Rights, Justice, Action, For ALL Women and Girls: Statements on International Working Women’s Day
- The Left Chapter
- 3 hours ago
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Statements from Communist and workers' parties in South Africa, Swaziland, Mexico, Sudan, Ireland and Canada.
Image from a women's rally in Los Angeles, USA, 2017 -- public domain image
South African Communist Party
Sunday, 8 March 2026:- The South African Communist Party (SACP) joins the millions of women in South Africa and around the world in celebrating the international working women’s day.
We recognise that this day is an outcome of women’s struggles and not an act of charity by those in power including the patriarchal structures that dominate society.
We further recognise that the substance of this day and its continued commemoration lie in the validity of the demands of women in the modern world, in workplaces, homes and families, governmental spaces and all other spaces where women exist and exercise their agency, creativity and will.
Working class women continue to constitute the backbone of the women’s movement for gender emancipation. It is the emancipation of working-class women as they form part of the emancipation of the working class as a whole that will represent a qualitative step forward in societal progress against all forms of oppression.
To that end, the struggle for socialism is integral to the struggle for the destruction of patriarchal society and subjugation of women within it. As the SACP, we pledge our solidarity with women across the world who face the worst forms of gender oppression.
As the Party, we are patently aware of the grave crisis of gender-based violence facing South Africa and have observed the inadequacy of the legal interventions implemented thus far. We stand with the women of our country in this struggle as they fight against violence meted towards them.
Women continue to perform a large part of unpaid labour globally, and where they are employed, they receive the lowest wages. This situation is prevalent in both the global south and the global north.
The trade union movement and the communist movement in South Africa and internationally face this significant challenge, among others. We will continue to collaborate with the trade union movement and progressive forces to overcome these challenges.
08 March 2026:- On this International Working Women's Day, the Communist Party of Swaziland, reaffirms commitment to the struggle for women's rights, justice, and equality over the world.
This year's theme resonates deeply with the ongoing fight for democracy in our beloved nation. The struggle for democracy in Swaziland is about political rights, economic, and social justice, in which women are as important as everyone in society.
In Swaziland, women face unique challenges that are intertwined with the broader struggle for democracy. The oppressive political climate has disproportionately affected working-class women, who bear the brunt of social and economic injustices.
To address these challenges, the CPS calls upon working-class women in Swaziland to unite and establish the National Women's Movement. This Movement will serve as a platform to mobilise women to come together, regardless of backgrounds, to amplify strong and solid voices and demands for women rights and justice.
The National Women’s Movement will advocate for equal rights, protection against violence, and access to education and healthcare for all women and girls and therefore transform women to a force for change and societal transformation.
A democratic Swaziland is essential for the realization of women’s rights. The Movement must challenge the existing political structures that perpetuate inequality and oppression and present a new perspective for the future of our country.
With women in the forefront, we must work towards a society where social justice prevails, ensuring that every woman and girl can thrive without discrimination or fear.
The CPS urge all women, organised and unorganised, forces in the pro democracy movement and allies to take action in organizing community discussions to raise awareness about women's rights. We must mobilize for peaceful protests advocating for democracy and justice. We must engage in dialogues to develop policy guidelines for the future democratic society that protect and promote women's rights.
As we commemorate International Women's Day, let us remember that the struggle for rights, justice, and action for all women and girls is a collective effort that will not only fulfil the aspirations of women alone, but all humanity. The democracy we are fighting for must guarantee every woman and girl to achieve her full potential.
En este 8 de marzo de 2026, Día Internacional de la Mujer trabajadora, reafirmamos nuestro compromiso histórico con la lucha de las mujeres —obreras, maestras, campesinas, jornaleras, empleadas domésticas, técnicas, profesionistas y trabajadoras del sector informal— que continúan enfrentando condiciones de desigualdad en el sistema capitalista.
Como señaló con claridad el maestro Vicente Lombardo Toledano fundador de nuestro Partido: “sin mujeres no hay democracia; sin democracia no hay progreso del pueblo”. Esta afirmación mantiene plena vigencia. Cuando las mujeres son confinadas al ámbito doméstico sin reconocimiento económico, se reduce la fuerza creadora del pueblo. Cuando se les niega salario digno y seguridad social, se vulneran los derechos de las familias de la clase trabajadora. Cuando se les excluye de la vida política y de la toma de decisiones, la democracia se vuelve limitada.
