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Women laborers form an important part of the labor workforce in India; however, not all are recognized, not many are protected, and very few are treated equally to men. The Equal Remuneration Act of 1976 clearly states that persons doing 'same work or work of a similar nature' are not to be discriminated against on the ground of gender. The Factories Act of 1948 has special provisions for women workers pertaining to washrooms, changing rooms, creches, and work hours. The Maternity Benefit Act of 1961 entitles a woman, inter alia, to twenty-six weeks of paid maternity relief. The protection given to women under the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act of 2013 is also of vital importance for women workers in India. The laws prima-facie seem to be protecting the rights of women workers, but a deeper analysis of their effectiveness is required to take the concerns of women into account. It is to be noted that one of the areas of concern is the amount of unpaid labor put in by women in Indian households and home industries, which remains unrecognized. This paper offers a feminist analysis of labor legislation affecting women laborers in India from the perspective of women and their rights. Also analyzed are the various schemes of the Government of India pertaining to welfare and empowerment of women, various international instruments, and international labor standards. The research methodology used is a combination of analytical and critical research. Pay parity and equality in opportunity, recruitment, promotion, transfer, and facilities at the workplace are a few pertinent steps towards the amelioration of the conditions of women laborers in the country. The ultimate goal is to address the issues which need to be resolved for women workers to exercise their rights at par with the other labor categories. These issues are significant and have far-reaching implications. This research has found that the Indian legal framework with respect to protection of rights of women laborers is quite progressive and in tandem with the changing needs and requirements of the time. However, the implementation of these schemes in true letter and spirit is the real challenge that lies ahead. Keywords: Indian women, Labor law, Equality, Indian law, Labor legislation, Introduction Women laborers form an important part of the labor workforce in India; however, not all are recognized, not many are protected, and very few are treated equally to men. [...]

This article explores how the COVID-19 pandemic and the lock down had increased global assembly line workers' vulnerability to several forms of modern slavery. It focuses on two groups of women workers associated with global production in Sri Lanka. First, the daily-hired workers in the Katunayake and Biyagama Free Trade Zones (FTZ) and second the former global factory workers now settled in villages and operating as home subcontractors. The COVID-19 forced lockdown caused factory shutdowns and curtailed production, leaving FTZ workers with no work and income. The global lockdown has clearly affected both groups, despite their differing work and life cycle positioning. Yet their shared experience of losing hard won decision-making powers along with their income make it crucial to investigate their lockdown experiences together. In doing so, this paper argues that the pandemic and the lock down had increased marginalized women's vulnerability to several forms of modern slavery, and that the state outsourcing it's responsibility in providing livelihood security and labor rights to corporate sector has resulted in certain invisibilities that aid such vulnerability. The paper calls for developing contingency livelihood safety mechanisms and contends that any such plans must take into account gendered insecurities given that women's income is closely intertwined with decision making abilities, social status and physical safety. Keywords: Modern Slavery, Sri Lanka, COVID-19 Pandemic, Daily-hired workers, Home subcontractors, Feminist methodology, Introduction We did choose part time work on our own. It paid well and I liked the freedom. Corona (and related economic fallout) made me realize how precarious my livelihood [...]

This research explored whether the MENA region countries have adopted sufficient legal provisions that encouraged females to access the labor market. A documental collection, revision, and analysis were performed to enhance our understanding of statutory provisions that were adopted by 13 countries through the MENA region to encourage and facilitate access of women to the labor market. Findings showed that the governments of the different studied countries made considerable efforts to comply with the international legal norms and protect the female workers. Among other things, the findings suggest that the MENA countries need to offer more legal protections to guarantee equity between workers, maintain the principle to be treated equally without discrimination and facilitate access of women to the labor market. Additionally, legal frameworks, work-family policies as working from home and flexible working hours, need to become more coherent, and more effort needs to be directed towards proper implementation and practice primarily in the private sector. These findings also suggest a unified treatment between male and female workers, whether they work in the public or the private sector. Keywords: women workers, MENA region, Labor laws, Introduction Several researchers like Becker, 1971, and Dewy, 1889 argued that education participated in the development of global human capital. An increasing interest among the development of education and the [...]

