Employers, stop exploiting women
Aug 25, 2009
LETTER OF THE DAY<br><br>EDITOR—For all the efforts activists have invested in bettering the situation of women in the country, the issue of poor remuneration persists. Few women are in high positions of leadership and therefore earning reasonable in
LETTER OF THE DAY
EDITOR—For all the efforts activists have invested in bettering the situation of women in the country, the issue of poor remuneration persists. Few women are in high positions of leadership and therefore earning reasonable income while the majority are only paid peanuts.
Incidentally, despite campaigns to raise their self-esteem, many young girls today still believe that getting a job is simply a favour irrespective of their qualifications!
They have very low bargaining power for better pay, and are always the last to put down their tools when the going gets tough. Employers therefore often take advantage of this situation to offer women the smallest bargain, while exploiting the most out of them.
This situation is not helped by the fact that many married women naturally expect their husbands to meet the biggest share of the family bill. The result of this is that some women feel comfortable with only as much money as can care for their cosmetic requirements; and since they are often on the receiving end of men’s solicited and unsolicited free offers in terms of lunch and transport, they always get away with it.
They have no worries about heavy expenses like purchasing land, paying rent, fuelling the car, etc which, are perceived to be the responsibility of their husbands.Walk into any supermarket, bar, bank, phone companies, boutique or even some of the apparently respectable workplaces around town and you will be amazed at how many young ladies are working tirelessly.
Many of them report as early as 7.00am and return home after 7.00pm. When you ask about the pay, you might be embarrassed to learn that these Ugandans earn as little as sh50,000 yet they work as much as their male counterparts or even more! Who said men cannot work in a supermarket or cannot be customer-care advisers or receptionists?
The truth is women are preferred for such positions due to their softness and general appeal to male clients, which basically increases the propensity of business to excel. However, it is this uniqueness that ought to earn them a fatter pay, apart from their academic and intellectual endowments.
Generally speaking, a woman is the last person to resign her job, unless for extreme cases involving sexual harassment. In fact, some even submit to their bosses’ sexual demands if only to keep their jobs, something that men will not stand. However, given their natural sense of motherly compassion, women often think of their children and are often ready to undertake the slightest opportunity if only to ensure there’s milk in the house. I know of some NGOs and companies around town whose staff composition is 90% women. These women are a lot easier to manipulate as opposed to men. I think it’s high time we appreciated the important contribution that women are making in our society and pay them decently.
Deo Tumusiime
Kampala
EDITOR—For all the efforts activists have invested in bettering the situation of women in the country, the issue of poor remuneration persists. Few women are in high positions of leadership and therefore earning reasonable income while the majority are only paid peanuts.
Incidentally, despite campaigns to raise their self-esteem, many young girls today still believe that getting a job is simply a favour irrespective of their qualifications!
They have very low bargaining power for better pay, and are always the last to put down their tools when the going gets tough. Employers therefore often take advantage of this situation to offer women the smallest bargain, while exploiting the most out of them.
This situation is not helped by the fact that many married women naturally expect their husbands to meet the biggest share of the family bill. The result of this is that some women feel comfortable with only as much money as can care for their cosmetic requirements; and since they are often on the receiving end of men’s solicited and unsolicited free offers in terms of lunch and transport, they always get away with it.
They have no worries about heavy expenses like purchasing land, paying rent, fuelling the car, etc which, are perceived to be the responsibility of their husbands.Walk into any supermarket, bar, bank, phone companies, boutique or even some of the apparently respectable workplaces around town and you will be amazed at how many young ladies are working tirelessly.
Many of them report as early as 7.00am and return home after 7.00pm. When you ask about the pay, you might be embarrassed to learn that these Ugandans earn as little as sh50,000 yet they work as much as their male counterparts or even more! Who said men cannot work in a supermarket or cannot be customer-care advisers or receptionists?
The truth is women are preferred for such positions due to their softness and general appeal to male clients, which basically increases the propensity of business to excel. However, it is this uniqueness that ought to earn them a fatter pay, apart from their academic and intellectual endowments.
Generally speaking, a woman is the last person to resign her job, unless for extreme cases involving sexual harassment. In fact, some even submit to their bosses’ sexual demands if only to keep their jobs, something that men will not stand. However, given their natural sense of motherly compassion, women often think of their children and are often ready to undertake the slightest opportunity if only to ensure there’s milk in the house. I know of some NGOs and companies around town whose staff composition is 90% women. These women are a lot easier to manipulate as opposed to men. I think it’s high time we appreciated the important contribution that women are making in our society and pay them decently.
Deo Tumusiime
Kampala