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Informal Work In Tunisia: A Factor To Be Included In Strategies Addressing Gender Based Violence
By crtda on July 16, 2014 | Leave a comment
Source: AWID
Photo: Mégane Ghorbani
FRIDAY FILE: To commemorate International Domestic Workers’ Day on June 16 and in parallel to a seminar considering a unified strategy against violence against women in Tunisia, hosted by the Association of Tunisian Women for Research and Development’s in Tunis on June 13, 2014, AWID takes a look at the instruments available and the gaps that still exist in addressing violence against informal women workers in Tunisia.
By Mégane Ghorbani
Article 46 of the new Tunisian constitution states that “The State shall take all necessary measures to eradicate violence against women” [1]. Three months after its enactment, the May 2014 recommendations made in Tunisia by the mechanisms of the United Nations’ human rights system [2], stipulate that violence cannot be eradicated without reforming legal codes. These recommendations also emphasize the need to strengthen oversight of informal sector work.
Women in the informal sector
The economic crisis has intensified the growth of informal work globally [3]. In Tunisia, informal employment, defined by researcher Nidhal Ben Cheikh as, “unprotected employment or the absence of social protection” [4], accounts for 54% of jobs. [5]. According to the Tunisian Union of Industry, Trade and Handicrafts (UTICA), the informal sector affects 85% of Tunisian enterprises [6].
While the population of working age “15 and over” is almost equally male and female [7], there are gender inequalities in terms of access to employment in the formal sector, notably an unemployment rate in the first quarter of 2014 of 21.5% for women, compared to 12.7% for men [8]. This unequal access to the formal labour market pushes more women into the informal sector. A survey conducted in 2013 on informal workers in Greater Tunis shows that unlike men, all women are aware of their labour situation and some say “informal work is our lot in life” [9].
In the textile industry, a 2012 research project focused on violations of women workers’ economic and social rights in the coastal region of Monastir [10]. The study shows that 86% of the workforce is female because of the perceived low wages; and it discusses cases of informality in sectors that are ostensibly formal. Twenty six percent of women workers surveyed did not have social protection and 12.7% did not even have a job contract. Seven percent of women workers are illiterate and only 46% attended primary school.
A multidimensional form of violence
Regardless of gender, informal workers are all victims of a form of systemic discrimination in Tunisian society because of their lack of social status recognized by the state; and their subsequent exclusion from social services, with no protection from National Social Security or National Health Insurance. Informal women workers, however, have to contend with other forms of gender-based violence.
Firstly, they experience gender-based discrimination because of the patriarchal system in Tunisian society. Research conducted on the situation of women in rural areas in 2013 shows that they have limited access to formal and informal financial support, especially when seeking investments, because “they are considered less creditworthy than men ” [11]. In addition, because of the gendered division of roles within the family, some women do not control the money they themselves have generated. As one participant stated in a report on women’s work in agriculture[12], “Indeed, it is rare to see women sitting around doing nothing, when we gather to chat and whenever we have a free moment, we weave. Moreover, blankets and carpets are a true form of savings because whenever he needs cash, the head of the family can go sell them at the nearest weekly market and use the funds.”
Furthermore, violence in informal work places is pervasive and many women are victims of violence and sexual harassment. A survey by the Association of Tunisian Women for Research and Development (AFTURD) on full time domestic workers, of which 96.7% [13] have no job contract; also shows that 14.2% of respondents claim to have been victims of sexual abuse at the hand of their employers. Worryingly 16.2% young women say they were forced into sexual touching and 18.2% into forced sexual intercourse. In addition, many women workers in the region of Monastir claim their low social status leaves them vulnerable to street harassment [14]. These attacks generally go unreported, as women in informal work have no legal protection. All of these factors undermine women’s rights and perpetuate gender inequalities in the society
In Tunisia, workers are protected by various international and national instruments: the International Labour Organization (ILO) instruments, including Convention No. 118 concerning equal treatment in matters of social security; the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and its Optional Protocol adopted by Tunisia, on which the reservations were officially lifted in April 2014, should ensure the principles of gender equality and non-discrimination, including stereotyped gender roles and prejudice (art. 5), rural women (art. 14), employment (Article 11) and bank loans (art.13) [15]. The Tunisian labour code also regulates work relationships and conditions, as well as penalties for violations. The new Constitution [16], adopted in January 2014, establishes in its preamble the equality of all citizens, the right to work in decent conditions (Article 40) and the role of the State in the fight against violence and guaranteeing of women’s rights (Art. 46).
