Sri Lanka’s Dabindu Collective Advances Gender Justice in Free Trade Zones 

In Sri Lanka, the Dabindu Collective advanced women workers’ rights and gender justice in the garment sector. Through situation reporting, community mobilisation, and stakeholder engagement, Dabindu addressed low wages, job insecurity, occupational safety, and gender-based violence. A solidarity event for flood-affected Free Trade Zone workers combined psychosocial support with advocacy linked to the 16 Days of Activism. Campaigns around International Migrants Day highlighted the exclusion of internal migrant workers from social protection. Sisterhood discussions, health awareness sessions, and a mobile clinic improved women workers’ access to sexual and reproductive health information and services. Documentation of a garment worker’s death in a factory strengthened calls for accountability and workplace safety. Participation in Global Living Wage Action Day and a national conference on FTZ workers’ rights connected local struggles to global economic justice demands.