More Pinays working, but in vulnerable jobs

MANILA, Philippines – As International Women’s Day is celebrated today, the International Labor Organization (ILO) reported that more Filipino women are now getting employed but still in jobs classified as  “vulnerable.”

A new ILO report titled “Global Employment Trends for Women 2008” revealed that more women in the Philippines and other countries in Southeast Asia and the Pacific are now part of the workforce.

However, the same ILO study showed that more than half of the working women in Southeast Asia and the Pacific, including the Philippines, are in so-called vulnerable jobs.

“More women are working than ever before, but they are also more likely than men to get low-productivity, low-paid and vulnerable jobs, with no social protection, basic rights or voice at work,” the report said.

According to the ILO, the number of employed women grew by almost 200 million over the last decade, reaching 1.2 billion in 2007 compared to 1.8 billion men.

ILO Director-General Juan Somavia said that while the share of women in vulnerable employment – either unpaid contributing family workers or own-account workers, rather than wage and salaried workers – decreased from 56.1 to 51.7 percent since 1997, the burden of vulnerability is still greater for women than men, especially in the world’s poorest regions.

Somavia noted that worldwide, the female unemployment rate stood at 6.4 percent compared to the male rate of 5.7 percent and less than 70 women are economically active for every 100 men globally.

The ILO also found that while the adult employment has increased, that for young women has fallen considerably (to 40.3 percent) but this is mainly the result of more young women entering and staying in education.

Why purple?

Why is purple the official color for International Women’s Day?

Purple, according to the website www.international womensday.com, has been used as the predominant representative color for women by many women’s groups around the world “who understand, respect and choose to honor the history and progress made by the suffragettes.”

Another website, purplewomenblog.blogspot.com, claimed that purple is the color that the cervix turns into when a woman is about to give birth and it is associated with the cause to stop violence against women and children.

But Department of Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Lito Atienza proposed during last Monday’s flag ceremony that red must become the official color in the agency when it observes IWD starting 2009 because it aptly represents Filipino women.

According to Atienza, a Filipino woman is the one who truly makes a house a home as she gives out “the glow” in the family and in any bond or relationship.

He claimed that purple appears imprecise in representing such attribute of a Filipino woman, as the color purple seems to signify “penance” or “atonement,” and thus, somewhat gloomy.

Based according to the website www.internationalwomensday.com, purple, green and white are the official international women’s colors. 

The colors, which originated from the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) in the United Kingdom in 1908, were said to represent purity in public as well as private life (white); hope and new life (green); and justice, dignity, self-reverence, and self-respect (purple).

However, the same website noted that more recently, two changes have occurred: the use of white has been rejected because “purity” is regarded as a controversial issue; and the introduction of the color gold representing “a new dawn” has been commonly used to symbolize the second wave of feminism.

Meantime, members of the militant women’s group Gabriela are all set to celebrate today the IWD with a nationwide mass action.

Gabriela, as main convener of BabaLa! Babae Laban sa Katiwalian, a network of women opposing corruption in the Arroyo government, will lead the gathering at 9 a.m. today at Welcome Rotonda. The group will later march to Plaza Miranda and will attempt to reach Mendiola to reiterate their demand for the ouster of President Arroyo.

But another group called Babae Para sa Kaunlaran, an umbrella organization of women’s groups, will hold a “Visita Iglesia” today to pray for “peace, unity and sobriety.”

At a press conference held yesterday, the group’s president Ruth Vasquez said the women’s sector also gets hurt every time the President is attacked, adding that accusations against her should be decided through the proper process. - With Katherine Adraneda, Reinir Padua, Monina Anonat