MALAWI The Match international women's fund, through a partnership with like-minded organizations; World University service of Canada (WUSC) and Forum for African Women educationalists (FAWEMA), is helping to bring a [...]

In this article, I explore total productions of desire in Namibia by focusing on the engagement of young, working-class lesbians with human rights ideologies of sexual freedom. I discuss how various techniques deployed by a sexual minority-rights NGO allow youth to amplify and legitimize their embodied sense of sexual-gender difference. In my analysis of their self-mediated incitement, I regard desire as a moral practice; practices of self-determination and acts of resistance are generated and authenticated through repeated reflection on the internality of desire. My elaborations also emphasize crass-related issues. I argue that struggles with class and gender inequality destabilize the very notion of 'sexual identity' in ways that open up political and erotic possibilities between lesbians and other working-crass women in Namibia, blurring the dividing lines of identity politics and of gender and class politics. [lesbian resistance, African sexuality, moral practice, desire, global queer identity, human rights]

Although women make up over half of the U.S. workforce, they continue to encounter difficulties, including male domination as well as inequities in pay, benefits, and other rewards (Bierema, 2001). […]

A survey among female migrant workers in the Pearl River delta region in China shows that protection of worker's rights and interests are dejectedly connected to the institution of property rights, social status system, social welfare and social security system. Local governments pay no special attention to protecting their rights and thus, these issues have to gain broad social recognition and movements to protect migrant women's rights.

A productive workforce is a prime goal of the Decade of Behavior initiative. Thanks to the women's movement that started in the 1960s, the majority of adult women today are a part of that productive workforce, demonstrating their knowledge, skills and abilities, and earning a livelihood through paid employment. Nevertheless, real equal opportunity in paid work remains an elusive goal. In this paper, two major reviews of the literature on women and paid work written 20 years apart (Cleveland, Stockdale, & Murphy, 2000; Nieva & Gutek, 1981) serve to structure a discussion of what we know about women's experiences in paid work. Selective areas of research are reviewed under four kinds of topics: (1) topics that have disappeared over the past 20 years, (2) important topics that were not studied or could not be studied 20 years ago but are now (women as leaders), (3) previously neglected topics (stereotyping), and (4) rapidly emerging topics (mentoring, effects of preferential selection, sexual harassment). It is largely from feminist scholarship on women and paid work that we have been able to separate myth from reality through the accumulation of a sizable research-based literature. Unfortunately the body of research on women and paid work is still insufficiently integrated into the body of research on the psychology of work.

Research is presented on the demographical aspects of poverty in Russia, focusing on the numbers and types of unemployed women. Findings include an average length of time of 9.3 months for women looking for work, with 42.7% of unemployed women indicating they have been looking for over a year.

Research indicates that Russian women have inadequate knowledge concerning their labor rights, but even in instances where awareness is high, women fear that insistence on corporate observance of those rights will provoke retaliatory measures. Examples of private firms' attempts to circumvent labor policy legislation are outlined.

Russia's informal economic sector is explored, focusing on the decreasing rights of women as newly private companies ignore hiring and firing policies implemented under state ownership. Recommendations to reverse this trend include revision of small-business tax policy, revival of assistance programs such as those of the mid-1990s, establish support systems for self-employment, and improve registration procedures.

'Hypernorms', a list of minimum rights for dignified and safe working environment in Donaldson and Dunfee's 'integrative social contracts theory'(ISTC) does not address the specific problem of gender discrimination in an international environment. The values and laws of countries differ which may result in gender discrimination. The hypothetical case of Sara Strong demonstrates one such situation. Universal 'hypernorms' may be used to maintain the present status quo of gender inequality.