Speakers Tour 2020

Event Time: 2:30 PM – 4:30 PM
Event Date: Friday March 13th
Event Location: Room 148 CE (Cedar Building)
Capilano University
2055 Purcell Way, North Vancouver, BC V7J 3H5

“The voice of this activist continues to be heard loud and clear in the demand for compliance of labour laws, to call for an appropriate response of State institutions and to advocate for the autonomy of women.”

María Luisa Regalado Morán has over 40 years’ experience as an activist in Honduras. She is the coordinator and one of the founding members of the Honduran Women’s Collective (CODEMUH), a feminist organization that promotes women’s and workers’ rights, with an emphasis on labour rights and occupational health and safety in the maquila (sweatshop) sector.

Born in western Honduras, María came to activism through the Catholic Church, where she volunteered as a grassroots organizer. It was not until her early 20’s that she had the opportunity to learn to read and write and complete her schooling through distance education.

Throughout the 1970s, 80s and 90s she worked with various coalitions of farmers, workers and students, and participated in the founding of the Confederation of Honduran Workers (CUTH).

During the 1980s she was an active member of the Honduran Federation of Small Scale Farming Women (FEHMUH) and of the Council for Small Scale Farming Women’s Holistic Development (CODIMCA).

In 1989, María co-founded the Patriotic Honduran League, which would later become CODEMUH. Through her work at CODEMUH she has been able to advance her feminist vision by organizing training and educating women on their rights, with a special emphasis on gendered violence and labour rights violations.

She is also a coordinator of the Central American Women’s Network in Solidarity with Maquila Workers (the Network). She has organized numerous massive campaigns both within Honduras and across the Central American region to shed light on the labour rights violations suffered by workers in the maquila sector, and is engaged in constant advocacy and negotiation for workers’ rights.

María Luisa Regalado was awarded with a Human Rights Award in March 2019.  The Canadian Embassy for Honduras, Costa Rica and Nicaragua  awarded Maria Luisa with the human rights award,  “Faces for equality”.

This is a recognition of Maria Luisa Regalado’s leadership and commitment to social justice and women’s struggles. This includes fighting violence against women in the workplace and defending occupational health and safety rights for sweatshop/manufacturing industry workers.