More urban women taking up careers

More urban women taking up careers

JAKARTA (JP): As many as 25 percent of women living in Indonesian cities currently work, according to a survey by the North Sumatra University.

But while more and more city women are now working, sexual discrimination against females in the work place is still rampant, Syarifah, who headed the survey, said on Saturday.

The researcher at the university's Center for Women Research Studies said the 25 percent rate of working women is surprisingly high for predominantly Moslem Indonesia, Antara reported.

And it reflects that women in Indonesia are making major contributions to the nation's progress in development, she added.

Women could also fill the nation's increasing needs for more skilled workers, said Syarifah, who also teaches public health at the university in Medan.

One part of the survey stated the grim fact that discrimination against women workers is not only widespread, but when it comes to wages, pay levels for women may have deteriorated.

According to the survey, in 1982, nearly 80 percent of all female workers in Indonesia were earning less Rp 25,000 a month. By 1986, the percentage of women in this category rose to 59 percent.

By contrast, the percentage of male workers who earned less than Rp 25,000 a month in 1982 was 36 percent, falling to 15 percent four years later.

A survey on the salaries of females working at two industrial plants in North Sumatra found that their salaries averaged between 0.78 and 0.89 of the earnings of their male counterparts, although both sexes did the same amount of work.

Although they formed the majority in these two plants, women workers have less chance of being promoted, Syarifah said.

She said some of the female workers on the night shift are also denied basic rights, such as meal and transport allowances.

Many of the women also did not exercise their right to take three-days of menstrual leave allowed each month for female workers by law. When it comes to maternity leave, the management at the two companies allowed women three months of unpaid leave.

Syarifah said that as companies are hiring more and more female workers, management should pay greater attention to their special needs such as baby care centers or nursery rooms to allow them to breast-feed their babies.

Managements, the workers union and the government should also strengthen legal protection for female workers and encourage them to develop their skills as well as give them the same opportunities as their male counterparts in furthering their careers.(rms)