Domestic workers have had our international day since 1988. This date serves us to remember the comrades who fought our achievements and all that is lacking for our lives to be dignified and for society to be fair.
Difficulties, continuances and challenges for the fight
At Fundación Rosa Luxemburgo, we think that several years after the first strike it is interesting to ponder the continuity of internationalist bonds, historical lessons learned and current challenges.
These statements come from a virtual transnational debate on the feminist strike organized on February 8, 2023 by the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung. This meeting was
This material was produced in workshops among domestic workers and feminists from Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Honduras, Mexico, Spain and Germany to raise their demands for March 8. Domestic workers, who are protagonists of care every day, will also be protagonists of the struggles on 8M.
The precarious personalized paid domestic work relation can be transformed through municipalization. Going beyond the current legal framework, formalization of domestic work is only possible if the state authority situates itself as the principal employer. Municipalization of domestic work will make it a public good and constitute domestic workers as public employees. This stands to benefit not only domestic workers, but the larger community of households. The cost of the municipalization of domestic work would be collectively borne through municipal taxes. The present context is apt for such interventions given emerging trends of re-municipalization of certain services and public utilities in recent years in some European countries and parts of Latin America. In countries where municipalities are rendering services and utilities to large impoverished sections of society, domestic work can be added on as municipal service.
This November 25, household employees from different countries bring together their demands in this document as part of the women’s and feminist movement for a life free of sexist violence.
What are the points of contact between totalitarianisms and right-wing shift in societies marked by hatred towards gays, lesbians, and trans people. The violent defense of the privileges of powerful heterosexual white men seems to lie behind both processes. Thus, it is no easy fight.
Fighting the extreme right today, as well as the precarity and fears that fuel it, requires decidedly committing to a feminism for everyone.
This is about nothing less than the question of how political organizations can create structures and a culture that enable women and other disadvantaged groups to participate equally, free of discrimination, and in this way become more democratic.
The Acción Trans Combativa collective in Madrid is a strong force within the fight against fascism and conservatism, as well as within the feminist movement. Interview with Kiar Ciotoli.