Blog by Elizabeth Peterson, Soroptimist of the Americas North Atlantic Region Governor, Connecticut Shoreline Club.
Reimagining Justice Through Decent Work
UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW70), 16 March 2026; Trade Union parallel event led by ITUC Development Network & Equality Dept Coordinator Giulia Massobrio.
At the CSW70 trade union parallel event convened by the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the concept of justice was reframed through the lens of decent work. The discussion made clear that access to fair, safe, and meaningful employment is not only an economic issue but foundational to human rights, dignity, and participation in society. When women are excluded from work, they are effectively cut off from justice itself.
Nowhere is this more starkly illustrated than in Afghanistan following the 2021 regime change. In a matter of months, women and girls were stripped of fundamental rights, including access to education, employment, and legal protections. Prevented from working, they have been pushed into extreme dependency, permitted to beg for survival, but denied the autonomy to financially support themselves or their families. Without the ability to safely report abuse or participate in community life, women are left isolated and vulnerable. With domestic violence affecting an estimated 46 per cent of women, participants emphasised that such conditions must be recognised not as culture or tradition, but as a form of systemic violence and repression.
Yet even under these conditions, Afghan women continue to demonstrate resilience and resistance. Many pursue underground or online education, teaching one another subjects such as medicine despite being barred from formal healthcare systems. Their determination underscores both the urgency of global solidarity and the inadequacy of mere expressions of sympathy. What is needed is sustained international action to restore rights, access, and opportunity.
The conversation also highlighted that threats to decent work and justice are not confined to conflict zones. In the United States, recent policy decisions including layoffs, hiring freezes, and the rollback of collective labor protections have disproportionately impacted women, particularly women of color. Labor movements, such as organising efforts among service workers and nurses, reflect growing resistance to these pressures. At the same time, federal workers facing furloughs and job insecurity illustrate how economic instability can erode protections even in advanced economies.
Across these contexts, a common theme emerges: without decent work, women cannot achieve independence, equality, or justice. Employment provides not only income, but also voice, agency, and access to rights. When systems deny women these opportunities whether through authoritarian rule or economic policy, they reinforce cycles of inequality and exclusion.
Reimagining justice, therefore, requires a global commitment to ensuring decent work for all women. This includes strengthening labor rights, protecting freedom of association, and addressing systemic inequities that limit participation. It also demands accountability from governments and institutions that fail to uphold these principles. Ultimately, building a just society depends on recognising that economic empowerment is inseparable from human rights and that women’s work is central to both.
