Women workers filed 236 reports of gender-based violence and harassment at two garment factories in Central Java under a brand agreement, according to a progress report presented on Thursday.

Women worker representatives and union leaders presented the Central Java Agreement Year 1 Progress Report at Wujil Hotel in Semarang, according to a press release.

The release describes the Central Java Agreement for Gender Justice as Indonesia’s first enforceable brand agreement on gender-based violence and harassment (GBVH).

According to the release, the report found that more than 165 disciplinary penalties were issued for harassment, including eight dismissals, 29 written warnings for severe cases and 117 verbal warnings for less severe ones. It said every closed case resulted in at least one penalty.

Under the agreement, 10 women workers serve on the factories’ GBVH Elimination Committees, a labour-management forum for resolving grievances, and another 47 serve on implementation teams, the release said.

Unions also appointed and trained 139 worker shop floor monitors, 72 at PT Semarang Garment and 67 at PT Batang Apparel Indonesia, to watch their work areas for harassment and help colleagues use the grievance mechanism.

The release said the 236 reports signal growing trust in the confidentiality and safety of the process, which it credited to a positive reporting culture fostered by the monitors.

Speakers described a toxic and intimidating workplace culture before the agreement. Finna Fitaloka, a garment worker and trainer under the GBVH Elimination Committee at PT Batang Apparel Indonesia, said workers once viewed harassment as an occupational risk they had to accept, and victims often stayed silent because of social stigma and the lack of safe reporting channels.

‘Workers now recognise that harassment and violence are not just part of the job — they are violations of the law and human rights,’ Finna said.

‘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,’ said Ima, a survivor of harassment who joined the Psychosocial Support Implementation Team under the GBVH Elimination Committee to support other workers.

Asti, deputy treasurer of the GBVH Elimination Committee at PT Semarang Garment and leader of its Investigation Implementation Team, said the committee’s presence had changed how superiors treat subordinates. Korean managers and supervisors, who previously operated with little oversight, now communicate in a more respectful and humane manner, Asti said.

An executive of Ontide said in a statement quoted in the report that workers now feel safe to speak up and that the management culture has changed. Ontide also said it would continue to work with the unions to embed the programme in its daily operations.

Worker turnover due to harassment and unresolved grievances has dropped dramatically, according to the release, which gave no figures.

The event ended with a call to local government and garment industry leaders to provide the institutional support needed to sustain the model and extend it to more factories, moving beyond what the release described as the failures of corporate self-regulation.