More than half of the Ibero-American countries (59%) do not have regulations in their legislation that respond to the objective of equal remuneration between men and women for work of equal value, according to the report ‘Advances and Legislative Challenges in Matters of Autonomy and Empowerment Women’s Economy’ prepared by the Ibero-American General Secretariat (Segib) and UN Women.
Along the same lines, the report highlights that a 64% of the Ibero-American countries still have laws that restrict women’s freedom of choice of employment, which maintains a certain segregation in the occupational sphere.
"Despite renewed efforts and commitments, progress remains insufficient as too many gaps remain, often penalized by the existence of discriminatory laws and policies or the absence of legal protections.", explains the study that Segib and UN Women have worked on since 2018.
Thus, one of the measures proposed in the report is "to end" to wage discrimination, through the introduction or expansion of the principle of equal remuneration. "It is essential for the empowerment of women"Explain.
77% of countries leave domestic workers unprotected
Regarding domestic work, 77% of the countries in the region do not have the necessary legislation to protect the rights of domestic workers and 27% have texts with discriminatory provisions in their legislation regarding the recognition of this type of work. .
For its part, care work is not recognized in many countries and maternity leave does not reach the minimum of 14 weeks required by the International Labor Organization (ILO) in 27% of Ibero-American countries. In addition, paternity leave is less than 15 days in 96% of the countries and even in three of them there is no paternity leave at all.
In this sense, the report is committed to "promote measures" that involve equalizing the working conditions of domestic workers to other workers, as well as adopting legal texts that underline the full recognition of this work. On paternity leave, UN Women and Segib urge countries to "check" the norms, advocating for a greater co-responsibility of men.
The report has gained special importance in the current context, since the Covid-19 has impacted "more pronounced" among women, perceiving an increase in the workload.
"Their lower labor participation, their higher rates of temporary employment and underemployment, as well as their greater concentration in informal jobs and in sectors damaged by the pandemic, places women in worse conditions to face the current crisis"Pick up the report.