A Deep Dive Into Shein: Part 3
- Zevez Zalay
- Nov 17, 2025
- 9 min read
Shein’s responses to human rights and environmental concerns
Zevez Zalay
November 16th, 2025, 7:40 pm ET
Related Topics
Shein, fast fashion, overconsumption, overconsumption glamorization, capitalism, China, Kenya, landfills, water pollution, carbon emissions, Shein hauls, human rights, climate change, greenwashing, Xu Yangtian, textile waste, textile pollution, micro influencers, eCommerce algorithms, online retail, women’s fashion
Shein has been in hot water after the popularity of the brand skyrocketed during the pandemic, and especially after Ally Roberts’ documentary, Inside the Shein Machine, was released on Channel 4 in 2022, and then later added to Amazon Prime (Roberts, 2022). Since then, consumers have been more skeptical of the brand, and Shein is racing to clean up all their spilled secrets.
Response to Human Rights Violations
After Roberts' documentary, Shein admitted to the illegal working conditions and issued roughly a $15.8 million investment into hundreds of its source factories (The Guardian, 2022). They even put out a “Human Rights Policy” in April of 2024, stating:
SHEIN is dedicated to operating in a responsible and ethical manner. We have aligned our Human Rights Policy (the “Policy”) with the international principles described in the United Nations’ Universal Declaration on Human Rights (UDHR), the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, as well as with the laws and requirements established in the countries where SHEIN and our suppliers operate.
The Human Rights Policy applies to the entire SHEIN Group and its employees, and also covers any person associated with the company. (Shein, 2024). To add insult to injury, the commitments they made were barely dipping their toes into the water by making promises not to employ children or prisoners, and making sure there are “safe” working conditions (Shein, 2024). To make things easier on themselves, they decided to omit what they consider to be “safe” working conditions to avoid any harsh criticism from the public.
Later on, by June 10th, 2025, Shein’s California branch uploaded its “Consolidated Modern Slavery Statement,” which was signed off by George Chiaco, the branch’s president (Shein, 2025). However, for a company to need to put out a “modern slavery statement” is shocking on its own, and without even reading the content, it should send warning signs to consumers that there is something wrong going on behind the website itself. There are 10 different sections to the statement, but the ones I would like to bring your attention to are the fourth section, “Risks of modern slavery practices in SHEIN’s operations and supply chains,” and the fifth section, “Our Commitments, Policies and Requirements,” and the sixth section, “Actions taken by SHEIN to assess and address risks” (Shein, 2025).
While the fourth section is going over the human rights risks that could be present in their supply chain, they do not take any responsibility for the presence of such things in the fourth section. Rather, they made a general statement of the risks that have been seen in the garment manufacturing industry, and go as far as to say, “many components lie beyond our direct control” (Shein, 2025). Which is very interesting to say, as Shein has the power to not work with certain suppliers if they have repeated offenses to their policies, as well as Chinese labor laws, as working 75-hour weeks, and not having a single day off in a month is illegal in Guangzhou, and workers should be permitted a full day off every week (Roberts, 2022). At the latter part of the fourth section, Shein lists seven different bullet points, briefly going over efforts that they are able to make to mitigate the risks that are present within their industry (Shein, 2025). Therefore, one paragraph is distancing itself from the responsibilities that they hold, and the next is detailing corrective actions they can, or supposedly have been taking. It feels like the document was written by different people with different levels of ethical character and then stitched together and sent to George Ciaco for the sign-off.
The fifth section details their commitments to human rights, which isn’t a list of actions, values, or ideologies they are committed to, and exactly how they commit to it, but rather a statement of what inspires them to have said commitments (Shein, 2025). The company details that they are a signatory to the United Nations and “take guidance” from their Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) (Shein, 2025), which is a vague term that could mean they copy it down to the last letter, or they liked a couple of the sentences to parade around to the press. Additionally, this section is where they make their broad commitment statements, such as,
We firmly reject the use of forced labour, child labour, and human trafficking in any form within our own operations and our supply chain. We are committed to protecting the rights of our employees, and strive to work with suppliers and sellers who share our commitment to ethical practices and respect for human rights. We are also committed to promoting fair labour practices within our supply chain, including supporting our suppliers to protect the rights of their workers. (Shein, 2025)
This statement preps for the following paragraphs, which outline the same commitments being present in Shein’s Supplier Code of Conduct (SCoC) (Shein, 2025). However, the most commitment we have seen from Shein in regards to working with suppliers who share the same ethical values is suspending a supplier until the issue is resolved (Silva, 2024). This means that via their auditing system, they can catch a repeated offender of human rights in their supply chain, slap them on the wrist, and then they resume their previous contract and orders once they prove a change. After that, the supplier is free to go back to their previous ethical standards, as Shein does not note any probationary period for first-time or repeat offenders. If the fast-fashion giant was actually committed to working with suppliers who were genuinely aligned with their human rights and ethical codes, then they wouldn’t work with the cheapest laborers in Guangzhou, China, where the workers are getting 14 cents per garment (Roberts, 2022).
