It's a slippery slope, and I choose to believe that most of this is because there are no safe working conditions in these factories. The factories need to enforce, at their level, safe working conditions, good pay, and give employees PTO as well as fair work hours. However, since demand is so high for the cheap Shein products and they must produce as many products as possible, there is no way Shein to keep up at the pace they've been at for the last 2 years. Like Lexus said, I'm pretty sure all fast-fashion companies are like this. If you don't look at Shein, look at ROMWE, it's the same exact type of fashion for similar super low prices. Should the consumers be blamed for buying these products? Why can't we hold the factory management responsible?
Horrible work conditions in sweatshops will lead people to working under these terrible conditions and terrible wages. They have no other option, and if this is what puts food on their table then so be it. It happened in the US until the muckrakers like Upton Sinclair stepped in to expose the horrible ways employees were being treated through his publication of The Jungle in 1906 which sparked public outcry for better conditions (well, that's like half the story, but I digress). Is such a thing possible in communist China where every move is monitored by the government? I don't think so, and I'm so sorry for the people affected.
I do my part by not buying from Shein, but I'm sure the only difference between Shein & H&M is that Shein is cheaper.