Gisela Burckhardt was born in Aachen on February 2, 1951. Of the five children in the Burckhardt family, she is the youngest and the post-war child, and probably the least well-adjusted. Gisela has a great need for conversation, which her parents and much older siblings are unable to satisfy. She often felt "belittled" by her father, President of the Ruhr Mining Association and Chairman of the Aachen coal mining industry. Making her voice heard was to become a lifelong theme: in her middle-class, conservative family of origin, at university and later in development cooperation.

At the age of fifteen, Gisela left the Rhineland and was accepted at the Elisabeth von Thadden School near Heidelberg. "Its initiator was a socially committed and courageous woman," Gisela Burckhardt notes with appreciation: the daughter of a Pomeranian landowning family, Elisabeth von Thadden (1890-1944) had founded a rural education home for girls in 1927 - with a clear focus on the Protestant faith and under the influence of reformist education. In 1941, she was banned from running the institution by the National Socialists. Elisabeth von Thadden remained true to her Christian values and became a resistance fighter. She was executed in Berlin-Plötzensee in 1944. Annette Kuhn, the founder of the House of Women's History in Bonn (see Volume 1 Bonn Women's Places), is also a former pupil of the girls' boarding school. She started school in 1951, the year Gisela Burckhardt was born.

At boarding school, Gisela was influenced by the attitude of the headmistress, Mrs. Eiermann. Her aim was to encourage the pupils to think critically. The Sunday circle therefore includes works by Brecht, but also Der Stellvertreter: A Christian Tragedy by Rolf Hochhuth on the reading programme: a reading that burns itself into Gisela's memory and contributes to her politicization. "We were all still so unformed," she describes this time of growing up. This was to change, which is why she began to read newspapers - a rather challenging read for her age and possibly the reason why her classmates did not share her passion.

After graduating from high school in 1969, which she completed together with her school friend Jutta Ditfurth, Gisela went to Freiburg to study. She wanted to become a teacher. She majored in history with a minor in French, political science and education. At the university, she finally made the connections she had always wanted. Outside of the seminars, politics is discussed with great enthusiasm and Gisela joins various grassroots groups. This was followed by semesters in Aix-en-Provence and Hamburg, where she passed the first state examination for the higher teaching profession.

With the help of the ASA program (work and study abroad), Gisela travels to Colombia and conducts a three-month study there. And while she was in Latin America, she wanted to travel to several countries on the subcontinent. She sets off with her boyfriend at the time. In Argentina in 1976, however, she was caught up in the turmoil of the military coup. Gisela and her companion were visiting an Austrian journalist who was researching the torture of Chilean prisoners when the secret police appeared and arrested the three Europeans. Gisela is sent to a military prison, but is released after a few days together with her German friend. In prison, she feels "absolute powerlessness" and hears the screams of those being tortured in the neighboring cells. This experience shows her the contrast to her privileged life in Germany: oppression, violence, lawlessness and poverty. The so-called North-South or South-North divide - depending on your perspective! - has stayed with Gisela Burckhardt ever since.

Back in Hamburg, she began her traineeship in history and French at a grammar school. After her second state examination, she finally realized that she did not want to spend her professional life in front of a classroom. She works for WDR television and the Neue-Rhein-Zeitung in Düsseldorf (1978). But Gisela is not satisfied with imparting knowledge or news - she wants to "experience" the world and make it a better place. So she applies to the German Development Institute (then still in Berlin, now in Bonn) and is accepted among numerous qualified applicants. Her next stop was the Protestant Central Agency for Development Aid in Bonn. She worked there for a good year as a consultant and was responsible for project applications from South America. From there, she first went to New York in 1980 to join the UN Development Program, from where she was sent to Nicaragua a year later. This was followed by an assignment for the Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit in Pakistan as head of a project for firewood-saving stoves and ovens for Afghan refugees from 1984 to 1986.

Gisela Burckhardt gave birth to her two children abroad: her son was born in Nicaragua in 1983 and her daughter during her time in Pakistan in 1985. After working there, accompanied by her husband at the time, the father of her children, she returned to Germany. Gisela Burckhardt attaches great importance to financial independence, which is why she has always worked. For her, equality is part of a good marriage. "Once they have children, women often take a back seat to their husbands, unfortunately also when it comes to their employment". She strongly recommends that young women do not do this: with a view to their independence, their career and later pension entitlements.

Male dominance and the need to defend oneself against it: Gisela Burckhardt does not experience this in her partnerships, but in other contexts. If her fellow students push themselves to the fore in the lectures, her later expert colleagues try to make her, the woman, responsible for the "soft" gender issue as a matter of course.

Gisela Burckhardt clearly describes herself as a feminist, which she became in Pakistan at the latest: "It was the oriental machismo with its open disdain for women that I encountered there in the mid-1980s. Even today, women there are still seen primarily as "birth mothers", "whom the man needs for his own offspring". Deeply rooted role models, cultural and religious values serve to justify exploitation and discrimination.

