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INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY
8 MARCH 2006
FOR OUR RIGHTS AND DIGNITY AS YOUNG WOMEN WORKERS
Sany, a young factory worker in Thailand, says, "I work 12 to 14 hours a day. I have to work all those hours because the salary I get is not enough for me to live."
Celine, a worker in a textile factory in Indonesia, talks about her conditions, "I have to work to support my family and help to pay for my brothers' studies. I left home 5 years ago but it is not easy to live on your own here in the city. The conditions in dorms are not good, the space is limited, it is dark, and the rent I pay is very high."
Fanny, a young worker in Ecuador, explains: "I left my country to look for better living and working conditions. I never would have thought that I would have to face so much injustice and discrimination simply because I am an immigrant."
Those facts show us that the young women workers' realities, in particular their living and working conditions, are getting worse everywhere in the world. Precariousness, exploitation, the violation of their rights are situations they are faced with day after day.
In its document about decent work for women, the ILO affirms that girls
are more likely than boys to be the invisible workers and the victims
of many situations of exploitation and marginalization. Young women
tend to have higher unemployment rates than young men. Overall, the
increase in the quantity of women's employment has not been matched by
an improvement in the quality of their employment.
On top of
those situations facing them at work, there is also a limited access to
education, violence, their unrespected right to decide about their
lives and future, the denial of their right to take an active part in
society's decision-making forums.
In the framework of its action
with young women workers, the IYCW struggles to change that reality; it
promotes women's leadership through the action they carry out with
other young women workers.
We believe that young women workers
themselves should take the leadership in all spheres of society,
demanding the elimination of gender inequalities, combating all forms
of violence and abuse they endure in their everyday lives, and standing
up for their right to have access to decision-making forums.
We
believe it is essential that governments take action to achieve the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), in particular Goal no.3 that
focuses on promoting gender equality and women's empowerment, by
adopting mechanisms that aim to monitor and check their implementation
by the States.
The international campaign carried out by the IYCW with young women workers include several actions aiming to demand:
- The passing of laws that protect young women workers.
- The payment of their salary, the right to holiday and to limited working hours.
- The implementation of ILO Convention no.183 on the protection of maternity.
- Equal
rights and opportunities in terms of access to work, education, and
vocational training, as stated in the Convention on the Elimination of
All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.
- Equal salary for men
and women, the right to be respected and treated in dignity, the right
to safe and healthy working conditions.
- The right to decide about their lives and future.
- The right to participate in all decision-making and representation forums in society on an equal footing.
On
the occasion of the International Women's Day, the IYCW wishes to
express its solidarity with and support to the struggle of all women in
the world for the respect of their rights and dignity!
Nubia A. Alvarez
Working Group on Young Women Workers
INTERNATIONAL YCW
4,
AVENUE GEORGES RODENBACH
B-1030 BRÜSSEL
Tel.
+32 2 242 18 11 – Fax +32 2 242 48 00
E-MAIL:
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Internet: http://www.jociycw.net
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