A Life with Dignity: Honduran women raising voices to improve labour standards

Overview

This paper shows how CODEMUH (Colectiva de Mujeres Hondureñas), a grassroots women’s collective in Honduras, mobilised a popular movement around labour rights in the country’s textile factories, or maquilas. Focusing on occupational health, CODEMUH ran a campaign which included research, training, and advocacy workshops for the women themselves, building alliances locally, nationally, and internationally, and involving key journalists and the media. The paper explains the challenges and the strategies used to overcome them. It also outlines the lessons learned when women have greater capacity to advocate for changes in policy and practice at corporate and national levels.