Meet the Women Leading the Global Fight for Workers' Rights in the Informal Economy

Myrtle Witbooi was just 18-years-old when she convened the first ever meeting of domestic workers in Cape Town, South Africa. It was 1965, during the apartheid years of racial segregation, and Witbooi’s actions carried great risk. “We weren’t supposed to disobey the people we were working for,” Witbooi, now 74, tells TIME in an interview over the phone. “Still today, I can’t tell you how I did it, but I did disobey. I actually fought my way and became a spokesperson for domestic workers”.

Domestic workers make up just one part of a global group of 2.1 billion workers who comprise the so-called informal economy, encompassing countless trades, enterprises and work that is not protected or regulated by the state. Informal workers, from garment makers to street vendors, provide the foundation of the global economy, accounting for more than 60% of the global workforce.