The women-run for-women restaurants in Afghanistan, once a vital source of employment and a space for women to socialize, are now being forced to close by the Taliban.
In Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, the closure of these women-run small restaurants is a significant setback.
Since their return to power in August 2021, the Taliban have implemented a series of measures restricting women’s freedoms, including banning secondary education and university for women and enforcing strict dress codes.
Women are left with limited employment options, with women-only restaurants and kitchens being one of the few remaining choices. However, the Taliban is pressuring these establishments to close.
The Brai-Banowan-Afghan restaurant, which means “For Afghan Ladies,” was one of the few places in northeastern Afghanistan where women could work and dine freely. It was run by women, for women.
Taliban’s Ministry of Vice and Virtue visited the Brai-Banowan-Afghan restaurant and inspected it for compliance with “religious edicts”.
Nawa, the owner of The Brai-Banowan-Afghan restaurant, stated that the Taliban group informed her after checking the restaurant if it was complying with religious edicts, “You have male customers coming to eat here. We are closing your restaurant for violating our religious edicts.”
The Taliban’s Ministry of Vice and Virtue had granted permission for the women’s restaurants to operate, with the condition that they “cater exclusively to women and do not serve male customers or employ male staff.” This was confirmed by the Taliban’s Ministry.
“No male customer has come to the restaurant,” Nawa said, “This is an excuse for the Taliban to increase restrictions on our work.”
This incident led all restaurant employees to stay home out of fear.
Born into a relatively well-off family, Nawa faced financial hardship after marriage. “I realized that just because a family is wealthy doesn’t make the woman wealthy. She must have her own money,” she said. Her experiences motivated her to help other women in dire straits through the restaurant.
The 34-year-old mother of five, envisioned it as a place where vulnerable women, often the sole breadwinners of their families, could find employment and a sense of purpose. Her staff included widows, young women deprived of education, and women from underprivileged backgrounds. “We were providing jobs for women and a welcoming space to eat,” Nawa said. “One of the women has seven children, and her husband passed away, and this was the only opportunity for her to bring food to the table.”
The closure of the Brai-Banowan-Afghan restaurant is a stark reminder of the limited opportunities available to Afghan women.
25-year-old Shabnam, who worked at the restaurant to support her family after her father’s passing, now faces an uncertain future. “Working has improved my mood,” Shabnam said, “But now I don’t know what to do.”
“I am tired; first, they closed my university, and now that I chose to work in the restaurant, they closed this as well,” said Shabnam. She used to be a student at Kabul University, studying in the agriculture faculty, until the Taliban banned women from attending university.
Restaurants, created and run by women, had become a refuge for women In Taliban-controlled Afghanistan that was becoming increasingly restrictive. “It was not only important for the women who work there; the restaurant also provides a space for women to gather and socialize outside the home,” said Nawa. “This space open for women is important.”
Women have expressed outrage and fear over the closures, viewing them yet another step towards erasing women’s presence in public life.
A woman customer of the Restaurant said, “This was a place where women could feel safe and independent. Now, that is taken from us.” Another woman, a frequent visitor to the restaurant, shared her distress: “These restaurants were our only refuge. Where are we supposed to go now?”
A similar situation unfolded at another women-only restaurant, which cannot be named due to security concerns. Shahida, one of the workers, shared her experience: “The restaurant was a beacon of hope for us. It allowed us to work in a safe environment and support our families. Now, with the closure, we are left with no options.” Shahida, a single mother of three, now faces uncertainty and fear for her family’s future. Taliban officials visited their restaurant multiple times, often chastising the women for not wearing their hijabs correctly or for minor infractions. “They told us women cannot work here because it is against their beliefs,” Shahida said. “But what other options do we have?”
Halima, another worker at a different women-run restaurant, also facing closure, recounted the impact of the Taliban’s restrictions: “The restaurant was more than just a place to work. It was a sanctuary where we could gather, share our stories, and support each other. Losing this space is devastating.” She recalled a senior Taliban figure visiting the restaurant and declaring that women should not be working at all, as it goes against their interpretation of religious laws. “He said women should be at home, not out working. We were terrified and didn’t know what to do,” Halima shared.
The names of the interviewees have been changed to protect their identities.
