My research focuses on two broad areas: 1) examining structural issues inherent in global supply chains which contribute to ongoing labor abuses and exploring how these might be reformed and 2) understanding the reality of poor labor conditions on the lives of workers and on their livelihoods.

Specific areas of inquiry include:

  • Changing the relationship between global brands and their suppliers from transactional to collaborative;

  • Grievance mechanisms to address gender-based violence and harassment and global supply chains;

  • Effectiveness of Enforceable Brand Agreements (EBAs);

  • Purchasing practices and its impact on poor labor conditions;

  • Heat and human rights;

  • Bringing voices of the global South in HREDD;

  • Worker centric audits;

  • Participatory research methods

CURRENT RESEARCH PROJECTS

1) From Evidence to Empowerment: She Voices as a Worker‑Led Tool for Monitoring and Reporting Towards a Just Transition in Mining (May 2026- March 2027)

In partnership with ReAct Asia

A just transition in mining requires moving beyond top-down, externally driven, and incident-based compliance frameworks to incorporate a bottom-up approach led by workers and communities, enabling a comprehensive risk assessment and more effective risk management. We view workers as knowledge-holders – not merely as beneficiaries or subjects of compliance. Our theory of change posits that when these groups, particularly women and Indigenous workers, have access to rights education, monitoring and reporting tools, and credible data, they can play an active role in improving their own working conditions. To advance this, ReAct proposes a multi-pronged initiative that adopts a bottom- up approach, empowering workers and communities to understand their rights, document violations, and use this information for evidence-based advocacy and constructive engagement with decisionmakers to improve working conditions. Our worker engagement tool, She Voices,  is designed to capture and highlight issues that are often overlooked or underreported in traditional monitoring systems, particularly around the hidden GBVH that are deeply rooted in unequal employment relationships, entrenched power imbalances, and the challenging nature of informal work. Moreover, the nature of the business model, which compels workers to meet unrealistic production targets through excessive working hours in unsafe environments extends these harms beyond sexual violence and harassment to include gender-related issues such as wage theft, sanitation access, exclusion from worker representation, and insufficient access to women’s health care. A key component of implementing She Voices to build effective systems and partnerships lies in the empowerment of peer leaders who are already embedded within their communities to document the realities women and Indigenous workers face. This approach includes working with local partners to equip peer leaders within worker communities through training that combines paralegal education on labour rights and Indigenous knowledge systems, as well as genderbased violence prevention, grassroots worker organising, women’s leadership development, risk strategies to mitigate SLAPP risks, monitoring, and rights-based advocacy. Together, these efforts establish a solid foundation for implementing She Voices. A worker-led model of this kind can foster agency and promote sustainable worker ownership, enabling continued data collection and advocacy beyond a single project cycle.

2) The Impacts of Harmful Purchasing Practices and Recommendations to Improve: From Workers’ Perspectives (June 2026—

In partnership with the Karnataka Garment Workers Union (KOOGU)

PAST RESEARCH PROJECTS

3) Are Female Garment Workers Safe? Evidence from the Dindigul Agreement to End Gender-Based Violence and Harassment

Recipient of the Institute for Research on Labor and Employment (IRLE) Faculty Research Award for 2024-26

This project will examine a binding agreement between corporations, factories, and labor unions to address the issue of gender based violence and harassment (GBVH) of workers in garment factories in India. The Dindigul Agreement is seen as a landmark agreement that finally addresses GBVH that has been endemic in the garment factories for decades.

PRESENTATIONS

  • United Nations Responsible Business and Human Rights Forum, Bangkok, Thailand, September 16-19, 2025.

4) Transforming Business Models in Global Supply Chains: Are Partnerships the Answer?

In collaboration with the Center for Business and Human Rights, NYU Stern School of Business

It is common for global retailers to engage in transactional or indirect relationships with their suppliers in the global South. These are characterized by short-term interactions with several suppliers based on maximizing cost and order volumes with little commitment to future business and longer-term relationships. Research has shown, however, that a partnership or direct relationship model can create better business opportunities for both sides, as well as contribute to better labor rights.

 This research examines the steps needed to enter into a partnership model and what the advantages might be for every layer of the supply chain. We find that Covid-19 could be the tipping point for global brands that may have already been thinking about switching to a direct sourcing model by consolidating their supply chain and committing to longer-term sourcing relationship.

 This is very timely because many global retailers are currently making changes to their business model due to the realization that the “just in time” manufacturing is not sustainable in the long term. We present a roadmap to understand the advantages of the partnership model for all stakeholders involved, how to establish a true partnership, the potential risks involved, and how to mitigate these risks. While this transition is not without its challenges, our research provides evidence that a movement towards this model will be beneficial to global retailers, suppliers, and ultimately to workers who are the most vulnerable at the bottom of these supply chains.

PUBLICATIONS

  • 2026. “Collaboration or Continued Compliance? The Reality of Partnerships between Global Brands and their Suppliers in the Apparel Industry and the Impact on Labor.” In Work, Labor, and Governance in Global Supply Chains. Edited by Chunyun Li, Mark Anner, and Xiangmin (Helen) Liu. Champaign, IL: Labor and Employment Relations Association, pp. 47-69.

  • 2024, January 19. Op-ed. Why Top Apparel Brands Fall Short in Supplier Partnerships. Supply Chain Dive.

  • 2023, December 11. Interview. Are Fashion’s Buying Practices Really Improving? Vogue Business.

PRESENTATIONS

  • Presentation at the Copenhagen Business School, June 2023, Copenhagen, Denmark. Sustainability Governance in the Global Garment and Textile Industries.

5) How Do We Think About Safety for Women Workers in Global Supply Chains

This research focuses on how limited notions of what constitutes safety for workers, primarily for women workers, perpetuates the cycle of labor violations for those at the very bottom of global supply chain. I draw lessons from the aftermath of one of the worst industrial disasters in history, the collapse of the Rana Plaza building in 2013, as well as from the initial months of the Covid-19 pandemic which wreaked havoc on global supply chains and on the lives of workers worldwide. I try to understand how can we reframe our ideas around worker safety and what might new and more productive interventions look like.

PUBLICATIONS

  • Sanchita Banerjee Saxena (2024) The garment industry under COVID-19: lessons from the Rana Plaza disaster on how we understand worker safety, South Asian History and Culture, DOI: 10.1080/19472498.2024.2311036

PRESENTATIONS

  • Center for Global Work and Employment. Rutgers University. November 12, 2024.

  • US Department of Labor, Bureau of International Labor Affairs. July 20, 2022, How Do We Think About Safety for Women Workers in Global Garment Supply Chains?

  • Business Accountability for Human Rights: Addressing Human Rights Issues in Global Supply Chains. April 7-8, Columbus School of Law, Washington DC.

  • Tsinghua University, Institute for International and Area Studies. November 10, 2021. The garment industry in Bangladesh under Covid-19: Lessons from the Rana Plaza disaster on how we understand worker safety.