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Why are
employers in Maldives allowed to discriminate against buruga-clad
women?
By Adam Haleem and
Hilath Rasheed 06/05/2005 -At
least on paper, officially there is no gender discrimination
when it comes to education, opportunities and employment in
Maldives. But many employers, including some government
offices, discriminate against women employees wearing the
buruga.
 The
buruga in Maldives (unlike the veil in Saudi Arabia which
covers the whole head and face with only slits for eyes)
covers the head, neck and cleavage while there is no covering
of the face. We have yet to see a buruga-clad television
presenter or a buruga-clad woman security officer.
The government has not officially given any reasons why women
security officers or TVM presenters cannot wear the buruga. If
security seems to be at risk, then we may point out that far
more conservative countries like Iran and Iraq allow women
soldiers.
A formerly buruga-clad staff at TVM had to reportedly abandon
her buruga in order to become a television presenter.
Likewise, a former TVM presenter reportedly had to find
another position after she later donned the buruga.
The number of women choosing to wear the buruga is on the
rise. Hence, if government or private companies fear employing
buruga-clad women, then that would be preventing a large part
of the population from getting employment.
“It will disrupt our efforts in helping women find work,” says
Sinan Ali, from the local private recruiting agency Job Market
Maldives.
“It is true that many employers fear employing buruga-clad
women, but I don’t know the real reason behind that.”
Most Maldivians, who have chosen to wear the buruga, are not
necessarily fundamentalists. They are just women trying to be
more pious. Those few women who have become fundamentalists do
not chose to go to work.
The Labor Ministry’s deputy director Mariyam Nazima said that
so far no one has officially complained to the ministry that
they have been prevented from successfully landing a jog
because of the buruga.
“But I feel that the problem is there. In fact, we have
noticed that such problems have arisen,” she said.
Nazima believes that women who have been denied employment
because of the buruga have not officially complained because
there is no legal provision in Maldives to lodge such a
complaint against such discrimination.
A young girl recently told us that though she met all her
qualifications, she was disqualified from getting a job as a
receptionist at a resort island after the employer complained
about her buruga during the job interview.
“I faced the same problem during an earlier job interview as
well,” she said.
Sinan said that employers in the service industry were those
most noted to harbor something against their employees wearing
the buruga. These included restaurants, cafes, hotels,
supermarkets, resorts, etc.
A resort owner once told us that “our clients are afraid of
buruga-clad women.” He said it as if all Western tourists have
a phobia against the buruga. But we might point out that in
many European countries and the United States, which are
multicultural societies, buruga-clad women walk and work
alongside their non-Muslim counterparts. So we wonder whether
this resort owner’s claims arise more from a phobia of his own
against buruga-clad women.
Sinan said that because the service industry have been
clamping down against buruga-clad women, Job Market has even
stopped dealing with some of these companies who have a thing
against buruga-clad women.
“They cannot show a valid reason why they are so against the
buruga. They do not officially point out they are against
buruga-clad employees but when it comes to the job interviews,
the buruga-clad interviewees seem to become a thorn for them,”
Sinan said.
Some employers make it clear that they employ women as sex
objects to lure male customers. Such employers demand that
their women employees “show their heads, faces and necks, and
should not wear a skirt which covers their knees,” according
to Sinan. Maldives is officially a 100 percent Sunni Muslim
country; hence, would not this requirement render a lot of
women, who now wear buruga, unemployed?
“It does not make a difference whether you wear the buruga or
not, you can still do your job effectively and efficiently,”
Sinan said, adding that over the past month, 25 percent of
buruga-clad women were rejected during their job interviews.
Though Maldives do not have a labor law, there exists a
regulation regarding employment. However, the fact that there
is no mention of a provision for buruga may be preventing
buruga-clad women from seeking employment. For instance,
government agencies, like the security services, and private
companies have their own dress codes. If these dress codes do
not have a provision for women who choose to wear the buruga,
then she can be expelled. Likewise, buruga-clad women seeking
employment at such places where there is no provision for
buruga-clad uniforms, can be rejected at job interviews.
It seems, therefore, that the gender equality ministry has
much to do to solve this very real problem. On a moral level,
we have to respect people’s religious leanings (religion is
both a human and democratic right), and therefore we have to
respect and treat buruga-clad women equally and fairly. On a
gender level, this discrimination against buruga is keeping a
lot of Maldivian women from enjoying equal opportunity as far
as employment is concerned. And the fact that employers refuse
to employ buruga-clad women indirectly give them a right to
employ women as merely sex objects as part of a marketing
tactic for the entertainment and luring of male customers.
Source: Evening Weekly
Ends
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