On March 8, International Working Women’s Day, we denounce the brutality of late capitalism, which deepens exploitation, misery and violence against the working class and its oppressed layers. Working women, especially the poorest, those who are immigrants or racialized, are the first to feel the burden of the crises caused by this rotten economic system.
Gender-based violence has reached alarming levels. Femicide, sexual harassment, domestic violence and the commodification of women’s bodies are expressions of a society that naturalizes inequality and oppression. The lack of effective public policies and the impunity enjoyed by abusers makes the situation worse and worse, leaving it clear that for the capitalist system, the lives of working women do not matter.
Women are the most affected by precarious work, low wages and lack of access to quality public services.
The increase in the number of women in the labor market, which suffered a significant setback after the pandemic, has continued unabated due to various factors. On the one hand, women have engaged in struggle and gotten some governments to adopt policies that promote equality and social inclusion. On the other hand, companies saw that women workers are good business, and set about exploiting them in more precarious working conditions and in certain “feminized” niches of the market, as a way of increasing their profits.
The deregulation of the labor market and the advance in the automation and digitalization of production to the detriment of labor especially affects women, who suffer from higher rates of unemployment, temporary and part-time work, informal or contractless employment and gig-work. The ILO points out that, globally, women continue to earn between 20% and 23% less than men for doing the same job. This wage disparity reflects the fact that structural inequalities continue to exist in the labor market that negatively affect women workers.
The privatization, cutbacks or destruction of basic public services in health, education, social services and housing means that the provision of care to guarantee the well-being or even the survival of the working class has increasingly become a question of individual and family responsibility, which falls mainly on the shoulders of working women.
The double working day, combining exploitation in the labor market with domestic work, remains an overwhelming reality for millions of working women around the world. Meanwhile, the concentration of wealth in the hands of a minority continues to increase, highlighting the true objective of the capitalist system and the failure of the discourse of those who dream of ending inequality through reforms from above.
Wars and the ongoing environmental catastrophe make us more vulnerable
The climate crisis, driven by the predatory exploitation of natural resources and the uncontrolled emission of polluting gases, mainly affects poor women, especially those who depend directly on nature for their livelihoods. They are the first to suffer from environmental destruction, lack of access to water, food insecurity and increasingly frequent natural disasters, which aggravate hunger, forced migration and gender violence, exposing them to situations of extreme vulnerability. Meanwhile, governments and large corporations continue to prioritize profits and neglect concrete actions to address the climate emergency.
Nor can we ignore the wars and conflicts that plague the world, such as the genocide of the Palestinian people, a systematic violence carried out by the State of Israel with the full support of the imperialist powers. Palestinian women and children are the direct target of this massacre and face bombardments, forced evictions and the denial of their basic rights.
Putin’s invasion of Ukraine continues to claim lives and deepen the suffering of the working class, with millions of refugees, mostly women, fleeing the destruction imposed by the interests of imperialism and the local bourgeoisie. African women also suffer all kinds of violence and deprivation due to war, as in the distressing situation in the Congo.
The capitalist crisis and the rise of the far right
The capitalist crisis is leading a sector of the bourgeoisie to intensify measures to eliminate any kind of labor regulation that could jeopardize their profitability and to further cheapen labor. This agenda also seeks to impose a historical setback to the achievements, even partial, that we women and LGBTQ+ people have made in recent years.
In this context, the far right is growing in several countries, promoting hate speech, attacks on democracy and the criminalization of social movements. The rise of Donald Trump in the United States, with his government marked by misogynistic, racist, LGBT-phobic and xenophobic policies, is an example of this regression.
“Progressivism” and its false policies of inclusion
But it is not enough to just denounce the far right. Bourgeois governments that call themselves progressive also launch harsh attacks on the working class. While speaking of change and inclusion, they implement fiscal adjustment plans and maintain the policies of cuts applied years ago, paving the way for the far right to gain strength.
Only the unity of the working class and its independent organization can liberate the oppressed of the world
March 8 is not a date for celebration, but a call to action for the entire working class, with women in the front line. It is necessary to build unity in the struggle between working women, social movements, trade unions and popular movements.
For the lives of women! For the end of this capitalist system of exploitation and oppression! For a socialist society!
Long live March 8! Long live the struggle of working women! For international solidarity between peoples! Down with world imperialism!