La emancipación de las mujeres no puede entenderse al margen de la lucha general de la clase trabajadora por transformar de raíz las condiciones materiales de existencia. Mientras subsistan relaciones de producción basadas en la explotación del trabajo humano, la opresión de las mujeres persistirá bajo nuevas y viejas formas.
Reafirmamos los principios que siguen vigentes en la lucha histórica de las mujeres trabajadoras: el derecho pleno al trabajo con salario igual por trabajo igual; la erradicación de toda forma de violencia; el reconocimiento y la redistribución social del trabajo de cuidados; la protección integral a la maternidad y la participación efectiva de las mujeres en la dirección política, sindical y económica del país.
Rechazamos toda visión que pretenda aislar la lucha de las mujeres del conjunto del movimiento popular o reducirla a un asunto sectorial. La causa de las mujeres trabajadoras es parte esencial de la lucha del pueblo por la justicia social, la soberanía nacional, la superación del modelo neoliberal y la construcción del socialismo.
Desde su fundación, el Partido Popular Socialista de México ha reconocido el papel fundamental de las mujeres en la transformación social y en la emancipación de los pueblos. Hoy, ante las nuevas formas de explotación, violencia y exclusión que impone el capitalismo en su fase actual, se vuelve imprescindible fortalecer el trabajo político y organizativo entre las mujeres, promover su formación ideológica y garantizar su incorporación activa en todos los ámbitos de decisión.
El capitalismo contemporáneo ha profundizado las desigualdades estructurales que históricamente han afectado a las mujeres. En México, la informalidad laboral, los bajos salarios y la brecha salarial —que afectan particularmente a las mujeres— evidencian que la opresión de la clase trabajadora es producto de la dominación de los sectores conservadores de la élite del poder económico del país, que continúa imponiendo condiciones de explotación laboral al margen de la ley.
Los derechos históricos conquistados por las mujeres trabajadoras y las demandas aún pendientes se inscriben en las luchas del contexto internacional actual. Las mismas estructuras económicas y políticas que reproducen la desigualdad forman parte de una dinámica global caracterizada hoy por ofensivas conservadoras y políticas de intervención militar que impactan de manera directa en la vida de los pueblos y, particularmente, en la situación de las mujeres.
En este 8 de marzo es necesario señalar que la lucha de las mujeres y sus reivindicaciones históricas y actuales se entrelazan con un contexto internacional marcado por agresiones de gobiernos neofascistas, políticas imperialistas y crisis humanitarias. Las intervenciones militares norteamericanas y las presiones políticas contra diversos países del mundo ponen en riesgo la paz y la seguridad; cuando hay guerra, ocupación o intervención militar, las más afectadas son siempre las mujeres y la niñez.
En el marco del 8M debemos denunciar que en Venezuela el presidente constitucional Nicolás Maduro, junto con la diputada y compañera Cilia Flores, fueron secuestrados por los sectores más reaccionarios del gobierno de Trump. Junto a miles de voces solidarias en todo el mundo reiteramos nuestra exigencia de que sean devueltos a su patria.
En Cuba, la escasez de petróleo y la crisis económica derivadas del bloqueo de los Estados Unidos pretenden doblegar la dignidad de un pueblo que sin duda sabrá resistir esta nueva escalada de presiones destinada a violentar su autodeterminación. Las mujeres cubanas, como siempre, se encuentran a la vanguardia en la lucha de su pueblo, reconocemos el trabajo de la Federación de Mujeres Cubanas y reiteramos nuestra solidaridad histórica y hermandad con el pueblo de Cuba y su gobierno revolucionario. La tragedia en Palestina sigue siendo un símbolo doloroso de la violencia del sionismo de Israel y de la pretendida negación del derecho de un pueblo a existir, las agresiones militares de la nueva ofensiva iniciada en el 2023 han afectando particularmente a niñas, niños y mujeres que ven reducida su expectativa de vida por la ocupación.
