Promoting and Strengthening Fair Workplace Practices for Women Workers
Labor rights violations are common and often unreported in Honduras’ maquila sector, a major source of employment in export manufacturing. Many workers, especially the women who make up much of the workforce, face poor conditions, lack access to legal support, and have limited resources for addressing grievances. Fear of retaliation and uncertainty about complaint procedures further discourage reporting, yet workers remain eager to learn about their rights and how to advocate for themselves.
PROFEM (Promoción y Fortalecimiento de Prácticas Laborales Justas para Mujeres Trabajadoras) is a technical assistance initiative led by AIR that seeks to strengthen the systems of support for women working in Honduras’ maquila sector to voice and claim their labor rights related to workplace discrimination.
Building on AIR’s Creating Opportunities to Strengthen Labor Rights (COSER) project, AIR launched PROFEM as a continuation of its commitment to improving labor conditions in Honduras.
AIR’s assessment revealed that maquila workers often do not report sexual harassment or discrimination due to fear of retaliation and unfamiliarity with grievance procedures.
Nonetheless, they expressed a strong interest in learning about their rights, sharing experiences, and working together to address workplace injustices.
While COSER focused on government-facing technical assistance to support labor law enforcement related to workplace discrimination, PROFEM narrows the scope to directly support maquila workers and their legal allies through training, tools, and strategic partnerships.
PROFEM’s activities include:
- A qualitative assessment to map labor rights issues, workplace violations, and remediation barriers in the maquila sector, guiding the design of targeted training programs.
- A training workshop for women maquila workers and union leaders on labor rights, grievance procedures, and advocacy, creating a network of over 120 peer educators and advocates focused on workplace discrimination.
- A training program for lawyers in the Honduran Bar Association (CAH) covering legal frameworks and assistance for workplace discrimination cases, including a Training of Trainers component to ensure ongoing capacity for CAH’s 33,000+ members.
PROFEM uses a strong monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) system to track project results and measure its impact on empowering workers and allies in Honduras’s maquila sector.