Additionally, Shein’s California branch’s Supplier Code of Conduct (SCoC) isn’t legally binding to the suppliers out in China, and like we see with a lot of large corporations, it serves merely as a formality for their working contract so that consumers feel they are being proactive about the issues the media brings to the surface. What is legally binding are the Chinese Labor Laws; however, it is clear that they are not nearly enforced as they should be, as many suppliers try to get under the radar to continue to keep their big money contracts with companies like Shein (Roberts, 2022; Lin, 2025).
Finally, the sixth section of Shein’s “Condensed Modern Slavery Statement” tells us a little more about their process of preventing human rights violations within their supply chain, rather than their surface-level written commitments we see in sections four and five (Shein, 2025). They detail that for new suppliers they contract with, they have to go through an assessment of Shein’s Responsible Sourcing (SRS) policy, which is great, but like many of the detailed links throughout their statement, it was faulty, meaning we are unable to get any further information about their SRS policy (Shein, 2025). The outstanding amount of faulty links, or links leading to sections of the PDF version of the “Condensed Modern Slavery Statement” instead of the information that they are supposed to lead to, is shaky to say the least. From my perspective, it comes across as concealing the details of their policy and having stakeholders only be able to access their broadly written ethical statements, which means they might be aware that something about their prevention practices may not land well with consumers and the media. Or, it comes across as a lack of attention to detail, which is very bad in the context of the document being a “Modern Slavery Statement”. Did they rush through the document to get it signed or to get it published to the main site? It’s hard to say.
Outside of the faulty links, they give us some crumbs of information about their auditing practices. For the most part, it seems pretty thorough. Shein conducts the audits without notice, and suppliers have to pass 140 auditing checkpoints (Shein, 2025). This is so they are able to get a better look into the potential issues with supplies, including:
Attempted bribery
Refusal to undergo audits
Forced labor
Child labor
Wage violations
Working hour violations
Environmental protection
Energy saving
Management systems
Health and safety concerns (Shein, 2025)
The non-notice audits don’t leave room for suppliers to prepare to look their best on the day of auditing to pass their 140 checkpoints, which is a great sign. Additionally, the audits are conducted by both trained internal auditors and third-party inspectors, which lowers the risk of bribery or concealment of information for Shein’s financial gain (Shein, 2025). However, my biggest concern with their auditing structure is that they are conducted annually (Shein, 2025). Additionally, Shein does not clarify if the annual audits are conducted at different times for each supplier, and with so many of the suppliers being in what is known as “Shein City” in Guangzhou, China (Lin, 2025), this allows suppliers to communicate with each other about the audits. Suppliers may be able to detail the time, date, whether the auditor is internal or external, and what checkpoints out of the 140 on their Supplier Code of Conduct (SCoC) the auditors are primarily looking at that year. For suppliers that have been seen to be offending Chinese labor laws, Shein’s SCoC, and basic human rights since the first widespread undercover supplier videos in 2022 continuing into present day, if there is a way for them to sneak by their annual audit, and it could be as simple as communicating with each other, its highly likely that they will do that to keep their contracts, avoid suspension from Shein, and continue their unethical practices to increase their own profit margins.
Environmental Impact Response
Now, Shein is aware that human rights are not the only large ethical scandal the company has been harassed for in the media since 2022. Their response to the emissions created by the fast-fashion giant, Shein, is implementing new energy vehicles to help offset the environmental problems they are creating (Shein, 2025). Which makes a lot of sense as an electric vehicle driving around in Guangzhou, China, is going to help the Kenyans who can no longer get to their grandmother’s house without stepping in waste. With 10% of carbon emissions coming from fast-fashion retailers like Shein, a couple of new cars isn’t going to do much for the environment in the grand scheme of things (Bloomberg, 2022). What those new energy vehicles are really doing for Shein is giving reporters something positive to say about the company, and prepping them to be in compliance with future required green regulations.
