Women Labor Force & Gender Discrimination

Industrial Relations
End Term Project
Date: December 21, 2009

Women Labor Force and
Gender Discrimination
Presented By:
Muhammad Zia Aslam
(Lahore, Pakistan)
Introduction/An Overview:
• “No nation can rise to the height of glory unless your

women are side by side with you; we are victims of evil
customs. It is a crime against humanity that our women
are shut up within the four walls of the houses as
prisoners”, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, 1944
• Women have always been contributing in the world

economy but their work always been undervalued by
the mainstream economy.
• Unpaid work is perhaps the biggest contribution that

women make to the economy.
• The estimated global worth of unpaid work, done mostly
by women, is about US$11 trillion.
• Even until modern industrialized times, legal and cultural
practices, along with religious and educational traditions,
had restricted women's entry and participation in
the workforce.
• Economic dependency upon men, and consequently the
poor socio-economic status of women had also restricted
their entry into the workforce
• Restrictions on women's access to and participation in the

workforce include:
– the wage gap,
– the glass ceiling and
– sexual harassment
• Nominal equal opportunity laws, legal and cultural

restrictions and unequal access to capital are common
barriers for women.
• "Women do two-thirds of the world's work, receive 10%
of the world's income, and own 1% of the means of
production" has become a frequently cited slogan for the
women rights activists.
Phases of Women Struggle:
• The increase of women in the labor force gained

momentum in the late 19th century.
• Phase one: Independent female Worker
– between the late 19th century to the 1920s
• Phase two: Transition Era

– between 1930 to 1950, education and participation increased
• Phase three: Roots of the Revolution

– from 1950- mid to late 1970s
• Phase four: The Quiet Revolution

– beginning in the 1970s women began to flood the colleges and
grad schools
Comparison of Women Labor Force:
Human Rights and Gender Discrimination:
• Everyone has the human right to freedom from

discrimination on the ground of gender, race, ethnicity,
etc.
• All human beings have the human right to livelihood and
work, and human rights norms and standards guarantee
women full equality in all aspects of economic life.
• Therefore, the Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW),
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the
International Covenants, treaties and declarations etc
aim at securing the rights of women against
discrimination.
Human Rights and Gender Discrimination:
• The incorporation of a gender perspective in the

work of the United Nations is fundamental to the
process of mainstreaming gender.
• Yet “Everywhere in the world, women are second-
class citizens.” says Stephen Lewis (UN Special
envoy Africa), 2006.
• Yet, evidence shows, We live in a world in which
women do not have basic control over what
happens to or with them.
Culture and Gender Discrimination:
• “Culture may be defined as the totality of a peoples’ ways

of life. This includes its beliefs, attitudes, values, norms,
customs, behavior patterns, symbols, myths, language,
food, artifact, and other skills which members of society
or community share as a framework for interpreting the
social world, including patterns of gender roles and
relationships.”
• Therefore, culture determines or conditions gender roles
and relations of a given society.
• Culture as an ideology devalues women and works in
favor of men.
• Cultural discrimination against women goes

beyond violence in terms of beating. It includes:
– forced marriage
– dowry-related violence
– sexual harassment
– intimidation at work and in educational institutions
– forced pregnancy
– forced abortion
– trafficking and
– forced prostitution
• Domestic violence against women is a global problem.

• Amnesty International’s research has shown that:
– The Russian government estimates that 14,000 women were
killed by their partners or relatives in 1999, yet the country still
has no law specifically addressing domestic violence.
– The World Health Organization has reported that up to 70 per
cent of female murder victims are killed by their male partners.
– On average, two women per week are killed by a male partner or
former partner in the UK. Nearly half of all female murder
victims are killed by a partner or ex-partner.
– In 2004, in Spain 72 women died at the hands of their partners or
ex-partner, 7 of them despite having been granted protection
measures.
The Pakistan Scenario:
• In fact, in general, gender relations in Pakistan rest on