Las mujeres y los niños representan casi el 70 % de las 90 mil muertes estimadas en la Franja de Gaza a raíz de los ataques y ocupación de Israel al territorio palestino.
Por otro lado, queremos reconocer la labor de las mujeres en Estados Unidos frente a la policía antimigrante de Trump, que con la violencia del grupo policial ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) mantiene aterrorizada a la población. La Comisión de Mujeres del Partido Comunista de los Estados Unidos (CPUSA) ha documentado la resistencia de las compañeras y señala que movimientos como “ICE Out Now” colocan a las mujeres en el centro de la organización social. Son ellas quienes sostienen gran parte del trabajo de cuidado y quienes han impulsado el trabajo comunitario desde los vecindarios para proteger escuelas, hospitales y espacios públicos frente a las agresiones de ICE.
Queremos denunciar también las agresiones contra Irán, país en el que fuerzas norteamericanas e israelíes lanzaron una ofensiva militar. El crimen perpetrado recientemente contra 168 niñas de la escuela primaria femenina Shajareh Tayyebeh, en la ciudad de Minab, que fueron asesinadas por el impacto de misiles, debe ser investigado y sancionado como crimen de guerra. Las primeras investigaciones independientes señalan que el ataque contra la escuela de niñas fue un objetivo de “precisión”; no se trató de un error o confusión, sino una acción deliberada destinada a causar daño a la población civil más vulnerable.
Por todo ello, en este 8 de marzo de 2026 convocamos a las mujeres trabajadoras a organizarse conscientemente para la defensa de sus derechos, a asumir nuestro papel histórico en la construcción de una sociedad sin explotación ni opresión y a alzar la voz por los pueblos del mundo que hoy son violentamente afectados por las pretensiones del imperialismo neocolonial y conservador que busca imponer sus políticas de dominación y genocidio.
¡Viva la lucha de las mujeres trabajadoras del mundo!
¡Fuera el imperialismo opresor y genocida de nuestros pueblos!
México, 8 de marzo 2026.
“¡Por la liberación Nacional y el socialismo!”
Partido Popular Socialista de México
Partido Comunista de México: Saludo a la mujer trabajadora con motivo del 8 de Marzo
Compañeras:
En la II Conferencia Internacional de Mujeres Socialistas que se reunió en Copenhague en 1910 las comunistas Clara Zetkin, Kathy Duncker y Rosa Luxemburgo presentaron la propuesta de asumir el 8 de Marzo como Día Internacional de la Mujer Trabajadora y desde entonces ese es un día de lucha de la clase obrera, de las mujeres y hombres que trabajan.
En la sociedad capitalista la mujer es oprimida, además de ser explotada. Con la lucha proletaria algunas cosas se han conquistado, como el derecho a votar, anteriormente negado, el derecho a divorciarse, antes prohibido, el derecho a la libre maternidad, que incluso hoy no es totalmente reconocido, pero aún falta mucho para la plena emancipación de la mujer.
En un mundo en guerra como hoy vivimos, cuando los bombardeos han asesinado a 160 niñas en Minab, cuando las trabajadores y trabajadores mueren en Gaza, Irán, Líbano, Ucrania, Rusia, cuando se condena a muerte al pueblo de Cuba y a la mujer cubana, alzamos nuestra bandera de lucha contra el imperialismo, la guerra y la barbarie, al que sólo interesan las ganancias, el petróleo, las superganancias de la plutocracia. Expresamos nuestra solidaridad con los pueblos que resisten a las agresiones imperialistas. Condenamos la amenaza de EEUU para asfixiar a Cuba y llamamos a la solidaridad con su pueblo. Expresamos nuestra solidaridad con las mujeres migrantes que en EEUU son perseguidas por el ICE, con todas las mujeres desplazadas en Medio Oriente por los bombardeos criminales que destruyen sus pueblos, sus escuelas y hospitales, sus casas, sus familias.
Por si ello no bastara, la situación de la mujer trabajadora es de diario sufrimiento, de jornadas difíciles, de explotación, hambre, miseria, insalubridad, accidentes de trabajo, una vida laboral que es como un túnel sin salida, de días y días, año tras año, décadas de labor asalariada y que ahora se alargan porque el capital decidió aumentar la edad para alcanzar una mísera pensión.
