Asia-Pacific: Structural barriers to women’s rights progress
Monday, March 10, 2025 5:15 PM

Despite nearly 30 years since the Beijing Declaration, women in Asia and the Pacific continue to face deep-rooted injustices, says Misun Woo, regional coordinator of the Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD). In an interview with The Diplomat, Woo highlights how systematic forces such as fundamentalism, globalization, militarism, and climate change have stalled progress in achieving gender equality while exacerbating poverty, unpaid labor, debt crises, and the gender pay gap. To address such problems, Woo underscores the necessity of a Third World feminist movement that reclaims other means of existence, challenges systematic oppression, and creates multi-faceted solutions for a more just future.
 
Compiled from: Catherine Putz, “Misun Woo on Women’s Rights in the Asia-Pacific,” The Diplomat, March 1, 2025.