This is from a couple years ago and it doesn't even look like me! I miss my cowgirl hat. It waits for me in Philly or Denver. Who knows when I will be reunited with this hat.TGIF! Do you like my new layout? Let me know your thoughts. I needed to spice things up so I thought I would fool around with the template. Additionally, I added links to websites in my post that are relevant to what I blog about so enjoy!
We had quite a week in the office and I have not left before 6:30 for the past couple evenings. Today I start my research on Roma and Albanian women and social exclusion. I am so excited to be researching again :) I like to go from international to national to local in my research and presentation. So first, a quick review of CEDAW Concluding Comments which are available for your review here.* After that, on the the EU/Council of Europe websites on the Roma, the European Roma Rights Center, then to the, you guessed it, National Action Plan on the Decade of the Roma, to a study commissioned by UNDP to figure out what Roma NGOs are working on here in Macedonia (still waiting for the email). There are considerably more documents that I have not listed plus interviews that I need to do and then draft a concept note. After drafting the concept note, I'll meet with some Romany and Albanian women then develop a project proposal. The key here is I am focusing on the most vulnerable women and simply being a woman of a certain ethnic community does not make you automatically vulnerable. We want to find and hold up the most isolated, ignored women regardless of ethnicity, age or municipality. What is exciting about all of this is it is going to be grassroots level. We are going to see if there is a way we can make a difference on the ground, not just in legislation. If things go well here in Macedonia, we might be able to start to bring similar programing to other countries in the region. But let's not put the cart before the horse. First, research.
In addition to my new research project, we are also contemplating holding a series of workshops surrounding parental leave and EU Accession in Macedonia. There is a general framework that all EU countries follow when it comes to parental leave laws, but their parental leave laws/policies are not all the same. Macedonia is going to have to review their parental leave laws. It sounds mundane, but look at how parental leave can positively or negatively impact the balance of work and family life. For example, women in Macedonia are entitled to up to 9 months paid leave surrounding the birth of a child. I am not sure how much time the father is entitled to, but he can transfer his paternal leave to the mother. And does transfer his leave. So, what ends up happening is you have women leaving their job for 9, 10, 11 months while men don't take anytime, thus reinforcing traditional gender roles, making hiring young women a disincentive, etc. One option for Macedonia is to do what the Nordic countries have done and that is give father's 3 months paternal leave (or so) and make that leave non-transferable so they take it or lose it. What this does is allow fathers to develop relationships with their children and balance the effect of women being out of the workforce during the time surrounding childbirth. Firehouses in Sweden now experience what schools have always experienced: staff being out for long periods of time surrounding the birth of a child. What a concept!! There are other practices surrounding this issue throughout EU countries and so what we want to do is start that discussion for Macedonia. What option would work well for Macedonia? This is what we seek to distill, assuming we have our workshops!
I leave you with this thought: Why is it that my brother, in the States, gets 2 weeks paternity leave for the birth of his child and his wife gets 2 months? Is he not equally entitled to spending time with his child? I know my sister-in-law needs to physically recover from giving birth, but are we not just encouraging traditional gender roles and unpaid care-work being the responsibility of the women of our families by having parental leave set up this way? My brother is an excellent father. He wants to spend time with his child. Why is he not entitled to that just because he has a Y-chromosome?
*Do not try to find CEDAW concluding comments on the US because the do not exist. The US has failed to ratify CEDAW. I believe I do not have to comment on this since it speaks for itself: shame.
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2 comments:
Hey Em. A note on your last point (just because we're going to be in that boat soon). Your brother is entitled to 12 weeks of family leave just like your sister-in-law (the Family and Medical Leave Act says that everyone can take 12 weeks of leave each year and be guaranteed to keep their job), the kicker there is that it isn't paid...for either of them. Maybe his company has a special provision for paternity leave where he gets paid for 2 weeks. In our situation, Brian is taking family leave for almost 6 weeks but using vacation time to be paid for a lot of it. I'm taking the full 12 weeks but I get 6 weeks of short term disability pay (which is not full salary). Each company is different. My point is that both parents are entitled to leave when a baby is born. However, most couples can't afford to both take 12 weeks of unpaid leave at the same time. How each company handles pay during leave is different and that is what your point is. I agree 100% that there should be more equality in the system and that the system enforces the stereotypes.
scandinavia man, that is where its at!
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