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This article aims to study the importance of women workers' participation in the governing bodies of trade unions as a way to combat gender inequality in the labor market. There is a significant number of legal rules applicable in the Brazilian legal system in order to combat gender inequality, with a repressive approach. However, the negative consequences of the sexual division of labor persist, perpetuating stereotypical gender roles. It is imperative, therefore, not only the guarantee of equal wages and working conditions and protection against negative discrimination, but also to guarantee women's access to the labor market, through affirmative actions. In this sense, women workers' participation in trade unions activities is a major way to ensure this access, as it enables women's empowerment, providing greater possibility for women to exercise power and citizenship in the public sphere in which democracy is constructed, and greater legal legitimacy of conventional norms regarding gender equality, given the normative role of unions. For that, the implementation of affirmative actions is necessary in order to combat the difficulties in women's participation in these decision-making bodies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]