two basic perceptions; that women are subordinate to
men, and that a man's honor resides in the actions of the
women of his family.
• Thus, as in other orthodox religious societies, women are
supposed to be responsible for maintaining the family
honor and stay at home in Pakistan.
• Zareen F. Naqvi and Lubna Shahnaz in their study “How
do women decide to work in Pakistan?” found marital
status, education level, family size, household’s financial
status and area of residence as the main causal factors
behind women making their own decisions about paid
employment in Pakistan.
• Despite the fact that the Constitution of Pakistan gives all the
fundamental rights to women, the incidence of women labor force
participation is very low in Pakistan.
• In the 1973 Constitution, it has been laid down vide article 34 that
steps shall be taken to ensure full participation of women in all
spheres.
• Article 35 of the Constitution lays down that the state shall protect
the marriage, the family, the mother, and the child.
• Article 37 (c) of the Constitution guarantees just arid human working
conditions for women and children with respect to their age and sex,
as well as maternity benefits for employed women.
• Prostitution has been prevented under Article 37 (g) of the
Constitution
• According to the Labor Force Survey 1999-2000, female

participation rate was merely 14% of the total labor force.
• Even though average annual growth rate of female labor
force participation has been increasing slightly in
Pakistan; it was 4% in 1980-99 and has gone up to 5.1%
during 1995-98
• However, this rate is still very low as compared to the
other South Asian countries; 42 % in Bangladesh, 41% in
Nepal, 32 % in India and Bhutan, 37% in Sri Lanka.
Pakistan is a signatory of the following

international instruments:
– ILO Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention,
1958 (No. 111) (ratified on 24/1/1961)
– ILO Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) (ratified on
11/10/2001)
– UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women, 1979 (ratified on 12/3/1996)
– ILO Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (Disabled
Persons) Convention, 1983 (No. 159) (ratified on 25/10/1994)
– ILO Underground Work (Women) Convention, 1935 (No. 45)
(ratified on 25/3/1938)
Recommendations:
• The country should make sure the implementation of

local and international laws regarding gender
discrimination
• Constitution should be supreme not the culture or
customs
• Education is the key to women empowerment, equal
opportunities must be ensured
• There is a need to eliminate general perceptions of the
employer towards women labor force (married,
unmarried etc)
• Social reformation of the society is important to create
awareness in men that household works is not only the
duty of females
Recommendations:
• Women labor force should be facilitated on the

work through childcare facilities, maternity leave
etc.
• Women must be empowered to make decisions
about their own selves. This should be promoted
by governments through sponsored workshops,
seminars and conferences.
• Appropriate legislation measures should be taken
to prevent harm to women at an earlier stage.
Let Women Feel:
Conclusion:
• Women, despite having been repeatedly recognized for

their significant role in almost all spheres of economy and
society, have not yet been integrated in development
process.
• While, in Pakistan, an understanding of woman as an
important component of Human Capital had started
sometime in 1970s with the growing realization of their
economic potential and contributions, their inclusion in
national development plans is yet to take place.
•
Conclusion:
• Hence, particularly in Pakistan, major challenge is not

legislation, but implementation.
• Implementation of constitutional women rights and
compliance with international standards necessitates a
broad-scale education and appreciation of equal
opportunity for all philosophy for the competitiveness
and very existence of an organization (private as well as
public) on micro and macro levels.
• Government must initiate an equal opportunity
awareness program starting with the education of the
policy makers.
Thank You
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Industrial Relations

End Term Project

Date: December 21, 2009

Muhammad Zia Aslam

• “No nation can rise to the height of glory unless your

• Women have always been contributing in the world

• Unpaid work is perhaps the biggest contribution that

• Restrictions on women's access to and participation in the

• Nominal equal opportunity laws, legal and cultural

• The increase of women in the labor force gained

• Phase two: Transition Era

• Phase three: Roots of the Revolution

• Phase four: The Quiet Revolution

• Everyone has the human right to freedom from

• The incorporation of a gender perspective in the

• “Culture may be defined as the totality of a peoples’ ways

• Cultural discrimination against women goes

• Domestic violence against women is a global problem.

• In fact, in general, gender relations in Pakistan rest on

• According to the Labor Force Survey 1999-2000, female

Pakistan is a signatory of the following

• The country should make sure the implementation of

• Women labor force should be facilitated on the

• Women, despite having been repeatedly recognized for

• Hence, particularly in Pakistan, major challenge is not

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