Round Table on the Protection of Working Women

The chairperson of a coalition of women parliamentarians from Arab countries called for combating violence against women, MP Wafaa Bani Mustafa, to come up with a system of supporting legislation that supports the role of women in all fields.

This came when she headed a roundtable work held in the House of Representatives today, Wednesday, in order to present the results of the study carried out by the Women's Economic Foundation under the title "From guardianship to partnership: protecting working women and lost opportunities related to Article 69 of the Labor Law as a model", in the presence of the President Forum of Women Parliamentarians Sabah Al-Shaar, Representatives Shah Shah Al-Ammarin, Randa Al-Shaar and Khaled Ramadan, and Head of the Women's Committee in the Senate Rabha Al-Dabbas.

Bani Mustafa stressed the need to seek to change society's view of women's work first, to develop plans and strategies to advance the economic reality of women, and to change legislation that contributes to ensuring women's rights by obtaining equal opportunities.

The results of the study carried out by the Feminist Economy Foundation on "Article 69 of the Labor Law as a model", pointing to the restrictions on women's work, which states "determined by a decision of the Minister after consulting the competent official authorities: industries and businesses in which women are prohibited from working and times that are not It is permissible to employ women in them and the exceptions thereof.

She pointed to the problems faced by working women, which limit their participation in the labor market, the most prominent of which is harassment in the workplace and transportation, and the restriction of their capabilities in certain works, pointing to the results of the study of the Friendship Foundation and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation in this regard.

For his part, Chairman of the Parliamentary Labor Committee, Khaled Abu Hassan, stressed the need to focus attention on working women and create an appropriate environment for them, and that women have equal opportunities in high-quality education, work and health.

He said: The House of Representatives has sought during many occasions, and when dealing with relevant bills, to advocate for the demands of working women, especially in achieving sustainable development goals, pointing to the importance of women's economic empowerment through small projects for them.

On the other hand, the Chairman of the Labor Committee in the Senate, Sawsan Al-Majali, said: Re-studying Article 69 is a good gesture to re-examine many of the subjects, in order to reach a path that reflects positively on women and men at the same time.

Al-Majali called for activating the equality legislation between men and women as the basis that guides programs and strategies, stressing the necessity of activating these legislations through relevant regulations and instructions. For his part, the Minister of Labor, Nidal Al-Batayneh, indicated that there will be amendments to the draft labor law, which will be referred to the House of Representatives soon, pointing out that sexual harassment will be defined and punishment of the harassers.

He said: Item 69 (b), which relates to placing restrictions on the times women are not permitted to work and the cases excluded from them, will be abolished.

With regard to item A of the same article regarding industries and businesses in which it is prohibited to employ women, Al Batayneh indicated that it will be opened for discussion and decision taken by the House of Representatives.

To that, the Executive Director of the Feminist Economy Foundation, Mayada Abu Jaber, indicated that they are working in an integrative way through their network on a number of axes, the most important of which are various awareness programs, civil society, the private sector and the Ministry of Education.

For his part, Director of Public Relations and International Cooperation in the Ifta Department, Dr. Hassan Abu Arqoub, called on the decision-makers to consider the interest, provided that it is necessary to preserve religion, reason and soul, and that it be final and holistic, which includes all individuals.

For their part, the attendees stressed the necessity of educating the community on the importance of the role that women play in the advancement of society in many fields, especially political and economic ones.