Even as gender equality and women’s fundamental rights are under attack around the world, women activists and their unions and organizations are standing up to the challenges and pushing back, panelists said yesterday during the launch of a landmark report,...
The Solidarity Center and worker rights organizations like the Lanka Eksath Jathika Workers Union in Sri Lanka advocated for a landmark global standard to eliminate gender-based violence and harassment at work and are pushing for its ratification by governments. Credit: Solidarity Center/Sean Stephen
The Solidarity Center prioritizes preventing and addressing gender-based violence and harassment in the world of work, recognizing it is a primary barrier to achieving gender equality and a key step for security of all workers’ rights. The Solidarity Center seeks to enhance the voice of women and other marginalized workers in policy making at the local, national, and international levels to reduce the risk of gender-based violence at work and build leadership, voice and direct participation of women and other marginalized workers and their unions.
Beginning in 2014, the Solidarity Center was a core member of a global coalition of worker rights organizations led by women union activists that successfully advocated for a landmark global standard (Convention 190) to eliminate violence and harassment in the world of work, including gender-based violence and harassment which was adopted by the International Labor Organization in June 2019. We support our partners as they campaign for their governments to ratify ILO Convention 190.
Report: Freedom to Form Unions Key to Women’s Activism
Women activists and their organizations are the drivers of positive change worldwide—and the freedom to form unions and freely associate is key to their ability to do so, according to a report released today. “Celebrating Women in Civil Society and Activism,” prepared...
Garment Workers Need Our Assistance, Tunisia Labor Movement Tells Employers, Government
The Tunisian General Labor Union (UGTT) is calling on employers and the government to join with it in addressing the severe challenges textile workers are facing during the COVID-19 crisis and negotiate an action plan to guide the struggling garment sector. Some...

Freedoms on the Move: The Civic Space of Migrant Workers and Refugees
Freedoms on the Move, a new report by Solidarity Center and CIVICUS, makes clear that many migrant workers and refugees want to have a say in their communities and their workplaces, and in the decisions that affect their lives—and is an urgent call to action for...

ILO GBV at Work Standard: First-Ever Comprehensive Legal Standard
A Solidarity Center legal analysis shows the proposed ILO convention on gender-based violence and harassment at work is necessary because no global binding instrument exists that comprehensively addresses violence and harassment in the world of work, including...

In Our Own Words: Women Workers Address Gender-Based Violence in Garment Factories in Cambodia
While studies have shown the prevalence of violence against women at home and in their communities, no comprehensive data exists to document the extent of gender-based violence (GBV) at work. To better understand GBV at work, 23 activists and female leaders of workers...

In Our Own Words: Women Address Gender-Based Violence in Garment Factories in Indonesia
While studies have shown the prevalence of violence against women at home and in their communities, no comprehensive data exists to document the extent of gender-based violence (GBV) at work. To better understand GBV at work, 17 activists and female leaders of workers...

The High Cost of Low Wages in Haiti (2019)
Haitian garment workers face increasing difficulty in covering basic expenditures as prices soar while wages hover far below the cost of living. Download here in Creole. Download here in English. Download here in French.

The Benefits of Collective Bargaining for Women: A Case Study of Morocco
This study by the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) and Solidarity Center finds women workers in Morocco’s fertile Meknes region are making big gains in gender equality on the job through their union, the Confédération Démocratique du Travail (CDT)....