This research was conducted together with researchers from Marquette University and the University of Bath.
For their study, the researchers used the Global Corporate Human Rights Database (GCHRD), a unique database examining cases of corporate human rights abuses. It draws from the Business Human Rights Research Center the most extensive and worldwide collection of reports on the subject.

Ways in which women are silenced

Women are silenced in several ways, including violence, intimidation, marginalisation, invisibility, and exclusion from negotiations, decision-making, and leadership roles. These practices can come from various sources, including actions by managers, discriminatory policies, and the failure to enforce policies. They can also be rooted in systemic factors like socio-economic, cultural, and legal environments, as well as informal norms. In their study, the researchers concentrated on human rights allegations affecting women directly. They uncovered 382 claims from 2011 to 2020. An initial analysis of these claims revealed several key findings.

• More physical abuse in developing countries
  Women in developing countries are much more likely to suffer physical integrity abuses, labour abuses, and discrimination than women in developed countries. This suggests that institutional mechanisms to counter physical and labour abuses may be weaker in developing countries than in developed countries.
• Corporations need to take more responsibility for the supply chain
  Global corporations are less often directly involved in human rights abuses in developing countries. Instead, suppliers and/or governmental actors are more likely to carry out human rights abuses on their behalf.  This pattern of indirect involvement underlines the need for companies to assume greater responsibility for their entire supply chain. By doing so, they can help prevent harm to women and ensure stricter oversight of third-party contractors.
• Lack of mechanisms to report abuse
  Women in developing countries often lack ways to report harm they experience in the workplace or societal harm caused by corporate actions. Instead, they may depend on international NGOs to highlight human rights abuses.