Women hard hit by global slowdown
Updated
As the world grapples with the recession and low consumer confidence, the International Labour Organisation is estimating that jobless ranks will swell by 20 percent this year.
The ILO report was released as part of International Women's Day, this coming Sunday. It's estimated 97-million women will lose their jobs by the end of this year .. and it will make life even more challenging for many women in the region.
Presenter: Sen Lam
Speaker: Dr Michelle Ford, Chair of the Department of Indonesian Studies at the University of Sydney
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FORD: Women in Asia tend to manage domestic budgets, so that unemployment in the family, whether it be their own or their partner's really hits them very hard, because they are the ones who have to find food to put on the table and manage the other costs of living. The other thing is that many women in the poorer societies of Asia, like Indonesia and the Philippines, are also often the primary breadwinners for homes, either at home in agricultural work or in factories or abroad as domestic workers.
LAM: And indeed, a study released last month by the ILO stated that women in developing Asian economies, such as the Philippines, Vietnam, India and Thailand, that they are the first to have their jobs cut in a time of crisis, can you tell us more?
FORD: That's mostly, well it's partly because of social expectations that men will be a breadwinner even if that's not the case in fact. The other thing is that women are often in marginal jobs in factories and in work places that can be easily cut and they can be sacked when life is tough for the company and brought back in when things are better. So lots of women in production, especially in export oriented factories, the sort of factories that make the clothes and shoes that we buy in the supermarkets, those sorts of jobs are very easily expendable.
LAM: And of course many women in the region leave home to work abroad. How are these women being affected by the global slowdown?
FORD: Well, millions of women actually leave the poorer countries of South East and East Asia, but mostly South East Asia, to work in other places in Asia, but also in Europe and America. And of course when their employers start to feel the economic pinch, life becomes harder for them, and this can happen in two main ways. One, they can be sacked and told to go home, and often these women have borrowed lots of money, their families have borrowed money to get them there, and their families back at home depend on that income, or if their employers can still keep them, but life is a bit tougher. They are the ones who feel the pinch, If their employers stress, they are likely to suffer either verbal or even physical abuse and also they have to deal with tightened economic situations in the home of the employer.
LAM: And, of course, this year's theme for International Women's Day on Sunday is "Ending Violence Against Women". Joblessness often means no income. Could financial worries led to violence against women?
FORD: I think this is true in every society, not just in Asia, but in countries where there is a very poor social security system, it's a particularly big concern. Because when people are under stress, often they do things they would not normally do and this includes hitting out at people at home.
LAM: So, what's your observation of attitudes regarding violence against women, particularly in Indonesia, for instance?
FORD: Well in Indonesia, Indonesia is a very complex place and different ethnic groups have different attitudes towards things. Men in Indonesia are often much more involved in the household than say in Australia in child care and so on. But there is a sense that they are the head of the household. So sometimes this means that they don't like having outsiders messing in their internal affairs in the private sphere. So whereas there's a lot of activist groups who have been really successful in getting the message out that violence against women is not okay, there is quite a lot of resistance to that in some parts of Indonesian society.
LAM: So do you think there is a growing awareness that men can play a bigger role in ending violence against women?
FORD: I think definitely, both at a personal level in their own families, but also at a structural level. Because of course a lot of the people who get to make decisions about what's important in government policy, what happens in the legal system, what happens with police are men. And even if NGOs and womens' groups are getting out the message, if there is not support for them amongst the more powerful members of the legislature and the bureaucracy, this can have basically no effect.
LAM: And do you think women themselves are also having a growing awareness, particularly in Asia, that they don't have to take such abuse?
FORD: I think definitely. If you look at places like Korea, where there is traditionally a very patriarchal society. The women's movement is very strong and very forceful about the fact that women have the right to choose about things like rape within marriage, domestic violence and even more subtle forms of violence, like not being able to participate properly in decision making and so on. In places like Indonesia, a less patriarchal society, but I think at the same time, there is growing awareness that it is not okay to lash out at your wife or other people in your household.