Outside of that, Shein has also been trying to implement a similar strategy that IKEA’s Buyback and Resell program, which they launched in 2021, which involves them reusing old IKEA furniture and making it into new products for purchase–aiming to be fully circular by 2030 (IKEA, 2021). For Shein, in their 2024 “Sustainability and Social Impact Report,” they detail their findings of their new mechanical recycling program, with the aim to be a more sustainable company by 2030 as well (Shein, 2024). However, Shein, unlike IKEA, does not detail how they are receiving unwearable or broken garments, or if broken garments are included at all. From what I was able to gather, it came across as a program to revitalize the return items they have been receiving, which is still great progress since Roberts’ documentary, when it was cheaper for the company to throw out returned garments for you than to give them a second chance, or put them back out for purchase (Williams, 2022). Unfortunately, while we are seeing some inches towards sustainability for Shein, there are many environmental concerns that are still going completely unaddressed. They do not have an action plan or publicly stated interest in revitalizing the countries where they have contributed masses of waste through textile and ground and water pollution through polyester fabrics (Bloomberg, 2022). Additionally, they have no system in place for the garments that break within the first couple of washes, as that is what their products are intended to do, so that you go back to their site to purchase more. This is the biggest concern for me regarding Shein, as their entire business model thrives off of cheaply-made clothing, with no plan for what consumers should do with their unwearable pieces–which is how 2,150 pieces of clothing are simply thrown away in the U.S. every second (Bloomberg, 2022).
Like me, Shein’s consumers, the media, and other stakeholders in the fashion industry are dying to see bigger reforms in Shein’s practices, as they are a leader within the garment manufacturing industry. In the next part of “A Deep Dive Into Shein,” we are going to be looking deeper into what others are saying about the company regarding their ethical concerns and the convenience the company brings to their closets.
Resources
Bloomberg News. (2022). The fashion industry’s environmental impact. Bloomberg. https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2022-fashion-industry-environmental-impact/?embedded-checkout=true
Elladex. (n.d.). Modern slavery in the fashion industry. https://elladex.com/insights/modern-slavery-in-the-fashion-industry
IKEA. (n.d.). IKEA US launches national buy-back and resell service as part of global green Friday campaign. https://www.ikea.com/us/en/newsroom/corporate-news/ikea-us-launches-national-buy-back-and-resell-service-as-part-of-global-green-friday-campaign-pub26d45227/
Lin, C. [Cinthia Lin]. (2025, April 19). Inside SHEIN’s factory village [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fd228YQPn-0
Roberts, A. [Prime Video]. (2022). Inside the SHEIN Machine [Film].https://www.primevideo.com/region/na/detail/Inside-the-Shein-Machine/0Q4S1LAZ7XZCD9MTW6Q8J1XEY4
SHEIN. (n.d.). Supply chain transparency statement. https://us.shein.com/SUPPLY-CHAIN-TRANSPARENCY-STATEMENT-a-1091.html
SHEIN Group. (2024, June 14). SHEIN 2024 sustainability and social impact report.https://www.sheingroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/SHEIN-2024-Sustainability-and-Social-Impact-Report-Final-14-June.pdf
SHEIN Group. (n.d.). Human rights policy. https://www.sheingroup.com/human-rights-policy-2/
SHEIN Group. (n.d.). SHEIN advances efforts to lower supply chain emissions and divert waste from landfill.https://www.sheingroup.com/protecting-the-environment/planet/shein-advances-efforts-to-lower-supply-chain-emissions-and-divert-waste-from-landfill/
The New York Post. (2023, February 16). Mountains of trashed trendy clothes overflow landfills, hurt environment: Report.https://nypost.com/2023/02/16/mountains-of-trashed-trendy-clothes-overflow-landfills-hurt-environment-report/
Williams, D. (2022, April 10). SHEIN: The unacceptable face of throwaway fast fashion. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2022/apr/10/shein-the-unacceptable-face-of-throwaway-fast-fashion
I think it is wild, the fact that Shein even has to acknowledge "risks of modern slavery" in its operations and supply chain says a lot about the type of company it is. I thought your description of the document being stitched together by different people before signed off was spot on. It really gives the impression of just checking off a few boxes than a genuine commitment. From the way you laid it out, Shein seems far more concerned with keeping costs low and supplier producing volume than with any ethical standards. Given the company's history and reputation, it's hard to take their sustainability claims seriously, especially when they haven't created an action plan. This post makes it clear…
I find this interesting on how Shein has handled the criticism around its labor and environmental issues. The part about the broken links and vague policies was interesting, because it makes it seem like they want credit for being ethical without actually proving anything. Your analysis of the auditing system also made me think more about how easily suppliers could get around those checks, which is concerning. I also found the environmental section shocking, it is wild how a company this big can offer tiny solutions that while ignoring the bigger picture. Overall, your analysis really helped me understand why so many people still don’t trust Shein.