Production Targets,Coercive Control,and Bargaining with Public Patriarchy in Readymade Garment Factories in Bangladesh: Violence Against Women in the Global Supply Chain

Abstract

This article unpacks how public patriarchy, coercive control, and violence as disciplinary tools in the supply chain push women workers to deliver on production targets in ready-made garment factories. Data from in-depth interviews with female workers (n = 20), key-informant interviews with factory managers and supervisors (n = 6) and labor rights activists (n = 2) reveal that gender-based job segregation and coercive control shape the production process, while women's agency to resist exploitation remains constrained. Thus, violence against women workers occurs at the intersection of global supply chain pressures, manifested in strict competitive pricing and compressed production timelines which requires patriarchal control of women workers.