Feminist Leaders Demand Collective Action As Global Backlash Threatens Gender Rights
As global resistance to women’s rights and gender justice movements intensifies, feminist leaders, labour activists and health advocates have called for stronger collective action to prevent decades of progress from being rolled back.
The call was made during the Women Deliver Conference 2026 in Melbourne, Australia, where over 6,000 participants from 189 countries gathered to discuss gender equality, health and development justice.
Speaking at the inaugural session of SHE & Rights Live, Regional Secretary of Public Services International Asia Pacific, Kate Lappin, warned that “quiet advocacy” alone would not deliver meaningful change.
According to her, many of the rights women and workers enjoy today were achieved through organised movements, trade union struggles and collective disruption.
Lappin criticised the growing corporatisation of care services and stressed the need for stronger public social protection systems to advance women’s rights and support gender-diverse communities.
She also highlighted Melbourne’s historic role in labour rights, noting that the city was among the first globally to achieve the eight-hour workday and now leads conversations on pay equity and reproductive health rights in workplaces.
Human rights defender and indigenous feminist, Matcha Phorn-in, raised concerns over so-called development projects in indigenous communities along the Myanmar border, accusing governments and corporations of violating environmental and human rights through mining and hydro-power projects.
She demanded that gender equality, healthcare rights and the principle of free, prior and informed consent be central to all development policies and investments.
Matcha also called for stronger protection of women and LGBTQIA+ human rights defenders facing increasing legal harassment.
Adding her voice, gender justice advocate Dr Harjyot Khosa warned against what she described as attempts by conservative forces to weaken global commitments on bodily autonomy and reproductive rights.
She urged governments and development partners to reject “pseudo-science” being used to justify policy rollbacks and called for more inclusive and decolonised development financing.
The conference ended with renewed calls for solidarity among feminist groups, labour unions and social justice movements to defend human rights, health equity and development justice globally.
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