Asian feminists on building bridges between women’s rights and labour rights

There is imperative need, Patel stressed, for women’s work to be recognized for its contribution to national income, economic growth, national efficiency and productivity and to establish a supportive environment so that women are not forced to leave the workforce because of care work.

She said a new kind of feminization of the workforce is taking place, one in which women’s participation is fragmented. She emphasized that new types of interventions are needed, based on research, labour studies, human rights activity and the gender sensitization of policy-makers and others who have power.

Following the showing of a documentary film on maternity rights in Bangladesh, Pakistan and the Philippines, entitled INNA, MAA, AMMI, a panel of Bangladeshi labour rights activists and feminist network members discussed what interventions are needed to bridge the gap between the feminist movement and labour rights.

In the panel discussion on policy, practice and challenges in realizing maternity rights in Asia, Khushi Kabir, the Executive Director of Nijera Kari Bangladesh, pointed out that maternity is not an individual problem and that society must take responsibility to create a supportive environment for women.

Pointing out the problem of implementing laws, Magnolia del Rosario, a law student from Manila and one of the film makers who interviewed women in the Philippines, said: “A new law increasing maternity leave was just passed this February in the Philippines [link], but many women don’t know about it. They were not aware about their rights, and that is something we want to address in this documentary. We want to hear their voices.”

Joining her, Taslima Akhter, President of the Bangladesh Garment Sromik Samhati, emphasized the need for society and employers to value women as human beings and as citizens. Referring to the many garment factories in her country that employ thousands of women workers, she said, “They don’t respect their workers. It’s the floor managers who don’t consider workers’ sufferings to be respected. I feel that we have lot of work to be done.” 

Akhter also urged for more roundtables to hear the perspectives from grass-roots communities to arrive at the “right” interventions for ensuring women’s rights.

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For more information on the regional project Feminism in Asia contact the FES Office for Regional Cooperation in Asia.