The Hindu : Kerala / Thiruvananthapuram News : ‘Systematic ways needed to empower women’

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Wednesday, Sep 26, 2007
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Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

‘Systematic ways needed to empower women’

Staff Reporter

Focus on problems faced by women in tourism sector

Photo: S. Mahinsha

Sharing views: Participants at a Round Table on ‘Do women really benefit from tourism?-the Kerala experience’ in the city on Tuesday.—

Thiruvananthapuram: Governments, policymakers, industry, civil society and the Untied Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) have been urged to evolve systematic ways to empower women in the tourism sector.

A joint statement issued by the Sakhi Resource Centre for Women (Kerala), the Alternatives (Goa), the Council for Social Justice and Peace (Goa) and the Equations here on the occasion of World Tourism Day said the UNWTO should declare tourism’s decade for women’s rights and empowerment as a move towards “opening the doors to a more just and equitable world for women and men.”

The UNWTO has focussed on women and tourism through its theme ‘Tourism opens doors for women’ for World Tourism Day being observed on Thursday.

The international, national and State-level policies on tourism are committed to women’s empowerment but they rarely do beyond that to understand and evolve specific measures, the statement said.

“Gender audits and gender budgeting are tools that could be employed meaningfully. These, in turn, will impact women’s political participation and decision making in the forms, impacts, models and pace of tourism in their communities. It is time tourism recognised women’s agency and heard the voices in its development.”

Skills

Women in the organised sector in tourism were relegated to relatively low skill and low paying or stereotypical jobs such as housekeeping, reception, catering and laundry services.

Women faced high risks of sexual harassment and exploitation and were discouraged from forming unions or associations to consolidate their strength.

The proportion of wages of women to that of men was less. Women featured significantly more in either part-time or temporary employment and were typically paid less than men for the same work.

The international community and the UNWTO should draw attention to the way women were represented in ‘selling of tourism’ by addressing the issue in the code of ethics.

The tourism industry and stewards of tourism development faced serious social and human challenges. Tourism was increasingly seen to have a role in this entrenchment in its links to trafficking, prostitution and sex tourism, the statement said.

Kerala experience

Meanwhile, a round table organised on Tuesday by Equations and Sakhi on ‘Do women really benefit from tourism? — the Kerala experience’ saw heated debates on the ill-effects of tourism and the problems faced by women in the sector.

The lack of basic data on women employed in the tourism sector also was discussed.

Director of Sakhi Aleyamma Vijayan said gender issues in the society were being reflected in the tourism industry. Although the burgeoning industry claims to employ 40 per cent women, their jobs are not visible and belong to the low skills and low paid category.

Environmental worker S. Anitha stressed the need for ascertaining whether the tourism industry had succeeded in opening the doors to any woman. Social ostracism, she said, hindered the entry of women into the tourism sector.

C. Jayakumar of Thanal, a non-governmental organisation, said the absence of relevant data and called for benchmarking at least in some sectors.

Saroop Roy B.R of Equations said a survey should be conducted to find out if women had actually benefited from the tourism industry in Kovalam, Kumarakom, Thekkady and Wayanad where Responsible Tourism initiatives were being implemented.

Key roles

Prema Nair, Research Assistant, said society was yet to accept women in the tourism sector. She demanded that women be given more prominent roles. Mini Mohan, participant, said the work load of the women employed in the tourism sector was quite high.

Umaiba, who resides near Kovalam, said it was fear that prevented most women from working in the tourism industry. Drug menace was prevalent in the area.

Jyothifa, another resident of the area, denied the argument and said that the guests respected the locals and behaved well with them.

Foreigners often lent a helping hand to the local people, she added.

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