COACHING FOR FEMALE EMPLOYMENT IN THE DIGITAL SECTOR IN ORDER TO PROMOTE GENDER EQUALITY IN THE LABOUR MARKET

1.1. Anti-discriminatory international and national acts

It is important for adult educators to be acquainted with main International and European documents, which seek to ensure gender equality de jure and de facto.  The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), adopted in 1979 by the UN General Assembly, is an international bill of rights for women. It defines what constitutes discrimination against women and sets up an agenda  for national action to end such discrimination. The Convention provides the basis for realizing equality between women and men through ensuring women's equal access to, and equal opportunities in, political and public life (including the right to vote and to stand for  election) as well as education, health and employment.

The Convention is the only human rights treaty which affirms the reproductive rights of women and targets culture and tradition as influential forces shaping gender roles and family relations. It affirms women's rights to acquire, change or retain their nationality and  the nationality of their children. States parties also agree to take appropriate measures against all forms of traffic in women and exploitation of women.

Equality between women and men is one of the European Union's founding values. It goes back to 1957 when the principle of equal pay for equal work became part of the Treaty of Rome.

The Racial Equality Directive (2000/43/EC) prohibits discrimination on the ground of racial or ethnic origin in a broad range of fields, including employment, social protection and social advantages, education, and goods and services available to the public, including  housing.

The Employment Equality Directive (2000/78/EC), however, is limited to the field of employment and occupation but covers the grounds of religion or belief, disability, age and sexual orientation. The purpose of this Directive as stated in Article 1 is to lay down a  general framework for combating discrimination on the grounds of religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation as regards employment and occupation, with a view to  putting into effect in the Member States the principle of equal treatments.

The Recast Directive (2006/54/EC) on equal opportunities and equal treatment of women and men in employment and occupation requires the implementation of the prohibition of direct and indirect sex discrimination, harassment and sexual harassment. This directive  contains provisions to implement the principle of equal treatment in relation to access to employment, including promotion, and vocational training; working conditions,  including pay; occupational social security schemes.

Each EU country must to transpose the above mentioned EU directives into their national legislation.

Links for the self-learning

• The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) ;
• Recast Directive (2006/54/EC)
• Employment Equality Directive (2000/78/EC)
• Racial Equality Directive (2000/43/EC)
• EUROPEAN EQUALITY LAW NETWORK

1.2 Gender-based discriminatory behaviour: direct and indirect discrimination

Gender equality refers to the equal rights, responsibilities and opportunities of women and men and girls and boys. Equality does not mean that women and men will become the same but that women’s and men’s rights, responsibilities and opportunities will not depend on whether they are born male or female. Gender equality implies that the interests, needs and priorities of both women and men are taken into consideration, recognizing the diversity of different groups of women and men (EIGE).

Definition of discrimination is clearly defined in the above mentioned directives Employment Equality Directive (2000/78/EC) and 2006/54/EC on the implementation of the principle of equal opportunities and equal treatment of men and women in matters of employment and occupation. 

Direct discrimination

Direct discrimination occurs when a person is treated less favorably than another in a comparable situation because of their racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age, gender or sexual orientation. An example of direct discrimination is a job advert, which says ‘no disabled people need to apply’.

Indirect discrimination

Indirect discrimination occurs when an apparently neutral provision, criterion or practice would disadvantage people on the grounds of racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age, gender or sexual orientation unless the practice can be objectively justified by a legitimate aim. An example of indirect discrimination is requiring all people who apply for a certain job to sit a test in a particular language, even though that language is not necessary for the job. The test might exclude more people who have a different mother tongue.

1.3 Multiple discrimination

Gender discrimination is not an isolated form of discrimination, but it appears simultaneously in women who may be suffering from discrimination on grounds of their age, disability, racial and ethnic origin, sexual orientation, religion or belief (S. Burri, D. Schiek, 2009).

Multiple discrimination describes a situation where discrimination takes place on the basis of gender and other several grounds operating separately. For instance, an ethnic minority woman may experience discrimination on the basis of her gender in one situation and because of her ethnic origin in another. Some examples of multiple discrimination are defined below. 

Discrimination based on gender and racial or ethnic origin.

• Roma woman is refused to employ or promote or even the dismissed.
• A black woman claimed ethnic and gender discrimination to be connected to her career progression and she was denied access to her vocational training.

Age and gender discrimination.

• A woman close to the pension age is dismissed from her workplace.
• A middle-aged woman was denied employment in a Holiday house because of her age.

Gender and family status or family role.

• Cases involving the dismissal of single mothers and refusal to employ the mother of a young child.

Gender and religious discrimination.

• The woman was dismissed from her job at a department store because she started wearing a hijab.

Disabled women are often discriminated against on both grounds, disability, and gender.

Links for the self-learning

Multiple Discrimination in EU Law Towards Redressing Complex Inequality? R.Xenidis European University Institute, Law Department. http://www.era-comm.eu/oldoku/Adiskri/11_Multiple_discrimination/118DV20_Xenidis_EN.pdf  

1.4 The statistical data related to gender and multiple discrimination in EU and your country

Links for the self-learning

• Gender Statistics Database, published European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE)
• The life of women and men in Europe