The Tribune

By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS

Tribune Staff Reporter

lmunnings@tribunemedia.net

WOMEN have lower labour force participation rates and are more likely to be unemployed than men despite generally better education and academic attainment — one of many gender-based disparities that put them at a disadvantage.

Daniela Carrera Marquis, the Inter-American Development Bank’s country representative in The Bahamas, highlighted such inequities during the opening ceremony of a kick-off workshop on Friday called Advancing Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women and Girls in The Bahamas.

“Women and girls outperform men at every level in educational participation and academic attainment, yet they experience gender-based disadvantages in the labour market,” she said. “Women in The Bahamas, regardless of their education attainment, have lower rates of labour force participation, are more likely to be unemployed and more likely to be underemployed than their male counterparts.

“Those that are employed are more likely than their male counterparts to be engaged in the informal sector, with low pay, low job security, and low social protections. We know that in the Caribbean and Latin American cities, women’s wages are 30 per cent lower than men’s wages. A recent study of 16 Caribbean and Latin American countries identified that 26 per cent of households led by women were poor, compared to 17 per cent of men.”

For her part, former Attorney General Allyson Maynard-Gibson emphasised the need to address gender-based violence (GBV) during her keynote address on Friday.

“Systemic change is necessary to urgently address GBV,” she said.

She noted that a GBV bill was produced in 2015.

“In the Caribbean, there is a saying that paper will stay still and let you write anything on it,” she said. “When are we going to act? It’s almost ten years later. There are some key points in that bill. First of all, there is a very wide definition of gender-based violence to include physical, mental, social or economic abuse against someone because of their gender. That has widened the definition.”

“Secondly, the bill promotes a wide range of persons who are advised to inform a person about their rights.

“Thirdly, there’s an obligation from police to respond promptly even when the person reporting is not a victim. That’s really important. It can be an aunt, an uncle, or a neighbour reporting.

“Fourthly, the court will have very wide powers, including issuing protection orders and also they must respond within certain timelines.

“Fifthly, there’s an obligation to establish shelters.”