Palm industry leaders launch collaborative effort to prevent gender based violence in Indonesian palm oil sector

An estimate of 7.6 million women are employed in the Indonesian palm oil sector, comprising about half the workforce, and there are concerns that women workers in the sector face risks of physical and sexual abuse. 

In 2022, Action for Sustainable Derivatives (ASD) launched its ‘Respect in Palm’ (previously HERproject), to support women workers in the palm supply chain in Indonesia, the world’s largest palm oil producer.

Considering these risks, the pilot program was developed to prevent and address gender-based violence (GBV) by cultivating gender equitable attitudes and relationships among women and men in the Indonesian palm oil sector through workplace training programs.

ASD members participating in this pilot include industry leaders such as Avon, Beiersdorf, Clariant Foundation, The Estée Lauder Companies Charitable Foundation, Haleon, Kenvue, and L’Oréal.

The pilot has been launched at a mill and an estate in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. The implementation of workplace trainings is taking place in collaboration with local industry partner Wilmar International and local implementation partners Yayasan CARE Peduli (YCP) and Ulula.

The local training implementation partner, YCP is a national NGO that is also a member of the CARE International confederation with programs on a variety of issues including Gender Justice & Social Inclusion. Gender and GBV in the workplace is one of the YCP’s focus and expertise areas. The grievance mechanism is being developed in partnership with Ulula, a technology leader in the compliance and stakeholder engagement space with global supply chain solutions enabling grievance mechanisms, surveys and more.

The pilot focuses on building the capacity of women and men workers and supervisors to identify and respond to GBV and harassment, covering topics such as addressing communication styles, reflecting on gender norms, and developing an understanding of what constitutes harassment in the workplace and at home.

The pilot also focuses on strengthening workplace management systems by providing guidance on anti-harassment policies and processes and establishing GBV-specific grievance mechanisms.

All elements of the pilot were carefully adapted to reflect the unique operating environment of the palm oil sector as well as the Indonesian legal and cultural context.

The pilot is scheduled to conclude by mid-2024. ASD aims to capture learnings from the pilot to refine the program methodology and inform potential scale-up scenarios for the Indonesian palm oil sector.

ASD is an industry-led collaborative initiative which brings together companies in the cosmetics, home and personal care, and oleochemicals industries to collectively tackle environmental and social supply chain issues around palm oil and palm kernel oil derivatives, as well as other derivative commodities. ASD is co-managed and co-facilitated by BSR and Transitions, two organizations with extensive experience and expertise in supply chain sustainability and business collaborations.