Las mujeres trabajadoras saben bien el significado del capitalismo, con salarios insuficientes, con un aumento constante de precios de los alimentos y enseres básicos, del pago de la renta, del servicio de agua y luz, de los servicios médicos, del elevado costo del transporte, de los pagos de inscripciones y materiales educativos, del embarazo y del parto, de la falta de guarderías y estancias infantiles, de la violencia en las calles, de la incertidumbre interminable…y esta agonía tiene que terminar, pues las mujeres y hombres de la clase obrera tenemos derecho a la felicidad.
La mujer trabajadora en México ya conoció la vida bajo los gobiernos del PRI y PAN, y ahora con MORENA cada día queda más claro que no hay ningún cambio de verdad. ¿En verdad con Sheimbaum llegaron las mujeres? Si eso se refiere a las oligarcas como Altagracia Gómez y otras, podría entonces decirse que ello es cierto, pero eso excluye a las millones de trabajadoras del campo y la ciudad, de la industria y la oficina, de la educación y los hospitales, a las desempleadas, las migrantes, las indígenas, las jóvenes. ¿Desapareció la corrupción y el narcotráfico? ¿Desapareció el abuso de la patronal? ¿Se resolvieron los crímenes de Estado en Ayotzinapa, Tlatelolco, Aguas blancas? ¿Terminaron las superganancias de los monopolios a costa del sudor y sangre de los que trabajamos? ¿Terminó el capitalismo, o sigue? Las respuestas son obvias: todo necesita ser cambiado! Pero eso no pasará solo con desearlo, hay que organizarse y aportar una cuota de sacrificio para conquistar el mundo nuevo.
Hermanas trabajadoras:
La lucha de los trabajadores no está completa sin la participación de la mujer trabajadora, juntos somos la fuerza de la clase obrera que puede enterrar este mundo podrido y caduco. El socialismo-comunismo es la garantía de la emancipación de la mujer.
¡Proletarios de todos los países, uníos!
Partido Comunista de México
Sudanese Communist Party
Political Bureau
On the occasion of International Women’s Day - a symbol of women’s unwavering resistance to discrimination and to the social and class exploitation imposed by the forces of capitalism - we recall its origins in the struggle launched by women textile workers in the United States in November 1909. Through their resilience and defiance, they inscribed a historic chapter in the face of brutal police repression, a struggle that claimed the lives of working-class women. This legacy was subsequently recognized and proclaimed as International Women’s Day: a celebration of women’s struggles and an affirmation of their demands for equality and rights.
This year’s International Women’s Day arrives as the war in Sudan enters its fourth year. While the catastrophic consequences of this conflict have fallen upon all sons and daughters of the Sudanese people - many of whom have stood firm in the ranks of the revolution, upholding its slogans of freedom, peace, and justice, with some paying the ultimate price - the burden borne by Sudanese women has been disproportionately heavier.
Sweeping transformations in the social landscape have compelled women to assume additional and unprecedented responsibilities on both the social and economic fronts. As internal displacement escalates and waves of refugees flee to neighboring countries, women have increasingly become the principal breadwinners for the majority of households. United Nations reports indicate that 78% of displaced persons and refugees in some countries are women and children, making them the largest share of those affected by the conflict. Women therefore now carry expanded economic burdens while continuing to provide care and protection for their families and children.
The destruction and collapse of productive sectors - the agricultural sector in particular - have had severe repercussions. Sudanese women contribute up to 85% of productive roles in agriculture, especially within the traditional sector that underpins national food security. The devastation of these sectors has left more than 6.7 million women and girls facing acute risks of food insecurity and an inability to secure basic necessities for their families.
The deepening famine and widespread malnutrition - particularly among children in Darfur and Kordofan, where armed conflict continues unabated - have further intensified the suffering of families. Large numbers of women who previously worked in the now-destroyed industrial sector, as well as women employed in a civil service that has suffered severe deterioration, have been driven to seek survival through small-scale informal work in cities, in relatively safer areas, and in countries of asylum. This has dramatically expanded the informal economy, which itself faces legal and social harassment from de facto authorities - a burden that falls disproportionately on poor and marginalized women.
