Redefining Roles as Women Challenge Gender Norms in the Footwear Industry

In rural Bangladesh, shoe repairing and manufacturing have long been seen as men’s work, physically demanding, socially stigmatised, and far removed from what women were expected to do. But Shilpi Rani Das is rewriting that narrative. “If I can make and sell my own shoes,” Shilpi says with quiet determination, “I know I can stand on my own feet.”

At 35, in Laksham, Cumilla, in southeastern Bangladesh, Shilpi begins her day at a local footwear workshop, not as a customer, but as an apprentice learning the craft of shoe repairing and manufacturing. For generations, this trade has been dominated by men, but Shilpi is proving that skill and resilience know no gender.

Shilpi’s path to this workshop was shaped by hardship. Married at a young age and later widowed, she was left to raise two children with a very limited income. To survive, she began repairing shoes door to door. While the work provided a minimum earning of BDT 200 (USD 1.64) a day and exposed her to ridicule for stepping into “a man’s job.” The stigma was crushing, but Shilpi refused to give up.

©UNDP Bangladesh

The situation changed when she joined the Strengthening Women’s Ability for Productive New Opportunities (SWAPNO) project through the Bakoi Union Parishad in Laksham. SWAPNO gave her more than income support, it gave her dignity, confidence, and a chance to break barriers. Through training in communication, self-reliance, and technical skills, Shilpi regained her voice and earned respect in her community.

Today, she is among 1,000+  women receiving structured apprenticeship training under SWAPNO in trades that challenge gender stereotypes, tailoring, cooking, beauty services, and non-traditional skills like shoe repairing and manufacturing. Through a mentor–mentee approach and a two-month course, Shilpi is mastering technical know-how, production management, and market demand.

Her dream? To open her own shoe-making and repair shop, a business run by a woman in a space once reserved for men. By saving from her earnings and investing in her future, Shilpi is turning a male-dominated trade into a pathway for independence.

SWAPNO, implemented by UNDP Bangladesh with the Local Government Division and supported by the Embassy of Sweden and Marico, is doing more than creating jobs. It is dismantling cultural barriers, redefining gender roles, and proving that women can thrive in any profession, even those once considered “too hard” or “too male.”

Shilpi’s story is not just about shoes. It’s about breaking norms, building futures, and inspiring a generation of women to step boldly into spaces where they were never expected to stand.

Skills that create dignity, independence, and opportunity.