New Study Reveals Legal Impediments to Women’s Economic Participation in South Mediterranean
Brussels, 17 November 2008 – A new study reveals that laws regulating marriage, divorce, custody and inheritance are the main barriers to women’s economic empowerment in ten South Mediterranean countries, and that despite significant strides made in the region, women’s rate of participation in economic activity remains the lowest in the world.
The study shows that while labour codes prohibit sexual discrimination, practice is another matter and women are still constrained by a ‘culture of shame’ – for example, they may face prosecution for libel if they bring a case of sexual harassment against an employer and lose it. In some instances there is outright discrimination, e.g. job advertisements that call for male applicants only.
The Study which is commissioned by the EC-funded Regional Programme Euromed Role of Women in Economic Life and implemented by the British Council in co-operation with the Mediterranean Institute of Gender Studies, looks at the root causes for discrimination against women’s economic participation, focusing on four main areas: right to work, right to equality and marriage and the family, rights to social security and nationality, and rights to freedom of movement and equal legal personality. It provides an in-depth account of the contradictions between constitutional rights, which provide for equality and non discrimination, and domestic laws and practices that prohibit women from fully exercising their equal rights.
The following link gives a further detailed information on the findings of the study: http://www.britishcouncil.org/brussels-euromed-press-release-1108-word.doc
