Enforce gender based laws at work

Activists have asked government to implement laws that address Gender Based Violence (GBV) by allocating funds to facilitate the law enforcement officers and duty bearers, as a measure to promote women productivity at work.
Under their umbrella body, Platform for Labour Action (PLA), the activists argued that work burdens of women, when domestic tasks are taken into account, have a direct and negative effect on women’s economic opportunity and productivity.
Beatrice Ngozi, a board member of PLA, described GBV as an experience of millions of women which has affected their relationship in the homes, communities, places of work and largely their productivities in their various places of work through physical abuse such as battery, abandonment, controlling behaviour, rape, sexual harassment, emotional and economic abuses.

Economic cost
The report on Economic Cost of Domestic Violence in Uganda estimated that lost earnings as a result of domestic violence amount to Shs2.4b per year, out of which women accounted for 75 per cent of the lost earnings.
“Domestic violence has also left some women who are victims with low self-esteem, being overly emotional or anxious in the work setting to the point of affecting performance.

But there should be mechanisms to support women facing GBV,” says Ngozi appealling for collective measures to ensure favourable conditions at workplaces.
She was one of the speakers at the session convened by PLA at the fourth National Women’s week aimed at addressing the socio-economic barriers to promote women productivity in the world of work.

Assistant Commissioner in charge of employment services in labour ministry, Milton Turyasiima says there are available policies and laws to ensure that women are empowered without disturbance but advocacy needs to shift to include men in the struggle.
“For our women to be productive at workplace and homes, the conditions must be favourable. Women should have flexible working hours, we need centres to create safety and structures in places to improve productivity,” he says.
Victoria Nanteza Kakooza, the secretary for women’s committee at the National Organisation of Trade Unions, observes that sexual harassment remains a huge problem amidst available laws but many go unreported, thereby keeping women in disadvantaged positions.
According to Kakooza, socio-economic challenges affecting women are rooted in the traditional norms that affect women in the world of work. “Women are labelled inefficient despite our activities. We have a problem of nature which affects our performance but all are disregarded and when it comes to enrollment, men are preferred,” she says.