Gaps, contradictions and lack of implementation
Despite all these instruments ostensibly available to address violence against informal women workers, a major hurdle persists in Tunisia in challenging informality as a factor, due to some legislative gaps or contradictions within the new constitution. The Penal Code, specifically Articles 218, 227a, 226b and 239, does not provide an overriding law that criminalizes all forms of violence against women [17]. Additionally, Tunisia has not yet ratified Convention No. 189 of the ILO on decent work for domestic workers to ensure the “right to a healthy and safe working environment” (art.13). Also, the Tunisian labour code does not mention gender based violence or sexual harassment.
In light of these loopholes, the ongoing development of a new legal framework – which was discussed during a December 2013 seminar hosted by the Ministry of Women’s and Family Affairs, the European Council and the United Nations Fund for Population Activities – should also take into account the aspect of informality of women’s employment to effectively address all forms of gender based violence.
In addition, organizations supporting victims of gender-based violence have a role to play on the ground, because as Saloua Kannou, AFTURD president, explained, “establishing a database on violence against women in Tunisia will limit the prevalence of this phenomenon” [18].
Unpaid Care Work In The Post-2015 Framework: Response To The Zero Draft Report For Open Working Group
The inclusion of unpaid care in the post-2015 framework is vital to spur meaningful progress towards gender equality, and will have positive impacts on the achievement of many other development goals.
Freeing women’s time from caring duties will enhance their prospects for economic empowerment and political participation. Fairer sharing of care roles will reduce the risk of violence against women, improve the health outcomes and educational opportunities of both women and their children, and create space to challenge discriminatory gender stereotypes. The key is to foster a more equal sharing of unpaid care within households and communities, and ensure better provision of public services to support care. The briefing concludes with recommendations for a target on unpaid care within a standalone gender goal, and indicators that could be used to measure progress.
The Gender and Development Network is delighted that the issue of unpaid care is now being discussed in the context of the post-2015 framework. In the ‘zero draft’ proposed goals and targets issued following the 11th session of the Open Working Group, a target on unpaid care work is included (point 5.6)[1]. It is now crucial that Member States make unpaid care work a priority issue for the final framework. Below we lay out the reasons why unpaid care should be incorporated into the post-2015 agenda – and how.
A striking consensus is emerging about the importance of unpaid care work[2]; but there is still a real risk it could be left out, partly due to some misunderstandings of the issue. Looking back on this process in 10 or 15 years this exclusion would be cause for great regret, especially given the ever-growing body of evidence on the impact of unpaid care work on women’s rights and poverty.
The omission of violence against women from the Millennium Development Goals – in the face of claims that it was a ‘cultural’ issue and not relevant to development – is now seen as a clear oversight. Like violence against women, the unfair and unequal distribution of unpaid care work spans all cultures and societies –and must be tackled forcefully as an obstacle to gender equality and development and an affront to women’s rights and dignity. Women’s overwhelming responsibility for unpaid care work is not a ‘cultural’ issue to be relegated to the private sphere: it is a transcultural phenomenon with profound social and economic impacts. Everyone receives and gives unpaid care at some point in their lives; it occurs daily in every household in the world. If included in national accounts, the unpaid care economy would represent between 15 to over 50 percent of national Gross Domestic Products[3].