“We’re in a Difficult Situation, but Not a Hopeless One”

Under sometimes harsh conditions, women in Southeast Asia sew garments for the German market. “Anyone who has seen the misery these women endure cannot pretend that it has nothing to do with us,” says Gisela Burckhardt—activist and recipient of the 2016 Anne Klein Women’s Award. Her acceptance speech from March 4, 2016.

Anne Klein fought for women’s rights; she is a wonderful example of how a woman must stand up, must fight, and can turn a cause that initially seems hopeless into—I don’t want to say victory, because we’re still a long way from victory—from achieving equality for women in our society—but it can lead to success, an interim success. Anne Klein founded the first women’s shelter in Berlin; as a parliamentary assistant for the Green Party, she presented the first draft of an anti-discrimination law, which laid the foundation for everything that was developed later; and as a senator in Berlin, she worked to raise awareness of the legitimacy of same-sex relationships and to ensure that this awareness could gain ground in society. Her work and her stance are a great source of encouragement for all who are engaged in this struggle, for it is, unfortunately, a struggle that will continue for a long time to come, and I cannot begin to imagine how often Anne Klein must have despaired in the face of resistance and the general callousness in a society that refuses to acknowledge that the degradation and constant belittlement of women are fundamental to our social order.

But now I must say a few words in praise of our society—our civil society shaped by freedom and democracy. In this society, change is possible. It takes a great deal of strength and requires a lot of time and even more patience, but as Anne Klein’s example shows, it is possible. The goal is to raise awareness of the outrageous injustice—and often even the lack of legal rights—to which women are subjected all over the world. And there are those who raise this awareness through their work; and I would like to highlight my esteemed female predecessors as award recipients, who live in conditions that are more oppressive, restrictive, and repressive—incomparable to the conditions here in Germany—women who often risk their freedom, even their lives, and refuse to be intimidated. I cannot express my admiration for their commitment loudly enough.

My situation cannot be compared to theirs. I have been working for nearly 20 years on behalf of women in so-called developing countries—the countries where our clothing is manufactured. Anyone who has witnessed the misery of these women cannot pretend that it has nothing to do with us. The women who make clothing in Bangladesh, China, Cambodia, Vietnam, or India do so for us, and they do it on behalf of European corporations because they cost so little and because there are virtually no environmental or social standards in those countries. Clothing is produced on their backs.

FEMNET is active in three areas:

1. Campaigning and lobbying, as part of the CCC
2. Consumer education through educational and advisory work—a project at fashion colleges to raise awareness of social standards among future clothing buyers + a clothing buying guide for Bonn + advising the City of Bonn on the fair procurement of uniforms (fire department, parks and recreation department, swimming pool department, etc.)
3. Our Solidarity Fund: Solidarity through support for labor unions and NGOs in India and Bangladesh. Part of this is the daycare project overseen by Parvathi.

Our goal is to support women in asserting their demands for a living wage without overtime, for the right to freedom of association, and for freedom from discrimination.

Unfortunately, progress in the area of labor rights over the past 20 years has still been modest—just small, tentative steps. There have been more successes in the area of building safety and fire protection in Bangladesh following the Rana Plaza disaster: we helped establish the Accord on Fire and Building Safety (ACCORD), which was signed by 200 companies. Since then, nearly 2,000 factories have been inspected—and, what’s also very important, the reports are available on the website for everyone to read. For the first time, transparency is being established!

Here, dear Renate (addressing Renate Künast, editor’s note), I fully support your initiative for greater transparency and traceability of goods at the EU level! In my view, transparency is also key: that is why we are also calling for the results of social audits to be published—why isn’t this happening?

But back to ACCORD: Unfortunately, we see the same pattern here—when the pressure eases, progress slows; the implementation of corrective measures is proceeding very slowly, with only 30 percent of all mandated corrective measures having been implemented by the factories so far. And our buyers and the signatories to ACCORD—such as H&M, Mango, C&A, Aldi, Lidl, KiK, and many more—are not following up sufficiently and are not providing the factories with enough support in implementing the measures. (ACCORD has begun naming factories that fail to implement their corrective actions and has threatened to withdraw orders from them: currently, nine factories are listed online.)

Furthermore: The 2,000 factories inspected represent only a fraction of the estimated 5,000–7,000 factories in Bangladesh. The Bangladeshi government is said to have inspected another 1,000 factories, but many subcontractors have not been accounted for at all. Furthermore, working conditions have not yet improved as a result.

The pressure is mounting

Rana Plaza also led to the BMZ’s initiative, the Textile Alliance. I would like to emphasize once again: As FEMNET and CCC, we advocate for legal regulation of corporate responsibility, including holding companies liable if they fail to adequately fulfill their duty of care (due diligence). In addition, we are also participating in the voluntary Partnership for Sustainable Textiles to advance issues such as freedom of association and a living wage. I see it as a likely once-in-a-lifetime historical opportunity that a minister is advocating for a fair supply chain from the cotton field to the clothes hanger. We must seize this opportunity! If it turns out that the entire Textile Alliance leads nowhere, we will leave it.

But what’s already evident is that pressure on the apparel industry is growing, and things are starting to change. More and more small, fair-trade labels are emerging; you can see it in the growth of Ethical Fashion Week in Berlin: In January 2016, 176 international labels were exhibiting, whereas just a few years ago there were only 60. Suppliers of workwear—both retailers and manufacturers—are also waking up to the opportunity; they’re recognizing a new market. We noticed this in Bonn, and I think the Textile Alliance has contributed to this as well.

Nevertheless: There is still a very long way to go in a world where neoliberalism asserts the law of the jungle with no holds barred and claims this is in the best interest of everyone—but we will keep going!

Only a world in which women have the same rights as men, in which women earn the same wages as men, in which men cannot deprive women of their rights and degrade them with impunity—only such a world has a chance of survival. It’s unbelievable that there’s a law against forced marriages in Germany, and yet this law seems to have no effect, as I read in the newspaper today.

And now, the Anne Klein Women’s Award: This award is an unexpected, beautiful, and wonderful source of encouragement for me and my colleagues, because it shows that while we are in a difficult position, it is not a lost cause, and that is why we thank you—from the Heinrich Böll Foundation—with all our hearts for the Anne Klein Women’s Prize.

This speech was delivered on March 4, 2016, in Berlin. For more information about the award and the recipient, Gisela Burckhardt, please see our dossier.