It is well understood that human-induced climate change is causing more frequent and intense heat waves, exposing workers to heat stress and heat stroke. This not only has a serious impact on workers’ health, but also on their incomes and livelihoods. When workers are unable to work for prolonged periods or are unable to work at all due to extreme heat, the work hours lost due to extreme heat translate into lost wages or lower incomes. As we have explained elsewhere in The Lancet Planetary Health:
Due to extreme heat and exposure to the sun, as well as other extreme weather events, the times at which agricultural workers and marginal farmers can work in plantations and fields is getting shorter. The 2021 Lancet Countdown Report warned that 79% of all potential work hours lost to extreme heat in low HDI countries occurred in the agricultural sector in 2020. This finding raises concerns that the effect of heat exposure on working hours could also affect food production, resulting in devastating economic consequences to these already vulnerable workers.
Compared with working hours in 2012, agricultural workers and marginal farmers are now starting work earlier in the morning and finishing work later in the evening to avoid the hottest part of the day. Such changes in working time to reduce the risk of heat exhaustion and heat strain are often described as climate adaptation strategies. However, in several low and medium HDI countries workers might have already reached the limit of their adaptive capacity.
Among the most vulnerable workers are women workers in the informal economy who have reached the limits of their adaptive capacity and face the “devastating economic consequences” of lost work hours due to extreme heat. Their lack of access to social protection means they face an even greater risk of income loss and poverty. In response, the IUF-affiliated Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) has launched a new initiative to provide extreme heat insurance to women workers in the informal economy
SEWA’s new Heat Wave Insurance system enables members to address the urgent need to cope with extreme heat situations as well as to build their resilience to withstand its impact. Earlier this year a pilot Heat Wave Insurance system was introduced that covered 52,000 members from different trades in 22 districts. More than 46,000 members (88%) received benefits from this new insurance scheme which provided vital income support in severe heat waves.
This insurance enabled the SEWA members to avoid having to choose between protecting their health, purchasing medicines, feeding their families or financial security. Moreover, as SEWA has explained, this inclusive approach ensures that vulnerable women workers can reach beyond the physical limits of climate adaptation, thereby promoting equity and social justice. This is one of the ways to ensure a Just Transition.
See the BBC news report, “An insurance plan that protects women during extreme heat”:
On International Workers’ Day, the newly formed Gujarat Domestic Workers’ Union in India advocated for rights and protections for domestic workers. Gujarat Domestic Workers’ Union, a sister organization of Gujarat Agriculture Labour Union, also called for ratification and implementation of ILO Domestic Workers Convention, 2011 (No.189), as basis for labour standard for domestic workers.
Women members highlighted the need for a comprehensive legislation for domestic workers to regulate employment and working conditions such as wages, working hours, weekly holidays, social protection, occupational health and safety regulations, including right to a safe workplace free from harassment.
Domestic workers in India, mostly women, are engaged in informal and unregulated employment relationships and lack access to fundamental human rights and freedoms that all workers are entitled to. On may 1, they call for recognition of their work and be treated with respect and dignity that all human beings are entitled to.
Sister Paulomee Mistry addressing the meeting
Gujarat Domestic Workers’ Union, General Secretary, Sister Paulomee Mistry said: “Sisters, we’ve been laboring in households, often unseen and underappreciated. By uniting as a union, we assert our identity as workers entitled to rights and dignity. Our only plea is for our labor to be valued and compensated fairly.”
One of the urgent demands is for increase in pension for single women, with one member highlighting “Single women domestic workers are among the most vulnerable among us. Many are widowed or abandoned by their families. We demand that the state government raise this pension to a more enabling amount.”
In addition, members called for identity cards for domestic workers to access benefits under social protection policies including access to benefits under National Food Security Act and opportunities for skill development for women to access better skilled, higher paid jobs.
Domestic workers often work in isolation and union activities are an often the only opportunity for them to have a collective identity as workers. Union organized fun games such as tug of war, lemon race and musical chairs as a part of group activities for women workers.
Dalam beberapa tahun terakhir, konsep “pelecehan seksual quid pro quo” telah menjadi pusat penjelasan mengenai pelecehan seksual dan kekerasan terhadap perempuan. Secara khusus, penggunaan istilah tersebut oleh ILO – serta Global Unions– menjadikan “pelecehan seksual quid pro quo” sebagai bagian integral dari pemahaman kita tentang kekerasan berbasis gender di dunia kerja.
