Hidden Homeworkers

Are you sourcing apparel from India, Pakistan or Nepal?

We are inviting brands to work with us, to extend supply chain monitoring to reach hidden workers beyond first tier suppliers. We are keen to collaborate with all supply chain stakeholders to help homeworkers access their rights and improve their working conditions.

Homeworking can be found all across South Asia, doing many different tasks, including embroidery, sewing and finishing clothes, assembling jewellery and stitching leather shoes, both for domestic and international retailers.

Typically employed informally by subcontractors or intermediaries, and drawn from the poorest communities, women homeworkers are often the worst paid and most insecure workers in most companies' supply chains. Homeworkers' employment is irregular, precarious and sometimes hazardous, and their very low rates of pay creates a risk of child labour. As a result, the presence of homeworkers is often hidden by suppliers and may not be disclosed at audits.

Despite this, for many women, especially those with young children, homeworking offers a vital source of family income. Covid-19 has hit homeworkers particularly hard, leaving many unpaid and without future orders, with no social security and many unable to even access the limited government relief that is available in some parts of the region.

Hidden Homeworkers is a consortium of NGOs supporting homeworkers producing for global brands in the apparel and footwear industries in India, Pakistan and Nepal, and other women in precarious employment, co-funded by the European Union. Team members include Traidcraft Exchange, HomeNet South Asia, Homeworkers Worldwide and local HNSA members including SEWA Delhi and SAVE in Tirupur.