{"id":433283,"date":"2011-05-31T10:43:26","date_gmt":"2011-05-31T10:43:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/05\/31\/womens-representation-in-trade-unions-lacking\/"},"modified":"2011-05-31T10:43:26","modified_gmt":"2011-05-31T10:43:26","slug":"womens-representation-in-trade-unions-lacking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/31\/womens-representation-in-trade-unions-lacking\/","title":{"rendered":"Women’s Representation in Trade Unions Lacking"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
\n

\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

Catherine Sasman<\/p>\n

27 May 2011<\/p>\n

\n

SEXUAL harassment is prevalent in trade unions, which could have a direct impact on women’s representation in leadership positions at these institutions.<\/p>\n

Although there are no clear data as proof of this claim, said board trustee of the Labour Resource and Research Institute (LaRRi), Immaculate Sechogele, four case studies in Namibia enumerated in a new study, ‘The status of women in trade unions in Africa’, are evidence that it is a prevalent phenomenon.<\/p>\n

“This might be the tip of the iceberg,” maintained Sechogele, saying LaRRi would call for clearer policies that would allow women to make public harassment by their male counterparts, and for unions to deal with it more decisively.<\/p>\n

“Sexual harassment is still the norm and sex seems to be used deliberately by men to silence women,” said Sechogele. “Dynamic women, once they engage in sex, seem to be pulling back and become very silent.”<\/p>\n

The study, which deals with women’s representation in trade unions in eight countries – Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe – revealed that although women make up 60 per cent of union membership of the National Union of Namibian Workers (NUNW), female leadership remains minute.<\/p>\n

In the federation structures, only two women hold leadership positions, both in administrative portfolios as treasurer and deputy treasurer. Out of eight regional chairpersons, only one is female.<\/p>\n

Two women hold administrative portfolios in the Namibia Food and Allied Union (Nafau), one deputy secretary general in the Namibian Teachers Union (Nantu), three in the Namibia Financial Institutions Union (Nafinu) – as president, general secretary, and deputy secretary general – and the national secretary of the Namibia Transport and Allied Workers’ Union (Natau).<\/p>\n

The Namibia Public Workers Union (Napwu) has a female president, and three others in leadership positions.<\/p>\n

The Trade Union Congress of Namibia (Tucna) has one woman – as coordinator of finance – in its leadership structure, this despite the fact that 80 per cent of its paid-up members are female.<\/p>\n

It was further found that only six trade unions have gender or women’s policies.<\/p>\n

But, criticised Sechogele, these are draft policies which are not binding, and at best are ambiguous.<\/p>\n

The director of LaRRi, Hilma Shindondola-Mote, said the “gender democracy deficit” in trade unions undermine the movements “democracy credentials”.<\/p>\n

This deficiency, she said, is not unique to Namibia, adding that national attempts to deal with the gender gap through national legislation falls short of expectations for equal representation.<\/p>\n

Shindondola-Mote said the “dismal” female presence in trade unions across Africa is consistent with global trends, where women represent only about 25 per cent of the total union membership.<\/p>\n

“This is just a mirror of women’s absence in national public life,” said Shindondola-Mote. “It compromises women’s interests as workers and trade unionists.”<\/p>\n

Sechogele said, however, that trade unions are ready to address women’s empowerment and other gender issues, but that this responsibility is left to women only.<\/p>\n

“Women cannot achieve gender equity if men are not on board,” she maintained.<\/p>\n

LaRRi is currently busy with a proposal to run gender programmes at trade union levels to ensure that gender policies are reviewed.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\nMore News on allAfrica.com<\/strong><\/legend>\n<\/fieldset>\n

AllAfrica – All the Time<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n<\/p>\n