Penggunaan “pelecehan seksual quid pro quo” yang meluas dan tidak kritis menimbulkan pertanyaan apakah hal tersebut secara akurat menggambarkan apa yang dihadapi pekerja perempuan dan bagaimana hal tersebut membingkai tindakan yang diperlukan untuk menghilangkan pelecehan seksual dan kekerasan terhadap perempuan.
Realitanya adalah perempuan dengan kontrak kerja yang tidak terjamin lebih rentan terhadap pelecehan dan penganiayaan seksual ketika laki-laki memutuskan apakah mereka akan dipekerjakan, apakah kontrak mereka akan diperbarui, berapa banyak pekerjaan yang mereka terima, mendapatkan peran atau posisi sebagai apa, bagaimana penilaian kinerja mereka, dan pada akhirnya adalah seberapa banyak pendapatan mereka dan untuk berapa lama (masa kerja mereka).
Baru-baru ini di sebuah perusahaan global terkemuka yang beroperasi di Asia Tenggara, direktur SDM perusahaan tersebut menggunakan wewenang tunggal dan eksklusifnya untuk memutuskan rekrutmen, pembaruan kontrak, dan pengangkatan tetap pekerja perempuan. Dia kemudian melakukan pelecehan seksual dan pelecehan fisik terhadap 35 wanita selama lima tahun. Dalam kasus lain – di sebuah perusahaan minuman transnasional di Filipina dan baru-baru ini sebuah perusahaan makanan ringan transnasional di Pakistan – kontraktor tenaga kerja laki-laki dan supervisor laki-laki mereka memaksa pekerja kontrak perempuan untuk melakukan hubungan seks sebagai imbalan karena telah mempekerjakan mereka, dan ketika mereka sudah bekerja, mereka dipaksa untuk melakukan hubungan seks untuk mendapat hari kerja tambahan.
Untuk memahami bagaimana dan mengapa hal ini terjadi (dan untuk mencegah hal ini terjadi), perlu ada pemahaman yang lebih jelas tentang mengapa perempuan yang berada dalam pekerjaan tidak tetap (pekerjaan yang tidak aman/kontrak) menghadapi risiko pelecehan dan penganiayaan seksual yang jauh lebih besar. Laki-laki yang mempunyai wewenang (atau yang mengaku mempunyai wewenang) mengeksploitasi kerentanan ekonomi perempuan dan kerentanan sosial mereka (dalam hal status pekerjaan).
Istilah Quid pro quo (“ini untuk itu”) mengacu pada pertukaran imbalan atas sesuatu dan paling umum dipahami sebagai pertukaran bantuan (saya bantu kamu, kamu bantu saya). Ketidakseimbangan yang luar biasa dalam kekuasaan (otoritas laki-laki yang tidak terkendali) dan kerentanan pekerja perempuan (ekonomi dan sosial) mendasari pelecehan dan kekerasan seksual. Ini bukan pertukaran. Ini bukan sebuah bantuan. Selain itu, quid pro quo mengasumsikan adanya kesepakatan implisit yang pada gilirannya menyiratkan persetujuan. Hal ini sangat tidak dapat diterima mengingat kenyataan yang terjadi dan yang kita hadapi.
Seorang pekerja kontrak perempuan meminta tambahan 12 hari kerja agar ia berhak mendapatkan tunjangan wajib. Supervisor kontraktor dengan bantuan pemimpin serikat pekerja mengatakan ikutlah dengan saya dan kita akan mendiskusikannya. Mereka memaksanya berhubungan seks dengan mereka lalu meninggalkan dia begitu saja di dekat rumahnya. Dia melapor untuk bekerja keesokan harinya. Manajemen perusahaan transnasional tersebut meremehkan upaya beraninya untuk mengajukan tuntutan pemerkosaan karena mereka yakin dia sengaja mencari kesempatan ini dan terjadilah pertukaran. Satu-satunya tindakan ketidakpatuhan (bukan kejahatan) adalah bahwa supervisor kontraktor dan pemimpin serikat pekerja menyalahgunakan wewenang mereka dan seharusnya tidak menawarkan imbalan. Transparansi yang lebih besar dan pelatihan penyegaran mengenai pelecehan seksual adalah hal yang diperlukan.
