Higher unemployment among women in the absence of social protection

In its issue of today, Al Diyar shed light on the results of a study prepared by UN Women which showed an increase in the rate of unemployment (from 14.3% to 26%) among women in Lebanon by September 2020 (https://bit.ly/3mcK8sZ). On the subject, Dr. Caroline Sukkar Salibi, expert on social diversity, attributed the surge in unemployment among females as compared to their male peers, to the fact that women are more active in informal and unprotected labor which exposes them to exploitation by employers, including dismissal from work. Such sectors, Salibi explained, are not protected or regulated by an employment contract or social security. She underlined the need to measure the economic and social value of domestic work, or at least its moral value, according to international conventions which endorse the recognition of unpaid domestic work through the provision of public services and social protection policies, in addition to fostering the sharing of household responsibilities. Similarly, feminist activist, Hayat Mershad, pointed out that women, like men, boast capacities in many fields that should be used in the workplace, however, there are many hindrances that prevent them from realizing that. Many women are exposed to sexual harassment or gender discrimination at the workplace, and sometimes to arbitrary dismissal when they become pregnant. One way of enhancing the role of women in the labor market, she concluded, is through the adoption of policies that guarantee the conditions for decent work and the enactment of laws that protect them against discrimination.  (Al Diyar, November 27, 2020)