Academy of Women Workers
8-10 October 2021
The Academy of Women Workers (AWW) is one of the activities of the Data Academy, a collaboration program between Gajimu and Trade Union Rights Centre (TURC). In 2021, AWW was held on 8-10 October which was attended by 35 female participants from 18 factories. They come from textile, garment, and footwear factories located in West Java, Central Java, and Banten.
The first session of the training was a sharing session guided by a psychologist named Laurentia Maria. Laurentia invites participants to tell their personal experiences (good and bad experiences) regarding their role and position as women in the family, community, trade union organizations, and work environment. This session aims to open workers' awareness on forms of Gender Based Violence (GBV). Interestingly, the fact was revealed in the sharing session that most of the participants experienced GBV, especially Domestic Violence. This experience motivates them to improve women's living conditions through the Trade Union movement.
The second day started with a session on Gender Equality and Sensitivity hosted by Andi Misbahul Pratiwi. Andi ensure the participants is able to understand sex and gender. Participants need to understand that gender is not only a women's problem but is related to attitudes, roles, responsibilities, functions, rights, and behaviors inherent in both men and women due to the formation of culture or the community environment in which the individual grows and is raised. Gender differences can lead to treatment that is disproportionate and detrimental to one of the sexes. Women are the one that often experience such adverse discrimination and treatment. Even women workers can experience double violence both as women and as women workers.
After understanding gender and other forms of GBV in the world of work, participants were also provided with laws and regulations and international labor instruments (ILO Conventions) that provide protection for women's work. These protections include: menstrual leave, maternity leave, facilities and opportunities for breastfeeding, prohibition of employing pregnant women workers in dangerous conditions and protection from violence and harassment in the world of work. The resource person in this session is Rizki Amalia Fathikhah from TURC.
As a closing event, Elly Rosita Silaban, President of the Konfederasi Serikat Buruh Seluruh Indonesia (KSBSI), was present to provide material related to negotiating techniques in social dialogue. Elly is the first female President in KSBSI. She conveyed the negotiation strategy as communication between two or more people in which both parties aim to reach a mutually agreed solution that is beneficial to both parties. Therefore, workers must believe that they are in a balanced position with the company. Negotiation Technique skills are important to have because it is an activity that is often carried out in daily activities in social life, especially in the workplace. It is also important for women to master this technique because their position is often considered unimportant.
Besides training, the Data Academy team also held a gathering night for the participants, where participants in their respective groups performed dance moves, choirs, and acting that showcased the role of women in the world of work and daily activities.
At the end of the training, participants expressed their appreciation for the materials and training. Participants also hoped that the capacity building they got, especially regarding the problems of women workers in the workplace, would not stop at this training but could continue through groups on social media to make it easy to share with everyone.
Interested in joining Data Academy training? Or want to use our training curriculum? Contact the Data Academy team at gajimu@wageindicator.org to find out more about the terms and conditions