News in English     | 17.05.2019. 18:50 |

Gender-based discrimination in the workplace a widespread problem in BiH

FENA Hana Imamović

SARAJEVO, May 17 (FENA) - Gender-based discrimination in the workplace is widespread in Bosnia and Herzegovina, a country where pregnant women still get fired, but the situation is not much better in other Western Balkan countries, it was highlighted today in Sarajevo at the presentation of the Report on gender-based discrimination in the country’s labor market comprised under the regional initiative with the support of the European Union, and the author of the report, Lejla Gačanica says the results are devastating.

One of the disastrous findings of this research is that pregnancy and maternity rights are probably "the least desirable ones" for employers, and this has all been confirmed by the surveyed women, trade unions and NGOs.

The researcher said that there are different grounds for discrimination, such as gender identities, sexual orientation, sexual characteristics, and the forms in which discrimination occurs are sexual harassment, impeding promotion at work, but mostly due to pregnancy and motherhood.

“What we have here on our hands are the remnants of patriarchy, but also the fact that the market controls the workforce. This means that employers are hiring workers who will not get pregnant, take sick leave and who will be able to work for more than 12 hours. We do not take care about labor rights, but only about the market,” she explained.

The overall results are devastating, but the situation is no better in other countries, she pointed out, adding that despite having good laws, “the BiH institutions need to start doing their job.”

Chairman of the Ombudsman Institution of BiH, Nives Jukić, said that there is higher number of complaints under the Anti-Discrimination Act submitted by men in relation to women, and this is the situation for all complaints submitted to this institution, with more than 3,000 of them submitted last year.

“Here in BiH, there is still no real progress in the equality of men and women in the workplace and the appeals that are submitted show this very well. They relate to the problem of gray economy, inadequate pay, nighttime work, laying-off pregnant women in the private sector and other,” added Jukić.

Gianluca Vannini from the Delegation of the European Union to BiH, reiterated that gender equality is one of the fundamental values ​​of the EU, and the situation in BiH needs to be improved in this regard. He said it is particularly worrying that of the total number of unemployed, 60 percent are women.

The intention is to empower women to be more present in the labor market, in the institutions, politics, and in society in general in BiH. Parliamentarians have announced that the EU will continue to advocate a better position of women in the labor market both in the EU and globally, and to be equally paid for the same job.

Nicola Farnsworth, from the Women's Network of Kosovo, as one of the major problems, identified the lack of clarity of legal regulations, and the majority of women do not know who to address, therefore there is no practice in dealing with such cases, and the intention of this research is to invite citizens to report discrimination in the workplace.

"If we do not talk to someone and do not point to violations of workers’ rights we will never be able to do anything, that is why it's important to talk about it and contact the competent institutions," Farnsworth said.

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(FENA) S. R.

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