Meremehkan eksploitasi terhadap kerentanan dan pemerkosaan yang dialami pekerja kontrak perempuan didukung oleh penggunaan “pelecehan seksual quid pro quo” yang dilakukan ILO. Menurut konsep ini, pelanggaran yang terjadi adalah pelecehan seksual karena diskriminasi berbasis gender. Rupanya para laki-laki tersebut melakukan diskriminasi terhadap pekerja kontrak perempuan dengan alasan bahwa ia adalah perempuan. Namun, konsep tersebut telah mengalami transformasi lainnya (tidak lagi membahas diskriminasi terhadap perempuan) karena cakupan C190 yang lebih luas mencakup laki-laki dan perempuan:
Yang hilang adalah rasa putus asa atas kondisi ekonomi yang berasal dari ketidakamanan pekerjaan atau pekerjaan tidak tetap yang dialami perempuan, dan eksploitasi yang disengaja atas kerentanan mereka oleh laki-laki atau laki-laki yang dapat memutuskan apakah kondisi ketidakamanan pekerjaan tersebut bertambah atau berkurang. Ini adalah pemaksaan.
Konsekuensi yang dapat diprediksi jika kita tidak menyetujui pemaksaan ini adalah sumber kekhawatiran yang terus-menerus, ditambah dengan kecemasan dan ketidakamanan yang berasal dari kerentanan ekonomi, sosial, dan dalam banyak kasus, kerentanan fisik. Kecemasan yang dialami perempuan dalam pekerjaan yang tidak aman meningkatkan kekuasaan laki-laki yang memegang otoritas dan menjadi bagian integral dari efektivitas pemaksaan ini. Namun kerentanan ekonomi perempuan membuat mereka tidak bisa melepaskan diri dari paksaan ini. Ini adalah lingkaran setan – bukan pertukaran bantuan.
Dalam kasus Direktur SDM sebuah perusahaan transnasional yang mengeksploitasi 35 perempuan, ia membawa perempuan muda (di bawah otoritasnya dan dengan kontrak jangka waktu tertentu yang hanya dapat diperpanjang olehnya) ke asramanya dan melakukan pelecehan seksual dan dalam beberapa kasus melakukan kekerasan seksual terhadap mereka. Bagaimana bisa pemaksaan ini disebut quid pro quo? Kita perlu melihat pemaksaan ini dalam pemahaman kita tentang pelecehan seksual. Bukan pertukaran bantuan.
Implikasi yang paling meresahkan dari istilah “pelecehan seksual quid pro quo” adalah gagasan implisit tentang persetujuan. Pertukaran (“ini untuk itu”) menyiratkan bahwa Si Perempuan (korban pelecehan) sadar akan apa yang dia lakukan dan secara default bertanggung jawab atas konsekuensinya. Pandangan umum di kalangan perempuan yang memegang otoritas (manajer dan supervisor) dan bahkan rekan kerja perempuan lainnya adalah bahwa mereka (korban) tahu apa yang akan mereka hadapi. Hal ini mempunyai implikasi yang serius tidak hanya terhadap kerentanan perempuan (pengisolasian dalam suatu lingkungan mulai dari kurangnya dukungan hingga cemoohan dan permusuhan) namun juga terhadap solusi yang dirasakan. Jika pendekatan “pelecehan seksual quid pro quo” melanggengkan mitos persetujuan, maka menempatkan lebih banyak perempuan pada posisi yang berwenang mungkin tidak mengurangi kerentanan perempuan. Hal ini juga tidak mengurangi kerentanan ekonomi perempuan akibat pengaturan pekerjaan tidak tetap (pekerjaan yang tidak aman/kontrak).
Istilah “pelecehan seksual quid pro quo” pertama kali digunakan dalam kasus hukum AS yang diajukan pada tahun 1976 oleh Diane Williams yang dipecat dari pekerjaannya di Departemen Kehakiman AS setelah mengajukan pengaduan terhadap atasannya. Pengadilan memutuskan bahwa Williams menjadi sasaran “pelecehan seksual quid pro quo”. Namun yang menjadikan tindakan pemberi kerja menjadi ilegal adalah karena tindakan tersebut didasarkan pada diskriminasi jenis kelamin: hanya perempuan yang merupakan objek dalam menerima rayuan seksual, sehingga menciptakan hambatan buatan dalam mendapatkan pekerjaan bagi salah satu gender, namun tidak bagi gender lainnya. Diskriminasi ini ditetapkan melanggar Undang-Undang Hak Sipil tahun 1964.
