Women have less seats in most govt offices: Report<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): A report on gender statistics and indicators
\nreleased by the Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) on Thursday
\nshows that women were very much underrepresented in influential
\npublic sector positions.<\/p>\n
Despite the fact that women make up over half of the total
\npopulation of 209.5 million, their lack of inclusion in many
\nfields is glaringly apparent.<\/p>\n
One example is the limited number of female employees in many
\ngovernment offices.<\/p>\n
For every 100 employees in the State Intelligence Coordinating
\nBoard, for example, only two are women.<\/p>\n
In the Ministry of Transportation and Telecommunication and
\nthe Ministry of Forestry, there are only nine women employees for
\nevery 100 employees.<\/p>\n
A similar situation prevails in the Ministry of Mining and
\nEnergy where there are only 16 women for every 100 employees.<\/p>\n
In fact just one third of the some 4.5 million civil servants
\nare women.<\/p>\n
The higher up in the bureaucracy the fewer women there are.<\/p>\n
Of the 25 first and second echelon officials in the
\nbureaucracy only one is a woman.<\/p>\n
In the diplomatic corps only one of the country's 21
\nambassadors is a woman and there is also just one female out of
\nthe 24 consul generals.<\/p>\n
Another reflection of this reality is that there are just 44
\nwomen out of 500 legislators in the House of Representatives.<\/p>\n
This is actually a decline from the previous House which had
\n56 female legislators.<\/p>\n
\"The purpose (of the report) is mainly to help the State
\nMinistry for Women's Empowerment formulate its policies,\" BPS
\nchairperson Soedarti Surbakti told a media conference here.<\/p>\n
One overarching reason for the lack of female participation is
\nthe difference in the level of education between men and women in
\nthe country.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, current indicators show that the percentage of
\nwomen who have not even completed elementary school or ever gone
\nto school is 13.5 percent, more than double the equivalent figure
\nfor men.<\/p>\n
\"In college, most women take humanities or social science
\nsubjects rather than engineering or science. While the market
\ndemands more engineering and science graduates,\" Soedarti said.<\/p>\n
Despite the number of working women having increased year by
\nyear, the percentage of the female population who work, 45.6
\npercent, is much lower than the percentage of the total male
\npopulation who work -- 73.5 percent.<\/p>\n
\"Many women prefer to work in the informal sector even though
\nthe level of legal protection (in that sector) is still low,\"
\nSoedarti said.<\/p>\n
The report also shows that women are usually paid less than
\ntheir male counterparts despite having similar qualifications.<\/p>\n
In the agricultural field, for example, women in 1998\/1999
\nwere paid a daily wage of about Rp 6,998 compared to men who
\nreceived Rp 8,130.<\/p>\n
For university graduates, women were also on average paid less
\nat Rp 573,200 per month compared to men who received Rp 769,600.<\/p>\n
According to Sri Harijati Harmadji, Deputy Minister for
\nWomen's Empowerment with special responsibility for program and
\npolicy development, men are still seen as the head of the family
\nand breadwinners.<\/p>\n
\"Therefore, many still pay male employees more than women.
\nIn many companies, women are always considered as being single so
\nthey don't receive extra allowances,\" she said.(hdn)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/women-have-less-seats-in-most-govt-offices-report-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}