Equal AF

Today is Domestic Worker's Day.

On the 16th of June, the International Labour Organization and its partners celebrate the anniversary of the adoption of the Domestic Workers Convention, 2011 (No, 189). The historic event marks the first time that domestic work was recognized as real work, which is why the 16th of June has become known as Domestic Workers' Day.

Over 75 million domestic workers support the fabric of our homes and communities around the world. As care needs rise, the contributions to care are more essential than ever – with 2.3 billion people are expected to require care services by 2030. Yet many domestic workers remain unprotected or are still invisible in labor policies. Because over 80% work informally, domestic workers lack access to social protection or job security.

🔗 Visit ilo.org/meetings-and-events/domestic-workers%E2%80%99-day to learn more.

World Blood Donor Day falls on June 14. It is historically celebrated as a day of global altruism, yet it hides a dark history of institutionalized discrimination.

For decades, blanket lifetime bans or long, arbitrary "deferral periods" have prohibited men who have s*x with men (MSM), transgender individuals, and s*x workers from donating life-saving blood, regardless of their actual, individual health status or safe s*x practices.

While some Western nations (like the US, UK, Canada, and Australia) have recently shifted toward Individual Donor Assessments (assessing risk based on behavior, not identity), many countries across Asia still enforce outdated, deeply homophobic, and stigmatizing blanket bans.

Blanket bans on LGBTQIA+ individuals and s*x workers from donating blood are rooted in moral panic and outdated 1980s science—not modern medicine. Today’s highly sensitive nucleic acid testing (NAT) can detect viruses like HIV within days of exposure. Excluding safe, healthy donors based purely on their identity hurts the healthcare system and reinforces toxic social stigmas.