Women comprise 35 per cent of total local workforce
World Bank report says
– Guyana lacks sexual harassment education
A World Bank report examining whether governments in Latin America and the Caribbean have succeeded in establishing an enabling environment for women was recently published. Titled ‘Women, business and the law 2018’, the report looks at the legal challenges that are faced by women in their day-to-day lives.
In the case of Guyana, this report acknowledged that Guyana has improved access to credit information by expanding the Credit Bureau’s coverage. This, it noted, has resulted in the bureau now covering more than five per cent of the population. However, the report makes mention of several shortfalls in Guyana
when it comes to women and fostering gender equality. In a section of the report, comparisons were made between Guyana and Haiti. According to the report, Guyana, as an upper middle income country, has a female population of 384,262 and a female labour work force of 35 per cent. By comparison, Haiti, a low income country, has a female population of 5.4 million and a female labour work force of 48 per cent. When it comes to accessing services such as processing passport applications, the report documents that women have a harder chance of getting through this process than men. There are also issues with women accessing paid parental leave. The report notes that while mothers are guaranteed equivalent positions on return from maternity leave in Haiti, this is not the case in Guyana. It also noted that the law does not mandate legal aid in civil and family matters, nor is there legislation on sexual harassment in education. On accessing institutions, Guyana scored 91 out of 189 economies. When it comes to equality in using property, Guyana was marked at 100. Guyana scored significantly higher in terms of women on the job, at 78.
The signs were even better when Guyana was compared with others in incentivising women to work (60) and going to court (50). However, Guyana fell in building credit (100), as it was noted that there is gender-based discrimination in providing credit. When it comes to protecting women from violence, Guyana was ranked 80.
“No economy can grow to its full potential unless both women and men participate fully. As half the world’s population, women have an equal role in driving economic growth. The analysis draws on newly-collected data across seven indicators: accessing institutions, using property, getting a job, providing incentives to work, going to court, building credit, and protecting women from violence,” the report stated.