Pauline Jerrentrup
We are pleased to share the Pauline Jerrentrup, a PhD candidate in Employment Relations and Human Resources, has been awarded £5,000 for her project “Translating Research into Action: How to address Gender-Based Violence in Global Supply Chains”.
Reacting to the funding award, Pauline said: “I'm really grateful that gender-based violence at work is getting the attention and funding it needs. Now, especially when gender-related research is being shut down or defunded in so many places, this award from LSE feels significant.
“Crucially, this funding will make it possible to get this research back to the people it’s about,” Pauline continued. “It will support the co-development of materials in several local languages and cover the costs of a knowledge-exchange meeting. The results will also feed directly into presentations for industry platforms, giving brands practical, evidence-based guidance on what effective interventions look like.”
Pauline’s project focuses on gender-based violence and harassment in global garment supply chains, and on what works to stop it. She regularly collaborates with local unions and workers in Africa and the Indian Subcontinent.
“Women workers in factories producing our everyday goods routinely face abuse, intimidation and exploitation, and three decades of voluntary industry commitments have done little to change that,” Pauline explained. “My PhD research looks at a newer model: legally binding agreements that bring brands, suppliers and worker organisations together, and give unions real power to hold companies to account.
“I've spent four years studying two of these agreements in Lesotho and India up close. The project now aims to turn the learnings on both what worked and what did not into practical tools for the brands trying to do better, the grassroots unions on the ground, and the policymakers designing labour regulation.”
Funding for Pauline’s project will be provided through LSE’s PhD engagement and impact funds, overseen by the research engagement and impact team.
Thursday 16 April 2026