Yesterday (30 October), a workshop entitled “Women with disabilities and employment opportunities”, organised by the Center for Research and Action for Inclusive Development (IDEA) in cooperation with the International Labour Organization (ILO), took place in Hanoi.
Exchanging information on employment for women with disabilities.
The workshop raised a key question: women with disabilities are said to be the most vulnerable group in society. How can this most vulnerable group find suitable work, enjoy equality, and realise the rights of people with disabilities, including the right to sustainable employment, so as to contribute to the country’s economic development?
What opportunities are there for women with disabilities?
Speaking about the desire of women with disabilities to find work, Nguyen Hong Oanh – Director of IDEA – said: in the past, under Eastern ideology, a woman was only the shadow of a man, someone who looked after her husband. Today, women’s opportunities have changed; the current trend is that women not only manage the household well but take on responsibilities well, and can succeed in every field, working and producing alongside other family members. Women with disabilities are the same, but they face barriers because of their disability; they are the most vulnerable group, receiving little healthcare, little schooling or vocational training, and rarely taking part in community activities…
However, according to Ms Oanh, prejudiced attitudes still exist in society, limiting women with disabilities. They demand protection and equality, long for a voice, and hope society will treat everyone fairly and realise the rights of people with disabilities, including the right to employment.
According to research by Dr Nguyen Thi Thu Hoai (Vietnam Women’s Academy) on employment for women with disabilities: with a quantitative sample of 463 and a qualitative sample of 45, surveyed in three provinces (Thai Nguyen, Thua Thien – Hue, Tay Ninh), fewer than one in three women with disabilities have jobs. We went looking for the reasons why only one in three of them work. Among women with disabilities who are not working, some used to work but quit for many reasons, and some have never worked.
They do not work mostly because most women with disabilities cannot find work suited to their health. They are turned down because their work is seen as less effective than that of non-disabled people. They face discrimination, are seen as weaker, and are paid less than the going rate for the job. Some have families who do not agree to them working…
Also according to the research, Dr Nguyen Thi Thu Hoai said: women with disabilities today mainly do informal, unorganised work. Most of them said they received no guidance or introductions; their families helped as far as they could, and they received no better investment. They mainly do simple manual work. Women over 40 usually sell goods on their own, while younger women may learn a trade, but the training is not thorough so their work remains very simple. According to the survey, as many as 64.1% of women with disabilities currently work at home, 5.9% work at private production facilities, 13.2% work at Associations of People with Disabilities, and only 1.2% work at state-owned facilities.
Livelihood support for women with disabilities
According to a report by the Vietnam Women’s Union: Vietnam is a developing country, and the poverty rate remains high. Poor women, including poor women with disabilities, account for a high proportion. At present, there are about 6.7 million people with disabilities; women with disabilities number about 3.6 million; women with disabilities live on support from their families and relatives and on social allowances. Most of them belong to poor households and live in temporary housing.
Tran Quynh Trang (International Labour Organization – ILO in Vietnam) observed: among people with disabilities, women are more disadvantaged, as their limited mobility also limits their access to jobs. However, social awareness is different today, and women also have opportunities to join organisations, do business, go to work… Many women with disabilities have become business owners and entrepreneurs with capital worth billions of dong. That is encouraging news for women with disabilities striving to get ahead.
According to Phan Thi Quynh Nhu – Deputy Head of the Family and Social Affairs Department, Vietnam Women’s Union: women with disabilities often face greater risks and are more vulnerable to labour and sexual abuse than non-disabled women, and their reproductive health rights receive little attention and protection… Women with disabilities also suffer more from poverty because of gender barriers. The difficulties they face are at least three times greater than those faced by men, and they are a vulnerable group in need of protection.
Despite the barriers they face in life, people with disabilities, and women with disabilities in particular, always want to improve their knowledge, capacity and understanding so they can rise up and assert themselves in society.
Based on the actual situation, the Vietnam Women’s Union has organised many activities to build capacity for women with disabilities, with the aim of raising their awareness and skills regarding the equal rights of people with disabilities in general and women with disabilities in particular.
To help women with disabilities find stable work and increase their income, from 2010 to 2015 (under Project 295 on vocational training for women), provincial and municipal Women’s Unions organised vocational training for 4,268 women with disabilities who were able to work but had no jobs. The women learned industrial sewing, embroidery, knitting and crochet at vocational training centres…
Thu Trang_http://daidoanket.vn/