Challenging change

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, releasing a statement to mark Women’s Day, had observed that the way a country treats its women is an indicator of its social development. Unfortunately for the President, the Government and other stakeholders, reality is far from impressive, especially when it comes to safety, social and economic rights. So little policy change is happening from the top that the women parliamentarians have appealed for a parliamentary committee to start addressing a myriad of issues.  

From an economic standpoint, women not only make up the bulk of Sri Lanka’s population, but are also the largest foreign exchange earners. For decades, remittances have remained at the top of Sri Lanka’s earnings, followed by apparel and tea, which are dominated by women workers. Tourism, which has climbed to the third spot, also benefits from significant female employment. Yet, women still face massive bottlenecks in every sphere of life. 

Women’s representation in politics has been dismal, especially at Parliament level. Even though a quota was introduced at Local Government level, there is much that needs to be done to increase women’s representation in national politics, and to encourage women elected to office to work on issues that have significant impact for women. Despite making a marked economic contribution, women are still routinely discriminated on a range of points, including pay gaps, glass ceilings, limited access to credit, low representation in the formal workforce and even transport safety.

Levelling the employment playing field requires building an environment for skilled women to create their own opportunities. This means addressing social norms about working women and promoting an environment where women can balance work and family.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has estimated that Sri Lanka’s GDP could increase by as much as 20% if there were more women in the formal workforce and it would also substantially improve welfare access, education and financial inclusivity opportunities as well. However, for many years, the percentage of women in the formal workforce has remained limited to just 34%, and many people in Sri Lanka’s private sector have not implemented policies that could see this change.

The degree of job segregation remains high: most jobs still in male-dominated sectors may be seen as inappropriate for women. It also means addressing gender-based differential treatment under the law, which the Government has pledged to tackle, but is likely to find a hard and long road. 

Indebtedness created in some parts of Sri Lanka, particularly in the North, is largely due to female entrepreneurs being lured into making bad financial decisions in limited ventures. In fact, in studies done on successful female entrepreneurs, mentorship has been ranked above capital in importance, and often makes the difference between a sustainable model and a pipe dream. Regulatory restrictions that disproportionately affect women have also been a long-term issue. 

There is undoubtedly a moral and economic reason to empower women. The campaign for women’s empowerment should not be looked at in silos, but understood as an issue that spans the entire social sphere; only then will positive policies be utilised for true change. It is extremely important that the Government introduces policies to address these issues as soon as possible. COVID-19 has deepened and exposed these issues and there are many things that could be changed in the right way with genuine leadership from the top. 

Women’s Day should move beyond tokenisation, and Government support is a key pillar. It is time for the top to join the #challengetochange.