Report: From Exploited to Unemployed – The Women in Leicester Left Behind by Fast Fashion Outsourcing

This report, published in collaboration with Oxfam UK, presents personal accounts from five women working in garment and textile factories in Leicester, UK. As migrant women in global supply chains, they experience intersectional vulnerability to exploitation, and their stories demonstrate the gendered impact of the buying choices made by fashion brands.

Garment factories have been a key entry point for South Asian migrant women to the formal UK workforce, as language skills are a barrier to accessing many other jobs. Yet their reliance on this work means they have little bargaining power over conditions and pay, in an industry that seeks to cut corners wherever possible. Violence and sexual harassment in the workplace is endemic in garment supply chains globally – including UK factories.

The interviews in this case study research, collected and written by Labour Behind the Label, aim to shed light on workers’ perspectives, reflecting on both long-term exploitation, and more recent changes in the industry.