Written by:
Future Group
17 June 2025
According to the International Labour Organisation, at least one in five workers worldwide have experienced violence and harassment at work. Workplace bullying is routinely used as a means for managers to control their lower-paid workers. One case study showed that when a group of garment workers in Bangladesh tried to form a union to advocate for better working conditions, they were assaulted and sacked.
Nobody should be bullied while doing their job. And bullying and harassment should not be used to control workers and stamp out attempts to organise and fight for better pay and conditions.
That’s why Future Group is a signatory to the World Benchmarking Alliance Investor Statement on violence and harassment in supply chains. The World Benchmarking Alliance (WBA) measures how businesses impact the people and planet and pushes them to be accountable for contributing to sustainable development.
They share this information with investors, governments and individuals to encourage investor, public and political pressure to transform systems towards creating a better world.
Investors have power. It’s up to us what we use it for. So when it comes to improving working conditions in supply chains, we have a crucial role to play; it’s not only the right thing to do, but poor working conditions in supply chains – including violence and bullying - are also an investment risk, as these activities risk fines and penalties, disruption due to industrial action, consumer boycotts and more.
We’ve seen this in action with campaigns focusing on supply chains in Bangladesh and Cambodia – and even in the UK - feeding into global apparel chains like H&M and Uniqlo, who took action as a result.
Thirty-seven financial institutions, representing more than US$1 trillion, signed the statement to call on companies and governments to do more to prevent violence and harassment in global supply chains by ratifying the ILO Convention of Violence and Harassment (C190). The statement is part of The Social Collective Impact Coalition, convened by the World Benchmarking Alliance.
In globalised trade, supply chains can often be opaque. Most people don’t think about where the cobalt in their smartphone was mined, or whether the people who harvested the peanuts for their peanut butter were fairly treated. These people are part of a long manufacturing process that can see component parts sourced from or shipped to multiple continents by dozens of different companies before becoming a market-ready product.
Workers in the global garment industry are often young, female and/or migrants and are particularly at risk from violence. Women, who make up 80% of textile workers worldwide, are also at increased risk of gender-based violence and sexual assault in the workplace. In Bangladesh, a study of female garment workers by Action Aid found that 80% reported experiencing or witnessing workplace violence, including sexual harassment, followed by physical assault and sexual assault.
Workers report that their employers are under huge pressure from brands to produce more, faster, more cheaply, and that failure to live up to often-impossible productivity targets drives 35% of reported workplace assaults.
These figures don’t tend to be included in factory audits and only come to light during anonymised independent research. So, when Western consumers seek out cheaper goods, it’s easy to forget: if we’re not paying for it, somebody else out there is.
Failing to address workplace bullying also presents a financial risk to companies, countries and communities. Workplace violence impacts productivity, turnover and absenteeism, and when systemic can reduce GDP by up to 3.5%. This presents a risk for investors right along the supply chain, too – but these investors are well positioned to demand better.
At Future Group, our Impact team implements strict screens and, when appropriate, engages with companies in our international portfolios. Stewardship is one of the three tools we use to build a pathway to a future free from inequality – we strategically deploy the power of the money under our management to influence how companies act.
We believe companies and governments both have the power and the responsibility to protect workers against workplace violence. Our investment strategy screens out companies against whom there is evidence of direct, repeated and systemic labour rights violations without appropriate remediation or redress – but more than that, we want to lend our voice to mass investor pressure for more scrutiny, action and accountability on workplace violence.
