Electronics global production networks (GPNs) and their expansion in Asia has transformed regional and local economies over the last few decades. Electronics manufacturing is a key and growing industrial sector in both Indonesia and Malaysia employing a significant number of workers – predominantly young people, women, and migrants. It is widely known that the chemicals used in the electronics industry have a negative impact on the workers’ health such as, higher risk of developing cancers, respiratory and dermatologic problems. A number of studies link exposure to chemicals used in the electronics industry and issues in reproductive health or in the health of offspring. Among these are reduced fertility, infertility, miscarriages, premature birth, congenital malformations and increased risk of cancer. As the electronics sector continues to develop in both Indonesia and Malaysia, employing an increasing number of young people, women, and migrants more and more workers are affected. The use of hazardous chemicals is not the only criticism about the treatment of workers in the electronics industry. A number of brands have been criticized for their purchasing practices in which lead firms put pressure on their suppliers to lower their cost of production, which in turn puts pressure on the labour force. To be sure, electronics corporations’ raison d’être is to maximize productivity while minimizing costs, at the expense of the workers’ health and wellbeing. While health hazards and poor working conditions inside electronics factories have been well documented, few studies extensively cover these issues in terms of gender relations. This research attempts to establish a causal relationship between exposure to certain chemicals and the implications for reproductive health and investigates the issues that affect women workers more directly. This study is based on interviews with 27 workers and trade union organizers from four electronics factories in Indonesia and Malaysia, from November 2019 to March 2020. The study reveals a number of key findings: (1) Women workers in the electronics industry in Indonesia and Malaysia experience cancer, miscarriage and other reproductive health problems; (2) Women working in electronics factories supplying to big name brands – including Apple, Walmart and Samsung among others – are exposed to many chemical hazards on a daily basis without proper occupational safety standards and protective equipment; (3) The health effects of exposure to harmful chemicals are exacerbated by working conditions in the factory, such as long working hours and high production targets, which are dictated by their brand-name buyers Download the full publication: (English version) Offshoring the Risks: Gendered Occupational Hazards in Malaysian and Indonesian Electronics Factories