BANGKOK (ILO News) -- Despite major advances in fighting discrimination at work, mounting inequalities in income and opportunities and significant and persistent forms of workplace discrimination are causing growing concern, according to a new report by the International Labour Office (ILO) published today.

In its most comprehensive report on discrimination to date, the ILO’s “Equality at work: Tackling the challenges”[1] provides a global picture of job-related discrimination, citing both progress and failures in the struggle to fight discrimination ranging from traditional forms such as sex, race or religion, to newer forms based on age, sexual orientation, HIV/AIDS status and disability.

The report notes that two-thirds of Asia Pacific member states have ratified the two ILO core conventions on discrimination (and are thus committed to creating legislation and policies against discrimination), although globally nine out of 10 of the ILO’s 180 member States have done so. 

Globally, female labour force participation rates continued to rise significantly, currently at 56.6 per cent. However, in Asia Pacific the picture is mixed. In South Asia the female labour force rate is just 43.5 per cent (only the Middle East and North Africa is lower). In East Asia and the Pacific the rate is 61.2 per cent.   

Some countries have particularly disturbing gender gaps. In India only 26 per cent of women are participating in the labour force compared to 84.1 per cent of men – a gap of more than 58 points.  In Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia and Malaysia the equivalent differential is more than 30 points. A cause for concern is that projections for 2015 and 2020 show these differentials closing only slightly; in both Brunei Darussalam and Indonesia , the gender gap is still predicted to be greater than 30 in 2020.

Worldwide, when women do enter the workforce they are often more likely to be unemployed than men or to work in the informal economy (meaning they lack the benefits and regular income of formal work). Globally the female unemployment rate in 2004 was 9.3 per cent and the male 8.2 per cent.  In South Asia it was 8.1 per cent for women (4.1 per cent for men) and in East Asia and the Pacific the rate for both sexes was 5 per cent.

At country level there are also disturbing differentials. In Indonesia the 2006 female unemployment rate is 13.3 per cent, compared to 8.6 for men. In Malaysia the 2004 rate was 3.8 per cent (male rate - 3.4 percent), in India 5.3 per cent (4.9 per cent). However there is also good news. In Thailand the unemployment rate is the same for men and women (1.7 per cent), and in some countries the rate is lower for women; in the Philippines it is 6.8 per cent compared to 7.6 per cent for men, in China the corresponding rates are 2.8 per cent and 3.6 per cent, and in Japan 3.9 per cent and 4.3 per cent[2].

There are also important differences when it comes to pay. In South Asia the percentage of employed women working without pay is the highest in the world, at 60 per cent (and another 20 per cent are self employed). In East Asia and the Pacific more than 11 per cent work unpaid and a further 12 per cent are self-employed. Those who are paid often suffer differentials. Female manufacturing workers in the Republic of Korea and Japan are paid less than 60 per cent of the wages of their male counterparts. In Singapore , Taiwan ( China ) and Hong Kong ( China ) they are paid 30-40 per cent less.

A key measure of the improvement in the situation of working women is the quality of the work they take up, notably the number in legislative, senior official or managerial (LSOM) positions . Overall the Asia Pacific region still lags behind the global average of 28.3 per cent of LSOM jobs held by women. In East Asia and the Pacific 24.8 per cent of these positions are held by women, up from 20.9 per cent in 1995. South Asia has the lowest percentage of any region, at 8.6 per cent, although this is an increase from 4.6 per cent in 1995. The report notes that a country’s stage of economic development does not seem to play a key role in determining how many women are in LSOM roles.

A striking feature of the global picture is how certain groups, irrespective of the socio-economic development of a country and its economic openness and dynamism, consistently occupy the lowers rungs of the occupational and pay ladder. The report provides many examples of discrimination on the basis of race and religion, social origin, age, caste or indigenousness, sexual orientation, HIV/AIDS status, disability, as well as against migrant workers. Such groups are not always small – there are approximately 290 million working age people with disabilities in Asia . The report warns of the consequences, economic as well as social, of limiting the participation of such people and their talents.  Such “barriers to equality can prevent societies from realizing the full potential of today’s globalized economy” it says. 

A survey of those living with HIV/AIDS in Asia found that one in six respondents said they had been discriminated against. In the Philippines it was 21 per cent, in Indonesia 15 per cent, in India 12 per cent and Thailand 7 per cent.

A recent development is the emergence of practices that penalize persons with “a genetic predisposition to developing certain diseases or those who have lifestyles considered unhealthy”. The report states that genetic screening has important implications for the workplace where, for example, employers might discriminate against employees whose genetic status shows a predisposition to developing a certain disease in the future. Genetic discrimination at the workplace has been proven and successfully contested in several courts around the world.

“To be more effective in combating emerging forms of discrimination related to age, lifestyle or genetics we need solid data and information,” said Mr. Gek-Boo Ng, ILO Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific. ”In addition many jobs in Asia Pacific are filled by word-of-mouth, or other non-transparent channels. This can hinder the efficient functioning of labour markets and perpetuate discrimination.”

Looking to the future, the Global Report recommends a series of steps to combat discrimination. These include promoting gender equality through better-coordinated action, ensuring that measures countering discrimination and promoting equality are fully integrated into individual states’ Decent Work Country Programmes; encouraging better laws and better enforcement; non-legislative measures such as government purchasing, lending and investment policies; and helping workers and employers with codes of conduct and collective bargaining agreements.

For more information please contact:

Sophy Fisher
Regional Information Officer
ILO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific
Tel: +662 288 2482

Krisdaporn Singhaseni
Information Officer – ILO Bangkok
Tel: +66 (0) 2288 1664
 

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