Employment centers of Chernihiv region will promote labor rights of displaced women

On February 17-18, 2016, a training session “Gender Equality in the Sphere of Labor Relations in Ukraine, Peculiarities of Respecting the Rights and Freedoms of Internally Displaced Persons” was held for employees of district employment centers and public activists of Chernihiv region.

The training was organized by the Chernihiv Public Committee for the Protection of Human Rights with the assistance of the Chernihiv Regional Employment Center. The trainers of the event were representatives of the International Women’s Human Rights Center “La Strada – Ukraine” – Maryna Lehenka and Kateryna Borozdina.

The trainers noted that internally displaced persons often experience discrimination in the labor market, are limited in employment opportunities, are deprived of state support and preferential credit conditions for starting their own business, and have limited access to information about such opportunities.

This is especially true for displaced women. In the new conditions, it is much more difficult for them to adapt than for men due to the biased attitude towards them as displaced persons and also due to “standard” manifestations of gender discrimination. As a rule, it is more difficult for a woman, and even more so for a displaced woman, to get a job, it is more difficult to get an equal salary with a man, it is more difficult to get a loan from a bank to develop her own business, etc.

The training provided employment center workers and community activists working with displaced women with motivation and additional knowledge as an IDP woman to start their own business and how to protect their labor rights in order to make their assistance to this category even more effective.

This event aims to promote displaced women in social mobilization and business activity, improve their legal and economic awareness and literacy.

The event was held within the framework of the project “Promoting the rights of IDP women through the creation of Regional Consultation Centers as effective means of overcoming gender discrimination”, which is implemented by the All-Ukrainian Coalition for Legal Aid with the assistance of the Canadian Foundation for Local Initiatives in 4 pilot regions of Ukraine (Chernihiv, Khmelnytskyi, Mykolaiv and Ivano-Frankivsk regions).