Among the gravest dangers confronting Sudanese women - alongside the catastrophic consequences of war, the persistence of armed conflict, and the unraveling of the social fabric - is the alarming rise in violence in all its forms: sexual assault, abduction, and exploitation targeting women and girls both inside Sudan and along refugee routes. Available information indicates that more than 6.7 million women and girls in Sudan have been exposed to the risk of sexual violence during the conflict.
By the end of 2025, 1,294 confirmed cases of sexual violence and rape had been documented. These figures, however, do not reflect the true scale of the crisis, due to insufficient field coverage inside Sudan and in refugee locations abroad. The persistence of social stigma also silences many survivors, compounded by fears of family and societal repercussions. Some reports have documented an additional 225 cases of sexual violence against children, the majority of them girls between the ages of four and seventeen. These realities are further aggravated by the absence of adequate safety mechanisms and protection systems, particularly in areas of insecurity.
The collapse of health services and mounting challenges related to reproductive health have created grave risks, particularly with regard to maternal and childbirth care. Many health facilities have ceased to function due to ongoing fighting and overwhelming pressure on the few remaining operational centers. As a result, pregnant women face severe complications arising from lack of access to essential healthcare. United Nations reports indicate that 1.56 million women and girls of reproductive age - including 155,500 pregnant women - are experiencing severe limitations in access to reproductive health services.
In the field of education, statistics show that 19 million children are currently out of school at the primary level, among them 2.5 million school-age girls unable to return to their classrooms. Beyond the deprivation of education, this situation exposes them to compounding risks, including child marriage.
This catastrophic war has produced profound shifts in social and economic roles, increasing the exposure of the vast majority of women to multiple and overlapping risks. At the same time, it has sharpened women’s political consciousness and deepened the link between their emancipation and the broader struggles for social justice and democratic transformation. This reality has placed women at the heart of the national struggle to end the war and reclaim the revolutionary path. Sudanese women have affirmed that they are not merely victims, but fighters - drawing strength from the luminous history of the democratic women’s movement in Sudan.
As this struggle continues - carried forward by women activists from diverse social backgrounds across multiple arenas - we salute every expression of resilience in displacement centers and refugee camps in neighboring countries. We stand in solidarity with all forms of steadfastness and resistance in cities, villages, rural areas, and workplaces. On this international day, we reaffirm our commitment to solidarity and collective action among all forces dedicated to freedom, peace, and human rights - in defense of women’s rights and in pursuit of genuine equality.
Accordingly, the Sudanese Communist Party - consistent with its principled commitment to the liberation of women from all forms of economic, social, and class-based discrimination - affirms that the condition of Sudanese women is inseparable from the broader questions facing the nation and society. The Party accordingly emphasizes the following priorities:
- That the commemoration of International Women’s Day be an integral part of the struggle against class domination and social oppression.
- An immediate and unconditional cessation of the war, and the securing of humanitarian aid corridors under international supervision and monitoring.
- The establishment of international investigative commissions to examine all violations committed before and during the war, hold perpetrators accountable, and bring those responsible for genocide and crimes against humanity before the International Criminal Court.
- The immediate release of all detainees held by both parties to the conflict and the disclosure of the whereabouts of all missing persons.
- The mobilization of the Sudanese masses and the forces of revolution and change to confront all forms of systematic violence, and to work collectively toward restoring the civilian democratic transition - within which women’s rights and genuine equality can be realized in a democratic civil state.
- Affirming the social role of the state and adopting economic policies that advance social justice and balanced development, expand employment opportunities, reduce unemployment, and establish budgets that guarantee free education and healthcare, including universal access to reproductive health services.
- Addressing the educational losses caused by the war through expanded learning opportunities, and providing essential services and security conditions to enable the voluntary return of internally displaced persons and refugees to their homes and homeland.
- Continuing the struggle to end the war, reclaim the revolution, and build a democratic civil Sudan that embraces all its citizens and guarantees women’s rights.
- Enacting strong legislation to deter and punish violations against women in both times of war and peace.