Ultimately, it is about the unequal distribution of power - both in the private sphere and in society. These unequal power relations have a strong social impact. "A better life can only be achieved if the power imbalance is eliminated: That's what I mean by feminism," says Gisela Burckhardt. For her, the fight for women's rights and the struggle for human rights are inextricably linked. Gisela Burckhardt sees "feminism as a movement to abolish gender hierarchies and achieve social justice".

Over the next 30 years, she experienced different societies, as the development policy expert traveled extensively in the southern hemisphere. Her travels took her to more than 40 countries in Latin America, Asia and Africa - mostly as a freelance development expert and trainer. Gisela Burckhardt's focus was always on women, which is why she wrote her doctoral thesis on "Skills acquisition of women in the urban informal sector in Rwanda" (1995).

Worldwide, she notes that women's emancipatory successes have to be defended again and again, "even if at very different levels". This is why Gisela Burckhardt is full of admiration for her colleagues from India and Bangladesh: "The strength of these women is incredible! They have hardly any schooling, learn English by doing and also fight against windmills in their private lives."

She cites Rukmini Puttaswamy as an example. The Indian activist campaigns for workers' rights and fights against violence against girls and women in particular. She is the leader of the only women-led trade union (Garment Labour Union, GLU) in India and co-founded the women's rights organization Munnade. Or Kalpona Akter from Bangladesh. She founded the Bangladesh Center for Worker Solidarity and is its managing director. "Kalpona Akter is an internationally recognized advocate for the rights of textile workers and a very committed trade unionist," enthuses Gisela Burckhardt. The Indian trade union and the Bangladeshi labour rights organization are among Femnet's close cooperation partners.

In 2001, Gisela Burckhardt took over the representation of Terre des Femmes in the Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC).

The international alliance campaigns for labor rights in the clothing and shoe industry and is active in seventeen European countries. The CCC has over 200 member organizations worldwide, particularly trade unions and NGOs in Asia, but also in Central America, Eastern Europe and Africa. Together, they join forces, denounce labor rights violations at suppliers to European clothing companies, campaign for living wages, for example, and campaign for legally binding regulations.

Gisela Burckhardt's fight for improved working and living conditions in the textile industry begins. She wants the issue of women's rights at work to be given central importance and begins to think about founding her own non-governmental organization (NGO) for this purpose.

In Berlin, Gisela Burckhardt came across the association mitgedacht - feminist perspectives on politics, business and society, which was about to be dissolved in 2010. Thanks to Gisela Burckhardt, the association was revived and the thematic focus shifted to the untenable conditions and labor rights violations in textile production in Asia, which primarily affect women. At Gisela Burckhardt's request, the association is renamed Femnet.

These steps embody the relaunch of the association as an internationally active women's rights organization. In 2012, the association's headquarters moved from Berlin to Bonn. Initially, Gisela Burckhardt continues to work as an expert and builds up the organization on the side. In 2014, she massively reduced her freelance work in favor of her work as political director and honorary chairwoman of Femnet.

"FEMNET has developed from a small educational association with half a full-time position into a recognized NGO with currently fifteen employees," says Gisela Burckhardt with satisfaction.

The organization campaigns for social standards in the garment industry, especially for a living wage for workers and the right of seamstresses to organize themselves into unions. The fight against discrimination against female employees is of great importance. The association is also committed to regulating corporate responsibility, e.g. through a supply chain law.

Femnet operates on three levels: By means of campaigns and political voice, in the context of education and awareness-raising and with solidarity support for women on the ground.

Femnet is part of various associations and is in close contact with other NGOs, trade unions, companies, associations and holders of political office. If you would like to support Femnet's work, you can donate or organize fundraisers. The association also invites people to take part in street campaigns, petitions or open campaign meetings.

Through campaigns and protests, the organization brings its issues to the attention of politicians and businesses - and exerts broad public and targeted political pressure.

Thanks to Gisela Burckhardt's early and persistent efforts, "FEMNET is a driving force among the 25 supporting organizations of the international Clean Clothes Campaign, or CCC for short."

Femnet is also actively involved in the Partnership for Sustainable Textiles, or Textile Partnership for short. It has existed since October 2014 and was launched by German Development Minister Gerd Müller - in response to the disastrous Rana Plaza factory collapse (Dhaka/Bangladesh 2013) and other fatal accidents in textile factories in Bangladesh and Pakistan!

The aim is to improve social, economic and ecological conditions along the entire supply chain and thus prevent disasters of all kinds.

Femnet has been involved from the very beginning with Gisela Burckhardt and represents 21 civil society organizations in the highest committee, the steering committee. In the Textiles Partnership, Gisela Burckhardt discusses with company representatives from well-known brands, including KiK, Otto and Tchibo.

A sweater is not just a practical and stylish outfit, but the result of a process that involves many people and uses natural resources such as water and cotton. This means that clothing combines ecological and social aspects. Figuratively speaking, clothing involves many more people than just the wearer. To make this and more clear, FEMNET's educational work in Germany is aimed at all citizens in their capacity as responsible consumers. Through educational measures in schools, Femnet aims to ensure that pupils' fashion awareness is accompanied by a responsible attitude. Universities play a special role for Femnet because this is where the decision-makers of tomorrow and the buyers of clothing companies are to be found. The association also advises employees of public administrations on the procurement of fair workwear.

