Can you improve social auditing to detect gender issues more effectively?

Photo credit: Partner Africa.

Even though women represent the majority of the workforce in global supply chains, the specific needs of women and issues they face are rarely integrated into key focus areas of social audits. 

A pilot project that looked at improving the capabilities of social audits to integrate gender into all practices of auditing was commissioned by Coop and Tesco, supported by Sedex, and undertaken by Partner Africa. The project enhanced and adapted Sedex’s SMETA social auditing methodology to improve the detection of real and potential gender issues in the workplace. As a compliance monitoring methodology used by businesses globally, SMETA offers an effective tool to advocate for the importance of making gender issues in supply chains more visible. The pilot was carried out with five suppliers, representing three regions and four countries in Africa. 

Piloting gender sensitive audit methodology

The pilot study aimed to determine whether a gender sensitive SMETA audit can collect meaningful data and insights on gender issues within the workplace. The outcome was positive: data showed that the number of gender findings increased six-fold, compared to the standard SMETA audit. Such findings included, evidence of pregnancy testing prior to employment, health and safety risks to pregnant women, and poor gender representation in worker committees. 

Beyond its gender findings, the project also provided a better contextual picture of businesses’ capacity to address gender inequalities. This was thanks to the additional gender disaggregated data required for the pilot which helps suppliers and auditors to develop meaningful remediation plans and analyse the root causes of gendered issues. This was especially evident when looking at leadership structures in the workplace (eg., no women in leadership positions) and worker turnover (eg., high turnover of women in particular). In other words, gendered issues became much more visible and could therefore be addressed in more meaningful ways.

So, can we improve social auditing to detect gender issues more effectively?

In short, yes! The pilot has taught us four key things:

  1. A more gender sensitive approach to auditing, including training auditors and updating existing report methodologies, is both possible and practical. 
  2. Many more gender risks can be detected through this approach, highlighting the number of gender-related issues that remain undiscovered in supply chains.
  3. The increase in gender issues identified makes clear that social audits can be enhanced to address the vulnerabilities of women.
  4. While some auditors struggled to cover the additional areas in the standard allocated time, (especially at sites yet to address any gender issues), most auditors found the gender sensitive aspects well integrated with existing activities and easy to complete within time given. 

Addressing preventative management systems 

Beyond the actual gender issues raised by auditors, the project also demonstrated the potential to assist suppliers with establishing better systems to prevent such issues from occurring in future. For example, the methodology encouraged auditors to assess the robustness and accessibility of procedures through which workers report gender issues. It also raised awareness among employers regarding the gender dynamics at play within their own workforce, bringing them one step closer to addressing gender inequalities more effectively.

As one participating auditor from East Africa put it: 

“The experience was different and very enlightening. Compared to the other audits we conduct, I normally rarely think about the gender aspect – only when discrimination becomes obvious and visible. Now, with the extra questions, it gives you more insights on gender starting from the worker breakdown. It would be good if this is included in the other audits as well.”

The way forward 

Gender should be integrated into all auditing processes going forward. Doing so can help progress gender equity, establish transparent gender-sensitive grievance mechanisms, and better identify and tackle gendered issues in global supply chains. As a first step, codes and standards can better integrate gender into all areas of assessment and compliance, especially as it relates to the collection of data. Sedex has already integrated the recommendations of this pilot into the current revisions of its standard, and shared these developments at a webinar earlier this year.

This pilot project has proven that gender-sensitive social audits can meaningfully contribute to highlighting women’s vulnerabilities in global supply chains, and acts as a first step for creating an environment in which gender issues can be addressed effectively and sustainably. 

Special thanks to the Co-op, Tesco, Sedex and all suppliers involved for their support in bringing this project to life.

 

If you would like to find out more about how  Partner Africa can support your business or project, please feel free to get in touch with Janie Swanepoel at jswanepoel@partnerafrica.org or to read more on this project please access the full learning paper here.

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