Political Bureau
Sudanese Communist Party
8 March 2026
International Working Women's Day (IWWD) traces its origins to the labour movements of Europe and North America in the early 20th century. At the 1910 International Conference of Socialist Women in Copenhagen, Clara Zetkin proposed the annual celebration of a day dedicated to women's struggle for equality and emancipation. She also advanced the crucial task of uniting women across the globe against the policies of imperialist governments, which inevitably lead to bloody conflicts between nations.
Women Under Capitalism
Every economic system in the past—slavery, feudalism, and capitalism—has been founded on the exploitation of one class by another. Invariably, women are the most exploited in every system that has existed. Beyond class oppression, women have had to endure patriarchy and, in many cases, racism.
The capitalist system, reliant on wage slavery, requires hierarchy to facilitate exploitation. Rapid automation during the industrial revolution created a need to draw women into the labour force, as they could be paid less and made more submissive. This, in turn, allowed capitalists to suppress the wages of male workers. Yet, this process also created the material conditions for men and women to unite against their common enemy: capital. In 1917, striking workers from Petrograd's Putilov factory joined a women's rally on March 8th, an action that ignited the Bolshevik Revolution. Women have thus been at the forefront of the struggle to abolish the very system of oppression of which they are the worst victims.
Capitalism and Inequality
The World Inequality Report (WIR) states that globally, women earn only one-third of all labour income. When unpaid domestic labour is factored in, women continue to work longer hours than men across the world. They not only work more hours but are also paid less. This unpaid domestic work creates barriers to opportunities in the formal labour market, deepening gender inequality. The lack of affordable childcare, transportation, and other social services creates structural obstacles that prevent women from fully entering the workforce. Furthermore, occupational segregation channels women into low-paid sectors, perpetuating disparities in income. While increased access to education has improved the situation for some, it has not eliminated the systemic problem of gender inequality.
In Ireland, the Communist Party of Ireland has identified housing, healthcare, and neutrality as three core issues that disproportionately affect women. Peace and neutrality are essential for a state to allocate resources toward social goods like education, health, and housing—and history teaches us that women are the ones most profoundly affected by war.
Women's Emancipation and the New World
To create a new world means not just to change the mode of production, but also to forge a better version of humankind, free from patriarchy and discrimination. Patriarchy has its roots in private property; therefore, to truly liberate women is to abolish private property. Capitalism needs patriarchy. The patriarchal family subsidizes capitalism through the unpaid domestic work of women, which reproduces the labour power of the male worker, enabling him to return to work each day. Patriarchy also serves capital by relying on the unpaid labour of women to raise the next generation of workers, ensuring a fresh pool of labour power for future exploitation.
Reclaiming Women's Day
As it does with all revolutionary traditions, capitalism attempts to empty IWWD of its class content. It transforms this day into a commercial opportunity, a means to sell commodities and generate profit, obscuring the radical history and struggle from which it was born. The working class has a duty to reclaim International Working Women's Day. We must remind ourselves of the monumental achievements of women in the movement toward socialism and stand together in the struggle to create a peaceful new world—one without any form of oppression: class, gender, race, or caste.
Socialism is impossible without women's liberation, and women's liberation is impossible without socialism.
James Corcoran
General Secretary
Communist Party of Ireland
International Women’s Day 2026, Communist Party of Canada
International Women’s Day is a day of solidarity with women wherever they are in struggle around the world. Given the horrors that imperialism creates daily, this year on International Women’s Day, we must raise our voices in support of those women facing its most horrendous consequences – Cuba, Palestine, Sudan, Venezuela, Iran. We must do everything in our power to block imperialism’s drive - to war, to conquer and destroy, to bend to its will those who have chosen not to be its vassals.
Cuba, which has stood for over 60 years as a beacon of internationalism and solidarity with the peoples of the world is being strangled by an illegal blockade. Palestine, struggling for its national rights for over 70 years, is facing genocide. Sudan, in the midst of a foreign-fuelled military conflict is suffering the world’s greatest humanitarian crisis. Venezuela, another victim of economic warfare, has seen its president kidnapped and its oil claimed once more by the US. The people of Iran, also victims of economic warfare, are now facing the use of catastrophic force by the world’s most powerful military.