Through solidarity work abroad, Femnet supports women in India and Bangladesh directly on the ground, for example in the fight against gender-based violence in the workplace. In cooperation with selected partner organizations

legal advice, training and international cooperation projects, which the association accompanies with campaign work in Germany.

Femnet is also active on the doorstep, so to speak, directly in Bonn, for example when a school asks for a lecture, when it is necessary to provide citizens with useful information in the form of the Bonn shopping guide Fair, fair, fair are all my clothes or when it comes to advice on responsible purchasing of workwear for the employees of the city of Bonn.

The federal city is just one example of many cities and municipalities that seek advice from Femnet, which Gisela Burckhardt sees as a hopeful success.

She also emphasizes "the high level of Femnet's educational work in Germany". The association's influence is now reflected in some curricula of study and training courses. To this end, multipliers are trained to conduct workshops at universities based on elaborated modules. The founder of the organization is also optimistic about the increasing number of donors and active supporters of Femnet: "This is yet another very special expression of solidarity with women in the producing countries."

Overall, things have changed for the better - over the time that Gisela Burckhardt has been active with Femnet and its cooperation and alliance partners. "The will to engage in dialog and public pressure are the levers that we use in a well-dosed manner and adapted to the respective situation," she says with a smile.

Together with the CCC, for example, it was possible to wrest compensation for the victims and surviving dependents of the collapsed textile factory in Rana Plaza from the companies that commissioned the work.

Also as part of the CCC and together with colleagues, Gisela Burckhardt developed a special campaign on Tchibo: "It led to the company greatly expanding its sustainability department and starting to take the issue of corporate responsibility seriously." A campaign on discounters (Lidl, KiK) also ran for several years. "Lidl was accused of deceiving consumers and the company immediately withdrew its misleading advertising."

There were many other campaigns as part of the CCC that led to the desired goal. "I also like to think of the campaigns before the Hugo Boss shareholders' meeting, which led to Hugo Boss disclosing its supply chain."

Gisela Burckhardt also tends to see progress in the fight against gender-specific violence in South Asian production facilities. She has repeatedly campaigned for this issue within the Textiles Partnership. She is therefore particularly pleased that it has been chosen as the Partnership's theme for 2020. Gisela Burckhardt is therefore also pleased with a special initiative of the Textiles Partnership, which is paying more attention to the "unspeakable working conditions of girls in South Indian spinning mills and the sexual exploitation that is often associated with this".

However, she admits that the coronavirus pandemic has put a stop to this positive development for the time being. Not only do the seamstresses have to fear for their income due to the slump in demand on the textile market, they are once again more vulnerable in this precarious situation and more exposed to the abuse of power by men. Gisela Burckhardt hopes for a change for the better as soon as the pandemic is under control.

Gisela Burckhardt is also concerned about the news from Myanmar. After the military junta's coup, there have been atrocious attacks on the population. She knows this first-hand from those affected in the country. Successes, Challenges and Wishes is currently calling for donations for the "courageous textile workers and trade unionists" in Myanmar, as Gisela Burckhardt calls them with the greatest respect. "Once again, women are particularly exposed to violence," she notes with trepidation. "European purchasing companies must insist that Myanmar suppliers do not dismiss their employees as soon as they are absent for three days to take part in the demonstrations," demands the women's and human rights activist. Together with the CCC, the Femnet CEO is appealing to official bodies to stand up for the detainees.

Overall, Gisela Burckhardt observes that "criticism of the overproduction of clothing is growing, as is the willingness to rethink purchasing habits." However, there is a lack of consistent action. "We need to consume less, but spend more money on fair clothing - because the seamstresses pay for cheap goods with their bodies and often even their lives," says Gisela Burckhardt.

However, she not only holds us consumers to account, but also politicians. "They must finally create clear, enforceable regulations and pass a strict supply chain law - even against the powerful business lobby". Only then will it be possible to take action against human rights violations, environmental damage and safety-related and other failures across all countries and in all phases of production and trade, and to hold those responsible to account.

Gisela Burckhardt is the author of the book "Todschick - Edle Labels, billige Mode - unmenschlich produziert" (2014) and a sought-after interview partner as an expert. Her commitment has been recognized with the "Anne Klein Women's Prize of the Heinrich Böll Foundation", winning the "Edition F Award 2016 `25 Women Who Make Our World Better'" and the "Cross of Merit on Ribbon of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany", 2020. Having just turned 70, the Bonn native wants to concentrate mainly on the political work of Femnet. Her vision is "fair global trade, a living wage for women's work and a fundamental increase in self-determination for women and girls".

The rights to the above text are held by  Haus der FrauenGeschichte Bonn e.V. (opens in a new tab)

• Interview with Gisela Burckhardt, conducted by Ute Fischer via video chat on March 3, 2021

• Homepage of Femnet

• Various online newsletters and annual reports from Femnet