UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Center for Global Workers' Rights in Penn State’s School of Labor and Employment Relations is sponsoring a two-day film festival focusing on the role of women in labor struggles worldwide. “Women in Struggle: Organizing for Voice and Power Around the Globe” will be held Saturday, Feb. 15, and Sunday, Feb. 16, in Foster Auditorium. The film festival is free and open to the public.

According to event organizers, the labor market has been one of the most challenging areas for women to advance. Unpaid or underpaid reproductive labor — often associated with caregiving and domestic roles — is disproportionately performed by women and many of their jobs are concentrated in industries in the low wage sector, such as food service, home care, cleaning, and garment production. Globalization and lack of worker protections have also imposed new challenges on women workers, especially in the global South.

The nine films portray a variety of global struggles, including the unionizing of sex workers in the United States; factory workers’ 510-day strike in South Korea; female farmers organizing in Brazil; the women union leaders in Bangladesh garment factories; and the care workers’ struggle in Poland. These films depict the exploitative nature of many of these industries, but also show how women have fought for their rights at work, at home, and within the broader civil society. The film festival closely aligns with the College of the Liberal Arts’ annual theme, “Moments of Change: A Century of Women’s Activism.”

A full schedule and film synopses can be found here. 

This event is cosponsored by the College of the Liberal Arts; the University Libraries; the Department of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies; and the Sustainability Institute.

For more information, contact Jini Park at jpp5894@psu.edu or Katherine Maich at kem394@psu.edu.