Visit link:
\nWomen’s Representation in Trade Unions Lacking<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Catherine Sasman 27 May 2011 SEXUAL harassment is prevalent in trade unions, which could have a direct impact on women’s representation in leadership positions at these institutions. Although there are no clear data as proof of this claim, said board trustee of the Labour Resource and Research Institute (LaRRi), Immaculate Sechogele, four case studies in Namibia enumerated in a new study, ‘The status of women in trade unions in Africa’, are evidence that it is a prevalent phenomenon. “This might be the tip of the iceberg,” maintained Sechogele, saying LaRRi would call for clearer policies that would allow women to make public harassment by their male counterparts, and for unions to deal with it more decisively<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":433267,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-433283","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-local-news"},"yoast_head":"\nWomen's Representation in Trade Unions Lacking - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/31\/womens-representation-in-trade-unions-lacking\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Women's Representation in Trade Unions Lacking - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Catherine Sasman 27 May 2011 SEXUAL harassment is prevalent in trade unions, which could have a direct impact on women's representation in leadership positions at these institutions. Although there are no clear data as proof of this claim, said board trustee of the Labour Resource and Research Institute (LaRRi), Immaculate Sechogele, four case studies in Namibia enumerated in a new study, 'The status of women in trade unions in Africa', are evidence that it is a prevalent phenomenon. "This might be the tip of the iceberg," maintained Sechogele, saying LaRRi would call for clearer policies that would allow women to make public harassment by their male counterparts, and for unions to deal with it more decisively\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ghanamma\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ghanamma\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/31\/womens-representation-in-trade-unions-lacking\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/31\/womens-representation-in-trade-unions-lacking\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"Women’s Representation in Trade Unions Lacking\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-05-31T10:43:26+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/31\/womens-representation-in-trade-unions-lacking\/\"},\"wordCount\":550,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/31\/womens-representation-in-trade-unions-lacking\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"\",\"articleSection\":[\"Local News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/31\/womens-representation-in-trade-unions-lacking\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/31\/womens-representation-in-trade-unions-lacking\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/31\/womens-representation-in-trade-unions-lacking\/\",\"name\":\"Women's Representation in Trade Unions Lacking - Ghanamma.com\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/31\/womens-representation-in-trade-unions-lacking\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/31\/womens-representation-in-trade-unions-lacking\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-05-31T10:43:26+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/31\/womens-representation-in-trade-unions-lacking\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/31\/womens-representation-in-trade-unions-lacking\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"\",\"contentUrl\":\"\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/\",\"name\":\"Ghanamma.com\",\"description\":\"News In Ghana - Latest Ghana News Headlines\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Women's Representation in Trade Unions Lacking - Ghanamma.com","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/31\/womens-representation-in-trade-unions-lacking\/","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"Women's Representation in Trade Unions Lacking - Ghanamma.com","twitter_description":"Catherine Sasman 27 May 2011 SEXUAL harassment is prevalent in trade unions, which could have a direct impact on women's representation in leadership positions at these institutions. Although there are no clear data as proof of this claim, said board trustee of the Labour Resource and Research Institute (LaRRi), Immaculate Sechogele, four case studies in Namibia enumerated in a new study, 'The status of women in trade unions in Africa', are evidence that it is a prevalent phenomenon. \"This might be the tip of the iceberg,\" maintained Sechogele, saying LaRRi would call for clearer policies that would allow women to make public harassment by their male counterparts, and for unions to deal with it more decisively","twitter_creator":"@ghanamma","twitter_site":"@ghanamma","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/31\/womens-representation-in-trade-unions-lacking\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/31\/womens-representation-in-trade-unions-lacking\/"},"author":{"name":"","@id":""},"headline":"Women’s Representation in Trade Unions Lacking","datePublished":"2011-05-31T10:43:26+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/31\/womens-representation-in-trade-unions-lacking\/"},"wordCount":550,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/31\/womens-representation-in-trade-unions-lacking\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"","articleSection":["Local News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/31\/womens-representation-in-trade-unions-lacking\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/31\/womens-representation-in-trade-unions-lacking\/","url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/31\/womens-representation-in-trade-unions-lacking\/","name":"Women's Representation in Trade Unions Lacking - Ghanamma.com","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/31\/womens-representation-in-trade-unions-lacking\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/31\/womens-representation-in-trade-unions-lacking\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"","datePublished":"2011-05-31T10:43:26+00:00","author":{"@id":""},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/31\/womens-representation-in-trade-unions-lacking\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/31\/womens-representation-in-trade-unions-lacking\/#primaryimage","url":"","contentUrl":""},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/","name":"Ghanamma.com","description":"News In Ghana - Latest Ghana News Headlines","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/433283","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=433283"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/433283\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/433267"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=433283"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=433283"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=433283"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}