Year 2012, no.03 no.03
January— January—March
Electronic informant for women
WOMEN’S VISION
SOOZ ON A WORKING VISIT IN THE NETHERLANDS
CONTENT Gender statistics in Macedonia
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Trafficking in women 2 and girls Gender inequality
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Mobbing -violence or 4 career?
From 5th to 10th March, 2012, representatives of ESE and SOOZ within UNASM from the Republic of Macedonia were on a working visit in CNV Internationaal in the Netherlands. Apart from the representatives from Macedonia, in the Netherlands there were representatives from Indonesia, Guatemala and Togo. The aim of this working visit was the 100th anniversary of the International Woman’s day, as well as the outset of the new campaign on gender representation organized by CNV Internationaal under the motto “Equal possibilities for better work”. During the visit in the Netherlands the partner organizations had meetings with the employed in CNV Internationaal as well as with the president of CNV, MR. Jaap Smit with whom they discussed the results achieved by each partner organization. The partner organizations of CNV Internationaal from Macedonia, Guatemala, Indonesia and Togo actively participated in the panel discussions held in front of representatives of the Ministry of foreign affairs of the Netherlands, representatives of the civil sector, the business sector, CNV supporters and shared their experiences regarding the realization of the project activities in terms of the situation of the woman on the labour market, discrimination etc. During the working visit, the delegations had the possibility to visit an IT and communication company in The Hague. OZ within UNASM had very positive impressions for the organization of all activities scheduled by CNV Internationaal. Mrs. Divna Zmejkovsa, President of OZ within UNASM, Mrs. Marija Gelevska from ESE and Miss. Ivana Lekikj attended the event.
WOMEN’S VISION
GENDER STATISTICS IN MACEDONIA The International labour organization (ILO) with the office in Skopje at the beginning of the month of February 2012 organized a training entitled: “Creation of a gender statistics in Macedonia”. All social partners, such as UNASM, SSM, KSS, ORM and BKM and representatives of MLSP and the State statistical office attended the training. The training was opened with an introductory speech of the National coordinator, MR. Emil Krstanovski and Mrs. Blagica Novkovska, CEO of the State Statistical office had their presentations related to the topic, as well as, Mrs. Reiko Cushima, ILO’s specialist in the field of working conditions and gender equality (Central and Southern Europe) and Mrs. Andriana Mata Greenwood, ILO’s gender equality analyst, Geneva. The aim of labour statistics is to ensure credible and high-quality data regarding the volume, structure and characteristics of participants in the labour market. By introducing the gender aspect in these statistics a qualification of the women’s and men’s situation on the labour market is enabled, as well as their different access to employment.
TRAFFICKING IN WOMEN AND GIRLS At the end of the 19th century the problem with trafficking in women for prostitution went public. According to the UN’s reports girls and women from south and southeastern Asia (Burma, China, Cambodia, Laos, Nepal, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam) are most common victims, as well as those from Eastern Europe (Baltic countries, Ukraine) and South America (Brazil). It is very difficult to determine the factual ratio of trafficking in women. According to the information obtained by NGOs, only in Thailand from 200.000 to 2 million women work as prostitutes. Women are promised well paid jobs abroad. After having crossed the border their passports are taken away from them and they are forced to work in brothels. They have to work and live in conditions as they are slaves because they have debts towards the traficants that have covered the transport and all other costs. The social stigmatization, the violence, as well as the foreign country strengthen the dependence of the victims. The traditional preference of sons, poverty and good will in some countries (Cambodia, Thailand) forces parents to sell their daughters to the traficants. But, violent kidnappings of women and girls also take place. The trafficking in women has increased and according to the volume it can be compared with the drug and weapons trade. This market is supported by racist fantasies and fantasies of power of western men who spend their money for sexual pleasure or for buying girls and women. The low social status of women, discrimination of the divorced, raped women and widows, as well as their living situation (without possibilities for employment and education, poverty) have worsened during the socioeconomic changes in the past few years and contribute to keeping this business alive. What has been done for preventing trafficking in women? Since 1904 there have been international agreements for fighting against trafficking in women, such as the International agreement on guaranteed protection for trafficked girls signed 18th May 1904 (amended in 1949). The international agreement on guaranteed protection for trafficked girls signed 4th May, 1010 binds all members-states to punish all those who try to seduce minor girls for prostitutions, as well as for forced prostitutions within their countries. Besides that, there is an agreement on eradicating the trafficking in adult women singed in 1933 (amended in 1949). Local laws for prevention of prostitution are mostly against victims that are persecuted as illegal immigrants or illegal prostitutes, while the traficants are set free by paying the bail or bribing someone. In many EU countries the woman can go to court only if she has a stay permit. Even if women want to testify in a criminal procedure against the chain of traficants, they are threatened with deportation from the country. Therefore, women are left on the good will of their macros. The criminal procedure against women traficants is usually stopped due to lack of evidences.