Hal ini menjadi preseden bagi kasus lain yang kalah pada tahun 1974, dan dimenangkan pada tingkat banding pada tahun 1977. Paulette Barnes adalah pegawai penggajian yang bekerja untuk Badan Perlindungan Lingkungan AS (US Environmental Protection Agency). Dia kehilangan pekerjaannya setelah menolak berhubungan seks dengan supervisor laki-laki. Ketika Barnes memenangkan bandingnya pada tahun 1977, pengadilan memutuskan bahwa kasus tersebut merupakan diskriminasi jenis kelamin jika seorang perempuan menderita kerugian atas pekerjaan yang nyata (misalnya kehilangan pekerjaan/dipecat) karena menolak memenuhi permintaan yang bersifat seksual. Sekali lagi, diskriminasi ini melanggar Undang-Undang Hak Sipil tahun 1964.
Ketika perempuan seperti Williams dan Barnes kehilangan pekerjaan karena menolak berhubungan seks dengan atasannya, mereka menolak quid pro quo dan ini menjadi isu diskriminasi karena hal ini tidak akan terjadi jika mereka laki-laki. Konsekuensi logis dari pemikiran tersebut adalah perempuan bisa menolak dan dihukum atau menerima dan dieksploitasi secara seksual. Keduanya merupakan pelecehan seksual namun ada rasa persetujuan yang tersirat – sebuah pertukaran dengan hasil yang diharapkan. Inilah sebabnya mengapa laki-laki lebih memilih istilah “pelecehan seksual quid pro quo”. Hal ini salah karena merupakan penyalahgunaan wewenang, namun dilakukan berdasarkan persetujuan implisit dimana perempuan tersebut mengharapkan untuk mendapatkan pekerjaan, lulus masa percobaan, memperbarui kontrak atau mendapatkan promosi. Kekerasan dan pemaksaan yang mendasari semua situasi di mana kerentanan ekonomi dan sosial perempuan dieksploitasi dikaburkan oleh gagasan pertukaran – sebuah transaksi.
Apa yang benar-benar hilang dalam 47 tahun sejak Williams vs. Saxbe (1976) dan Barnes vs. Costle (1977), adalah bahwa satu-satunya cara untuk memenangkan kasus hukum pada saat itu adalah dengan membuktikan bahwa kasus tersebut melanggar Undang-Undang Hak Sipil tahun 1964. Dan satu-satunya cara untuk melakukan hal tersebut adalah dengan membuktikan bahwa hal tersebut merupakan diskriminasi jenis kelamin (diskriminasi berbasis gender). Alih-alih mengembangkan undang-undang dan peraturan yang lebih kuat untuk mengkriminalisasi penyalahgunaan kekuasaan yang dilakukan laki-laki terhadap pekerja perempuan dan menjadikan pelecehan seksual sebagai kejahatan, kita sekarang melihat argumen hukum yang dikompromikan dari lima dekade lalu digunakan di tingkat global.
Yang juga hilang adalah Diane Williams dan Paulette Barnes adalah perempuan Afrika-Amerika. Dalam gagasan “pelecehan seksual quid pro quo” ini tidak ada ruang untuk membicarakan fakta bahwa rasisme yang sistemik dan terlembaga mendasari kerentanan mereka dan kekuatan koersif laki-laki.
Dr Muhammad Hidayat Greenfield, Sekretaris Regional IUF Asia/Pacific
Trade unions in West Bengal including IUF affiliated Progressive Plantation Workers’ Union, Nowera Nuddy have been campaigning for housing rights for people in the tea plantations for many years. As a result, on 1st August 2023, the West Bengal government issued notification to grant “pattas” (land for houses) to people living in tea plantations in the six districts in the North Bengal region under the “Scheme for distributing homestead pattas among landless tea gardens labourers in North Bengal”. The implementation of the notification started in February, 2024.
This is a historic victory for tea plantation workers and their families, who have been living on the same land for 4 generations but still had no rights to their homes. Workers houses are treated as a condition for their employment and is understood as a form of wage-in kind that justifies low wages, an instrument to control their lives.[1]
International human rights law recognizes everyone’s right to an adequate standard of living, including adequate housing. Access to adequate housing can be a precondition for the enjoyment of several human rights, including the rights to work, health, social security, vote, privacy or education.[2] Not having right to their house and the constant threat of forced eviction interferes with workers’ ability to exercise their right to freedom of association and collective bargaining.