Desperate to hold on to the profit, power and privilege that flows from its domination of the world, imperialism becomes more dangerous, more barbaric, more determined to hold back the tide of humanity who prefer a better world, a better future. Most dangerous, most barbaric, most determined to rule despite nearly universal opposition, is western imperialism led by the United States which threatens everyone, including friends and allies along with the rest of humanity.
The Communist Party of Canada stands with the women of these countries who so often are the victims of the violence of war and the violence that comes with war: sexual violence. We stand with the women, their families, their communities, and their countries. They need our support and the Communist Party will do everything we can to meet that need. We call on all those who do not want to see more death and destruction, who support the right of people and countries to live without foreign interference, to add their voices and their support to the growing opposition to the arrogance and brutality that these countries confront.
The Prime Minister of Canada, speaking at Davos, called for “respect for human rights, sustainable development, solidarity, sovereignty and territorial integrity”. He talked about standing up to the “bully”. Fine words, but the actions of the Canadian government utterly fail to meet those goals. It is upon the Canadian government that pressure must be applied, to live up to its stated opposition to bullying and in support of sovereignty. Our government must come to the aid of Cuba, the people of Gaza, and the victims of violence in Sudan. They must condemn the violation of international law, piracy on the high seas, and the use of violence against Venezuela and Iran. If those fine words are only about Canada’s sovereignty and Canada’s territorial integrity, then the world will know that Canada is hypocritical, unworthy of respect and unwilling to stand up to the “bully”.
On International Women’s Day, 2026 women in Canada must also confront the actions of the Canadian government at home:
As it lays off public employees, it is estimated that 58% of the layoff will be women, 5.5% will be Indigenous, 8.3% will be disabled workers, and 26% will be racialized workers. In each of these cases, the percentage laid off exceeds the percentage of that category in the workforce. In other words, these layoffs will fall disproportionately on women and other workers who face discrimination in the workplace. This increase in unemployment will follow these workers into retirement as it reduces pensions perpetuating the correlation between these categories of workers and poverty in old age. It will also reduce the services to the citizens the government was elected to serve;
As it talks about abandoning its commitment to $10/day child-care – a stab in the back for working parents and working women most particularly;
As it funds its military expansion with tax dollars so desperately needed by Canadian women, and Canadians generally, for health care, child-care, housing, education, climate remediation and so much more.
There is so much that Canada needs, but increased military expenditures are not one of them. They do not feed us, provide housing, education, ensure health care, improve transportation, protect the environment and do not produce much in the way of employment. Canadian women and Canadian communities deserve more and they deserve better.
On International Women’s Day, 2026 the wage gap that reaps the corporations $148 billion each year continues. We need to intensify the struggle to close it. The right to choose is restricted by lack of facilities in most parts of Canada outside the big cities. We need to fight to make it a tangible right not just words.
We oppose any attempt to use women's struggles for equality as a means of division. Democratic issues have to nourish each other and serve the unity of the working class and the popular masses against monopolies. As such, we oppose reactionary measures such as Bill 94 in Quebec imposed by the CAQ government which, under the false pretext of defending women's rights, Québec's national rights and secularism, forces women teachers wearing the hijab to choose between their work and their faith. In addition to scapegoating, this manoeuvre attacks their right to work and installs division not only amongst women, but within the working class as a whole.
As we watch the growing attacks in the United States on the rights of women, starting with the right to an abortion, we must guard against the right-wing agenda that uses women’s rights, trans rights, the rights of the gender diverse along with the rights of racialized and immigrant communities as a false explanation for the problems created by capitalism – growing poverty, unemployment, lack of housing, growing inequity and a bleak future. These are the problems that working women face, these are the problems the working class faces. We must answer this agenda with a program that addresses the causes, the policies and decisions of capitalism. We are not the cause, but together, working women and men, can be the solution.
The Communist Party of Canada stands for what working women need and deserve. On International Women’s Day, 2026 we pledge to be part of the struggle to further the struggle for women’s equality and to achieve what women in this country need, what this country needs, and we call upon and will work with all those who want a future where our needs not those of the corporations and their minions are what drives the policies of our country.
Solidarity with the women of the world!
Solidarity with the struggle for women’s equality!
Unite to halt the drive to war and militarism!
Central Executive Committee, Communist Party of Canada
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