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Year 2012, no.03
In Macedonia there is still gender inequality! Results show that less than a quarter of the employers in Macedonia are women and only one quarter of the employees who have salary higher than 40.000 denars are women, while of the 85 percent mayors’ posts in the Republic of Macedonia, there is not a single woman. Starting point of the research, in which data from the State statistical office were used, was the high rate of economic inactivity of women in Macedonia, i.e. the statistical data is that over 50% of women able for working do not even try to find a job. The research has shown that the greater part of unemployed women is willing to work. Only 25% of the interviewed women who are not active on the labour market said that they are not active because of their own choice. Only 10.5 % of the total number of interviewed women would not work if they have the opportunity for that compared to 7.2 % of men which statistically is a great difference. The analysis of the conducted research showed that even though the stances for gender roles correlate with the unemployment rate, people with more traditional approach are generally more inactive on the labour market. If complete analysis is made taking into consideration all demographic variables, the stances will lose their meaning due to the situation on the labour market. That means that the stances are not crucial for the position of the interviewed on the labour market. The activity rate on the labour market, according to the research, depends on education, age and gender which proofs the presence of discrimination of younger, women and less educated. The performed analysis showed that the private sector is not quite suitable for women in RM because the data show that 38.8 % of the employed women work in the public sector compared to 26.1 % men who work in the same sector. Data show that not only the public sector is the main employer of women, but it is also the most wanted one. More of half of the interviewed women choose public sector as preferred destination for working rather than men who mainly choose the private sector. 55.3% of women want to work in the public sector compared to 40.4 % of men, 4.3 %of women and 2.6 % of men are interested in working in the NGO sector, while 29.9% of women and 49.8 % of men are interested in working in the private sector. Even though the greater part of the interviewed do not have a stereotype for women, still, about one third of the population thinks that women are less capable of doing business, they are not enough interested in building a career and are not ambitious enough. Watching women incapable, less interested and less ambitious is more common for men rather than for women. In the Republic of Macedonia there is still gender inequality, most often on the expense of women, there is disproportion between the guaranteed and the realistically realized equality between a man and a woman, shows the research of “Reactor research in action� and the European fund for the Balkans.
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Women’s vision
www.ozunasm.weebly.com
WOMEN’S TRADE UNION ORGANIZATIONS WITHIN UNASM
Electronic informant UNASM Newsletter email. unasmbilten@gmail.com
St. Vasil Gorgov no: 39 1000 Skopje Republic of Macedonia phone: +38923230307
Thoughts about life: SOS line for help of the victims of mobbing +38923220252
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“Life is one long process of dying” Samjuel Batler
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“If life was beautiful, men would not be born crying“—Sand
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”Life is the last habit we would like to lose because it was the first we acquired”—Dumas
email. ozunasm@gmail.com Publisher:
Divna ZMEMJKOVSKA
publishes:
SOOZ within UNASM
editor:
Rubincho ARIZANKOSKI
MOBBING- violence or career building?! The possibility for one to lose the job, fear and the shame if others find out are reason because of which victims do not declare psychological violence at the workplace. Even though most often its existence is denied, the mobbing exists and in most of the cases victims are not aware of the fact that there are sanctions. Maltreated, mostly by employers, workers are isolated, laughed at, even terrorized with phone calls, sexual harassment, as well as physical assaults. Researchers have shown that in Macedonia this problem is predominant with
people aged between 36 and 50 and most of the victims are women. Jealousy and strong competition for promotion at the workplace are enumerated as the most common reasons for this type of violence. In Macedonia, mobbing victims can declare violence on the open SOS line within UNASM and to call to the trade union leaders within their companies or to ask the labour inspection to intervene.