In a dense industrial zone in Asia, garment factories sit side by side, supplying products for global fashion brands. The workers, many of them migrant women, stitch, cut, and assemble at speed. Contracts are short. Shifts are long. Harassment is common. In one cluster of factories, Kumi Consulting uncovered a pattern of abuse that was impossible to ignore: female workers being routinely sexually harassed by male supervisors.

The consulting team reported their findings to the fashion brand’s leadership. Under the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, companies have a responsibility not only to identify and mitigate risks, but to facilitate remedy when harm has occurred. That responsibility is clear. But in practice — in a supply chain where brands don’t own the factories, and workers are transient, invisible, and afraid, it’s not easy.

That’s where Kumi Foundation stepped in.

While Kumi Consulting’s work concluded with a detailed risk assessment, Kumi Foundation began building a path forward. Acting as a bridge, the Foundation connected the brand and its suppliers with local civil society organisations (CSOs), small, deeply embedded groups that had long been working to support women experiencing sexual violence and exploitation in the workplace.

These grassroots CSOs had trust. They had context. They had practical solutions. What they lacked was sustainable funding, programmatic support, and a way to engage with business on equal terms.

Kumi Foundation helped change that. Working with both the brand and local CSOs, the Foundation supported the design of a remedy programme tailored to the needs of the women affected. That included safe reporting mechanisms, access to counselling, legal support, and education for both staff and supervisors. The programme was designed for the long term to evolve across multiple factories, and to strengthen local capacity over time.

This is what effective remedy looks like: businesses, civil society, and affected communities working together to address harm and prevent it from happening again.

And in a sector where too many abuses go unchallenged, it’s a reminder: real change comes not just from identifying risk, but from standing beside those with the power to respond, and those most impacted.