Harassment, Low Pay Primary Concerns Of Women In Workforce

Discriminatory pay and sexual harassment are leading concerns of women in the workforce, according to the latest report released by Bahçeşehir University's Center for Economic and Social Research (BETAM).

The report, titled “Discrimination and Harassment in the Labor Market” and released to the press on Friday, revealed that 7.2 percent of women in the workforce receive lower salaries than their male peers. The report also stated that many women believe they were fired because of their gender, dismissals being the second most prevalent indicator of discrimination.
According to the report, women only make up 16.8 percent of the country's workforce. After İstanbul, the regions of Antalya and Zonguldak boast the highest number of educated women in the labor force, while Erzurum and Şanlıurfa host the lowest.

The BETAM report also shed light on the prevalence of women experiencing discriminatory and disparaging treatment from supervisors, one example citing a woman no longer active in the workforce, who stated: “When I was pregnant with my second child and ran into a former manager, he looked at me, laughed, and scoffed, ‘Your working life is over.' At the time I was pregnant and working.”

Sexual harassment in the workplace

Another issue women face is sexual harassment, with nine percent of participants surveyed reporting that they had been sexually harassed at work.

A woman in one case study shared an incident of harassment that occurred on her first day as a secretary: “My shift had ended and I went to my boss' office to ask for permission to leave. I said, ‘Have a good evening,' and he called after me, telling me he wanted some information. I waited, and he asked: ‘Do you have a certain time you go home? What time do you usually go home? Do you have to ask permission from your family before you go out?' Then the gazed into my eyes and said, ‘Your eyes are so nice, I'm quite taken with you.'”

(Cihan/Today's Zaman)