

The program is free for all ESCP-certified factories to partake in and has been developed to address identified needs for gender equality initiatives in manufacturing environments.

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Gender Equality Program Promotes

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Gender Equality Initiatives in Factories

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United Nations SDG Goal No.5

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Action against harassment in the workplace

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WEPs in the supply chain

Understanding the Gender Equality Landscape:
Baseline Survey Insights

Before the Gender Equality program is deployed we conduct a baseline survey to understand the current gender equality policies in place and their employees’ awareness of gender equality. Results of the baseline surveys from our pilot program showed:

Key Findings from the Baseline Survey

34% of management and 35% of workers did not know the factory had existing written gender equality policy documents
45% of management and 39% of workers did not know that there were grievance and appeal channels in the factory they could utilise when faced with gender-based discrimination, unfair treatment, workplace violence, or sexual harassment at work
40% of management and 56% of workers disagreed that giving priority to hiring a male employee with the same qualifications and under equal conditions as a female employee was a form of discrimination against female employees
28% of management and 43% of workers agreed that sexual harassment can be caused by wearing sexy clothing or the appearance of female employees

The baseline survey gives us an insight into the understanding of the concept of gender equality within the factories before we can deploy any learning. Once we have introduced the program, delivered management and worker training, and provided the resources to the factories to improve workplace policies and education on the matter, we perform an impact assessment measuring this progress.

Program Flowchart:

Download the 2024 Worker Well-Being Impact Report

Our Gender Equality Program is delivered in 3 ways:

Gender Equality Handbook

Educational Video Series (E-learning platform)

Capability-Building Workshops

The Handbook

With the support of Mattel we have developed a Gender Equality handbook, suitable for deployment in workplaces all over the world. The handbook provides an introduction and overview of Gender Equality through 4 key chapters:

Chapter 1: What is Gender Equality? This section will cover the meaning of gender equality in society & in the workplace, discrimination, sexual harassment, violence
Chapter 2: The Benefits of Promoting Gender Equality. This chapter will explain the benefits of GE, including increased employee satisfaction, attracting a greater talent pool, harmonious labor relations, preventing harassment, discrimination & workplace violence, meeting customer needs and seizing business opportunities, legal compliance, & meeting societal responsibilities.
Chapter 3: Establishing Policies & Systems. This chapter provide tools & steps for establishing policies & systems ensuring Gender Equality in the workplace.
Chapter 4: Promoting Gender Equality at all levels. This chapter provides case studies and best practice sharing to ensure Gender Equality in recruitment, career development, compensation..etc.

The Handbook is currently available in Simplified Chinese & English.

You can find the Handbook within the 'Training' section of our Connect Platform now:

Capability-Building Workshops

The online capability-building workshops will be delivered on a broad range of topics relating to Gender Equality, a variety of topics will be covered ensuring management & CSR staff are given an understanding of:

The right foundation – topics including: Importance of Gender Equality, Laws & Policies, Employer Responsibilities
The right environment - topics including: Promoting Gender Equality & Women Empowerment
The right information - topics including: Communicating with Workers, Awareness of & Prevention of Sexual Harassment & Violence

These workshops are currently under development and will be made available soon, contact us for more information.

Educational Video Series

The educational video series is delivered over 6 video sessions, covering the below topics:

Promoting gender equality starts with addressing harassment & violence
Everyone is involved in creating a harassment-free environment
Beware of harassment caused by an abuse of power
Say 'No’ Loudly to stop harassment at work or in public immediately
No one should be threatened for filing a complaint
Helping victims get back to normal life

All videos are in Simplified Chinese but have English subtitles, to access the e-learning platform please follow the English speaking instructions below:

Gender Equality Video Series English instructions to access videos

Advancing Gender Equality in Global Supply Chains

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Gender Equality Program Promotes