The World March of Women (WMW) stands with women workers and human rights defenders facing repression and criminalization across the world.

We, as WMW, express our firm solidarity with the women workers of Lanka Garments (Pvt) Ltd. (JB Apparel) in the Koggala Free Trade Zone, Sri Lanka, who have been subjected to repression and forced resignations for organizing to defend their rights.

We condemn the coercive dismissal of Ms. G.M. Nilanka Sandamali and Ms. T. Samantha, targeted by the management after being questioned about forming a trade union and participating in a Women’s Centre awareness programme on Gender Equality, Business and Human Rights. Their courage to organize and educate others is a legitimate act of human rights defense, but it has been met with punishment and intimidation.

This case exposes not only the violation of women workers’ rights but also the criminalization of women human rights defenders within the global supply chain. Women who defend labourrights, organize collectively, and challenge corporate impunity are systematically harassed, silenced, or dismissed, whether through legal persecution, economic retaliation, or social stigmatization.

From Sri Lanka to Turkey, the Philippines to Colombia, women’s movements face increasing attacks for confronting the violence of patriarchy, capitalism, and militarism:

In Turkey, women at the Flormar cosmetics factory were dismissed and blacklisted for unionizing, a clear example of how organizing women workers is treated as a crime.

In the Philippines, women labour leaders and community organizers are “red-tagged”, falsely accused of terrorism for defending their people’s rights.

In Colombia and Honduras, feminist and environmental defenders face threats, imprisonment, and even assassination for protecting territories and life against corporate and state violence.

These are not isolated incidents. They are part of a system where transnational corporations profit from women’s precarious and undervalued labour, while those who resist are punished. The efforts to silence organizing women workers are thus inseparable from the criminalization of human rights defenders everywhere.

WMW denounces these violations and reaffirms that defending the rights of women workers is, in fact, defending human rights. We demand:

• Immediate re-employment of Ms. G.M. Nilanka Sandamali and Ms. T. Samantha.
• An end to repression against women who organize for justice and equality
• Protection and recognition of all women human rights defenders and labour activists in Sri Lanka and globally.

We call on all feminist, labour, and human rights movements to amplify this struggle and to act in solidarity with the Women’s Centre and the women workers of Sri Lanka. Our collective voice resists the normalization of fear and repression.

If you wish to send letters of concern or solidarity to the respective authorities, please find their official email addresses below:

• Ministry of Labour and Foreign Employment – info@labourmin.gov.lk
• Ministry of Women and Child Affairs – secretary@childwomenmin.gov.lk
• Board of Investment of Sri Lanka – info@boi.lk
• Regional Director, BOI Galle – ranatungap@boi.lk
• District Labour Office, Galle – gol@labourdept.gov.lk
• The factory involved — Lanka Garments (Pvt) Ltd. (JB Apparel) — operates within the Koggala Free Trade Zone and is listed at https://lgm.lk.

We will continue to march until all women are free.

World March of Women