Year 1 report documents success under Indonesia’s first enforceable brand agreement on GBVH, signaling a proven model for supply chain accountability

SEMARANG, Indonesia, October 15, 2026 — Women worker representatives and union leaders today revealed that Indonesia’s first enforceable brand agreement on gender-based violence and harassment (GBVH), the Central Java Agreement for Gender Justice, has successfully shifted power dynamics in their factories, providing a scalable blueprint for responding to and preventing GBVH in global garment supply chains.

At the report launch at Wujil Hotel in Semarang, speakers presented and discussed findings from the Central Java Agreement Year 1 Progress Report, documenting a transition from a culture of “silence and resignation” to one of “courage and accountability” at two major garment factories that have become leaders in protecting worker rights. Speakers also shared what the findings mean for brands, the garment industry, and the feminist movement.

Key findings proving the Agreement’s success include:

• Women- and Union-Led Infrastructure: 10 women workers serve on the factories’ GBVH Elimination Committees (a labor-management dialogue space responsible for grievance resolution), and another 47 serve on Implementation Teams. Unions also appointed and trained 139 Worker Shop Floor Monitors (WSFMs): 72 at PT Semarang Garment and 67 at PT Batang Apparel Indonesia. WSFMs monitor their work area for GBVH and support coworkers in accessing the grievance mechanism.
• Trust in Grievance Mechanisms: 236 reports of GBVH were made by women workers, signaling growing trust in the confidentiality and safety of the process, encouraged by the positive reporting culture fostered by WSFMs.
• Culture of Accountability: Every closed case resulted in 1 or more sanctions. More than 165 sanctions were issued for GBVH, including 8 terminations, 29 written warnings for severe instances, and 117 verbal warnings for less severe instances.

The event featured powerful testimonies from women workers who described the “toxic and intimidating” culture that existed before the Agreement. Finna Fitaloka, a garment worker and trainer under the GBVH Elimination Committee at PT Batang Apparel Indonesia, noted that workers once viewed harassment as an “occupational risk” they simply had to accept.

“Previously, victims often chose to remain silent because of social stigma and the lack of safe reporting channels,” said Finna. “The Central Java Agreement has changed that perspective. Workers now recognize that harassment and violence are not just part of the job—they are violations of the law and human rights.”

The most profound shift was articulated by Ima, a GBVH survivor who transitioned from receiving support to providing. After experiencing a humane, survivor-centered recovery process through the GBVH Elimination Committee, Ima joined the Psychosocial Support Implementation Team under the GBVH Elimination Committee to support other workers.

“I stand before you tonight to share a journey from fear to courage,” said Ima. “The Central Java Agreement does more than provide access to advocacy; it demonstrates that an appropriate recovery process can transform a survivor into a leader. We are living proof that we are agents of change in our own right.”

The Agreement has also fundamentally altered the behavior of management. Asti, Deputy Treasurer of the GBVH Elimination Committee at PT Semarang Garment, who also leads the Investigation Implementation Team under it, highlighted that the presence of the Committee has forced a change in how superiors interact with subordinates, noting that Korean managers and supervisors—who previously operated with little oversight—are now communicating in a more respectful and humane manner.

An Ontide executive and statement quoted in the report noted that their workers now feel safe to speak up, and their management culture has genuinely changed. Worker turnover due to harassment and unresolved grievances has dropped dramatically. Ontide also stated that they “will continue to work hand in hand with the unions to embed this program into our daily operations.”

The event concluded with a call to local government and garment industry leaders to provide the institutional support necessary to sustain and scale this model to more factories—moving beyond the failures of corporate self-regulation.

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About the Central Java Agreement for Gender Justice
Signed in July 2024, the Central Java Agreement for Gender Justice is a pioneering enforceable brand agreement (EBA) designed to eliminate gender-based violence and harassment (GBVH) in Indonesia’s garment industry. The Agreement establishes a union-led gender justice program that builds women workers’ power to take collective action to prevent and remediate GBVH. It covers 6,250 workers—90% of whom are women—at two factories in Central Java: PT Batang Apparel Indonesia and PT Semarang Garment. Both factories produce apparel for Fanatics and various university and college affiliates in the US. The Agreement is a partnership between Korean multinational Ontide, four factory unions, and transnational labor allies: the Asia Floor Wage Alliance (AFWA), the Worker Rights Consortium (WRC), and Global Labor Justice (GLJ). It is enforced through Fanatics’ binding commitments to WRC affiliate universities. The Agreement was signed after years of organizing by courageous women workers against GBVH on the factory floor, and after a WRC investigation in 2021 and 2022 at both factories revealed pervasive GBVH and a lack of accountability for perpetrators of such abuse.

Media Kit: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1AvI5HAp5BgWaYcSDyvS-Ga12w1I0kv-_?usp=sharing