Thirty years ago, the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action set out an ambitious blueprint for gender equality. It was a call for transformative change—a world where women’s rights are recognised as human rights, where work is dignified, where equality is not just promised, but delivered.
But three decades on, where do we stand? Have we moved closer to this vision, or are we seeing it unravel?
There are victories to recognise – women have fought and won battles that once seemed impossible. But those victories are fragile. Hard-won rights are under attack, and progress is at risk of being reversed.
Across the world, we are witnessing a deliberate and dangerous backlash against women’s rights, workers’ rights, and democracy itself.
Women workers are being pushed back into precarious conditions, unsafe workplaces, and undervalued labour. Their voices are being silenced, their rights denied, their demands ignored. Inequality is not just persisting—it is deepening.
This is not happening in isolation. They are part of a broader assault on freedoms—on civil liberties, on labour rights, on democracy itself.
The attacks on democracy are not just assaults on democratic institutions—they are attacks on women’s rights, on trade union rights, on human rights. A world that silences women’s voices is not a democracy. A world that denies workers their rights is not a democracy. A world where economies sustain itself on exploitation, undignified work, and unpaid care labour is not the world we will accept.
History has shown that women do not back down in the face of injustice. They confront challenges with determination, turning adversity into strength.
Women trade unionists are not just demanding change—they are making it happen. Their fight is not only about workplace justice but about shaping societies where rights, dignity, and equality are non-negotiable.
But these are more than just struggles for fairness; they are fundamental to democracy itself. A society that denies women economic and social justice undermines its own democratic foundations.
This fight is driven by clear demands:
Across industries, sectors, and borders, women workers and activists are leading critical fights. Some are organising domestic workers, garment workers, market vendors, home- based workers, migrant communities, and young workers. Others are leading rescue efforts in disaster-stricken areas, standing up for the rights of the most vulnerable, or pushing for stronger protections in national policies.
And beyond them, there are millions more whose names and struggles go unrecognised, but whose actions are shaping the world.
Their struggles take different forms, shaped by economic conditions, political realities, and the evolving world of work. But they share a common demand: a world where work is dignified, rights are protected, and justice is non-negotiable. Whether in the streets, in workplaces, or at the negotiating table, women are organising, resisting, and building power.
We do not underestimate the challenges ahead. We know that corporate greed, political repression, anti-worker policies, and deep-rooted patriarchy will not disappear overnight. The forces working against justice and equality remain relentless.
But so do we. Trade unions will keep fighting. Women trade unionists keep leading.
And together, we will defend democracy, human rights, and equality—not just on symbolic occasions, but every single day of the year.
To every woman fighting for her rights, to every unionist organising for change, and to every ally standing in solidarity—our fight is far from over.
Let’s organise, mobilise, and claim the future we deserve.
In strength, in action, in solidarity,
Shoya Yoshida
General Secretary
ITUC-Asia Pacific
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