Bahrain Mirror: The General Federation of Bahrain Trade Unions (GFBTU) said that Bahrain's unemployed women account for about 75% of the country's total eligible unemployed.

The GFBTU explained in a statement published on Tuesday (March 8), International Women's Day, that the Bahraini women "have very few employment opportunities and if found, the job can barely meet a woman's living needs as a breadwinner, wife and mother."

"Women in Bahrain are the ones who suffer from disruption and limitations, with women accounting for about 75% of the country's total eligible unemployed. They have very few employment opportunities and if found, the job can barely meet a woman's living needs as a breadwinner, wife and mother, particularly women working in the kindergarten sector who suffer from very low wages, temporary employment contracts and lack of social protection, which render their working and living conditions poor," the statement read.

The statement praised "the amendments to article (39) of the Labour Law on the prohibition discrimination in the wages between male and female workers in jobs of the same value issued by Decree No. 16 of 2021."

"These amendments are seen as important and in the right direction to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women in the public and private sectors and to unify forms of treatment and benefits," the GFBTU stated. 

The General Federation of Bahrain Trade Unions urged "the departments of large companies that used to offer better advantages and working conditions than those provided by Labour Code in the Civil Sector, to provide greater and better advantages to working women such as maternity leave and breastfeeding hours."

Arabic Version