Rural women workers are employed in all sector of the rural economy, yet lack access to decent work

 

While rural workers are often denied access to even the most basic of rights covered in the ILO’s core conventions10, in particular to freedom of association and the right to bargain collectively, the situation of rural women workers  is even more detrimental as rural women’s jobs are usually seasonal, part-time and low-wage.11 While the unequal division of care work12 is a result of the patriarchal norms and practices that discriminate against women, it continues to serve as the backbone of the formal economy without any of the needed social and legal protection systems in place that would enable rural women to adequately care and provide for their children, families and communities.