AMMAN — This year, the world celebrated the March
8 International
Women’s Day under the UN title Gender Equality Today for a
Sustainable Tomorrow.
اضافة اعلان
On the occasion, the
Jordanian Labor Observatory of
the Phoenix Center for Economic Studies and the German Friedrich Ebert
Foundation issued a paper detailing how deprivation, obstacles, and
restrictions lead to gender inequality in the world of work, where social and
legislative barriers are still obstacles to the active economic participation
of women.
According to
lawmakers and activists who spoke to
Jordan News, lack of progress
toward increasing women’s economic participation in Jordan is due mainly to the difficult
working conditions experienced by the majority of
workers in Jordan, men and
women alike, especially low wages, and to the fact that women, in particular,
still resort to informal work and may be exposed to extortion and harassment.
MP Zainab Al-Bdoul told
Jordan News that
institutions and ministries, in general, still fail to give women their full
rights, and that women still receive the minimum wage in many cases.
She added that “some women also suffer from
blackmail, in addition to labor exploitation, due to the lack of implementation
of the laws and deterrent penalties. Governments must create a safe work
environment and tighten sanctions in order to encourage women to work and
enhance their economic participation”,
MP
Dina Al-Bashir told
Jordan News that it is
still difficult for women to find a stimulating work environment “and the lack
of justice, in terms of equal opportunities, may make them feel frustrated”,
adding that the existence of deterrent legislation would provide a regulated
work environment.
The most prominent obstacles that stand in the way
of women’s participation in economic activities, according to Bashir, are “the
concentration of businesses in the capital, Amman, which makes it difficult for
women to access them, and lack of a transportation network”.
Bashir added that there must be deterring laws to
limit or eliminate harassment “and ensure that women are never subjected to
harassment in the workplace”.
Executive Director of
Tamkeen Linda Al-Kalash told
Jordan
News that the work environment in Jordan is still unhealthy, and “what
weakens it the most is giving workers, whether men or women, the minimum wage,
in addition to not compensating them for overtime”.
According to Kalash, a large number of women still
resort to informal work, “which deprives them of
social security. Here, the
importance of finding an effective complaints system and increasing the number
of inspectors must be emphasized to ensure that the work environment is safe
and healthy in all respects”.
Activist Nuha Al-Muhairiz told
Jordan News that “the societal culture still hinders women from participating in the
economy”, adding that women still suffer from, most notably, harassment and
extortion.
She added that “the biggest problem is that women
are still afraid of confrontation or of complaining for fear of losing their
livelihood”.
“Jordan has not
yet ratified the Convention against Violence and Harassment at Work No. 190,
and there are still shortcomings in the policies of business establishments
regarding reporting cases of harassment,” she said, urging the concerned
authorities to sign this agreement because of its significant impact on limiting
or eliminating harassment of women in Jordan.
According to Muhairiz, “the labor law ostensibly
protects women, but on the ground, women still avoid challenges and problems
due to the length of government procedures and their financial need”.
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