Background

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While civic space shrinks globally, resistance continues to thrive because of the efforts of grassroots organisations. In this session we discuss what succesful responses by labor and human rights defenders to repression in Bangladesh and Myanmar have been, highlighting how these movements endure—and even grew—under repressive regimes. Drawing learnings from the first hand experiences of Clean Clothes Campaign Network Members, the session reflects on resilience practices like strategic coalition-building, holistic protections, diversification of leverage-seeking, and transnational solidarity. These practices have defended thousands of workers from criminal prosecution and have resulted in successful wage bargaining.

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Key Objectives

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• Share key learnings from experiences of labor and human rights defenders in Myanmar and Bangladesh with the audience.

• Develop a shared understanding of what successful, holistic response mechanisms to counter rights violations entail under repressive regimes

• Provide practical guidance on how these best practices can applied in different contexts

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Guiding Questions

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• How might labor and human rights defenders build their network of support, to be more resilience against repression?

• How might transnational solidarity movement respond to incidents of crackdown and repression, beyond sending humanitarian and legal aids?

• Why not diversifying campaign targets and strategies to increase leverage against human rights violations?

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Format

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This hybrid session combines a panel and participatory workshop. First, campaigners and unionists from Bangladesh and Myanmar will share 40-minute case presentations, offering insights into tactical wins, strategic decisions and ongoing challenges. Next, session participants will engage in a 50-minute interactive role play, applying lessons from the cases to brainstorm on holistic responses—mixing advocacy, grassroots organizing, and digital safety—for labor and rights defenders facing similar threats globally.

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Session Partner