Women workers planning the implementation of housing rights
“We have always had uncertainty about where we belong. We have lived in the company house since our forefathers but were made to feel like we are not from here. We live with a fear that we can be thrown out. We are always uncertain to make any changes to the house, as some company managers allow but some don’t” said Sister Sabitri Lohar, Women’s Water, Sanitation and Health Committee member at Nowera Nuddy tea estate.
Winning housing rights is significant as it provides security to people in the plantations, reduces vulnerability and a step away from plantation paternalism, where everything from clean drinking water to repairing toilets to healthcare and education is perceived as services and care provided by the management at the will of management. Workers didn’t have decision making power regarding their lives and moreover they didn’t have any certainty to plan their future.
What makes the victory even more significant is that the unions will be part of the official committees that will conduct survey and finalize beneficiaries, the house deed will also have women’s name in it and in families with single or widow women, it will solely be in their name, family with only women head will be given priorities and the deed can only be heritable and cannot be transferred.
On March 10, 2024, the Women’s Committee at Nowera Nuddy has taken a decision to conduct their own survey, mapping and work together with the responsible government officials to ensure that workers and their families get access to housing rights. Women’s Committee is also running an education campaign to explain the details of the notification.
Women workers discussing the importance of housing rights in reducing vulnerability for women by using International Women’s Day 2024 posters.
“This is a huge win for us and for our children’s future. If the house is in our name no one can ask us to leave. With this we can link with other government programs to build our houses. We can build it as our own home.” said Sister Kapila Lohar, Women’s Women’s Water, Sanitation and Health Committee member.
“We have done surveys for access to water and sanitation in the housing lines, we know how many families live in each housing line. We will do a similar survey for houses and will accompany the government officials, so no one’s name is left behind.” said Sister Parbait Lohar, Women’s Women’s Water, Sanitation and Health Committee member.
Women’s Water, Sanitation and Health Committee won reinstatement for Sister Behani Oraon (on the right). Sis. Behani, a 45 years old widow, worked in the plantation for 25 years as a permanent worker was suspended for constructing her house.
Worker’s current housing condition
Worker’s current housing conditions
[1] In tea plantations, housing is provided by the management of the company, that has leased the plantation from the government, only to permanent workers, but when a permanent worker retires or dies, someone in the family has to replace them as permanent worker. This system is called “Badli” work. So at least one member in the family must work as permanent worker in the plantation to keep living in that house or they will be threatened or forced to vacate the house. This system hinders in workers and their family’s ability to access human rights.
On International Women’s Day 2024, IUF Asia/Pacific conducted a workshop in Samut Prakarn, Thailand, under the theme “Secure Jobs and Better Wages for Women Workers” with twelve women union members, out of which ten were young members, from two unions: the Unilever Labour Union of Thailand and the Nisshin STC Labour Union of Thailand.
This cross-union collaboration fostered a vital exchange of ideas on addressing sexual harassment and violence against women in the workplace. The workshop’s core message centered on the critical link between secure employment with better wages and prevention of sexual harassment and violence against women. It effectively challenged prevailing misconceptions that attributes sexual harassment and violence against women to women’s ambition instead of the economic and social vulnerabilities faced by women in precarious employment arrangements, insecure jobs, unsafe work and poverty wages. Women workers face systematic discrimination in recruitment, employment, wages and benefits, facilities, training and promotion opportunities. Real-world examples from other unions further solidified this crucial connection.
Participants engaged in practical exercises, rehearsing how to engage more union members and collaboratively brainstorming solutions to present to their respective unions.
The workshop yielded significant results. Participants actively reflected on their own experiences with discrimination, sexual harassment and violence against women issues linked to insecure employment, openly shared their perspectives with participants from different backgrounds, and identified the need for more robust union mechanisms to address gender based violence.
This facilitated knowledge transfer and empowered participants to advocate for change within their organizations and through their organization in workplaces.
Nisshin STC Labour Union solidifying a commitment to integrate sexual harassment and violence against women into future union training initiatives scheduled for June 2024.
The Nisshin STC Labour Union demonstrated exceptional proactiveness. They requested that the acquired knowledge be incorporated into their upcoming capacity-building programs for youth members and committees.
This workshop transcended mere education by fostering solidarity among women union members, equipping them with valuable knowledge, and facilitating solution-oriented discussions. It empowered women to become agents of change, paving the way for a safer and more equitable workplace environment.
