Colombia – Women take to the streets to campaign for gender pay gap in Colombia

Location: Bogota – Colombia 

Language: Spanish
Duration: 00:04:40
Source: A24 subscribers 
Restrictions: A24 clients
Dateline: 01/05/2022 

Storyline

Thousands of people have marched in the Colombian capital, Bogota on the occasion of the International Labor Day, urging the country’s unions to discuss the gender pay gap.

Female protesters called for improving gender equality and allowing women to assume leading positions in the country

A recent survey by the Colombian Federation of Human Resource Management (ACRIP) said that inequality appears even in management jobs where a director board can earn up to 36% more than his female counterpart does.     

ACRIP President, Gladis Vera, considers Colombia is not the worst case in Latin America despite the scandalous figures the survey has shown, but she urged concerned parties to start narrowing the overall gender pay gaps.

She added that reducing the wage gap efforts are advancing at such a low speed that it would take 100 years to disappear. 

Experts suspect that the gap in rural areas is even worse, pointing to the difficult access to technology and lack of schooling opportunities for women.

A lawyer at Sisma Mujer, a Colombian feminist organization, said women always raise the unemployment figures in times of crisis.

According to official data, unemployment for women is 8 points above the figure for men in 2022.

Shotlist

– SOUNDBITE SPANISH Luisa Camargo, female worker

“If there were gender equality, I believe that the people who are here would not be marching, it is necessary (gender equality)… If there were gender equality, at least 50% of the people who are governing us would be women, or 50% of the people who are on the boards of directors of all companies would be women.”

– SOUNDBITE SPANISH Gladis Vega, President of Association of Human Resources of Colombia ACRIP.

“A man in management positions can earn up to 36% more than a woman. That is what we found in our research. That mid-management averages go up to 13%. That professionals reach up to an 8% gap. That at a technical level we are even speaking of a gap of up to 6%. And in general, the male basic staff earns up to 26% more than women. Although this is a matter of fundamental rights, the truth is that although the country has come a long way in terms of awareness and practices… because today everyone in the country is talking about gender equality… But the truth is that the figures should accompany us in this process and we are still not seeing that”

– SOUNDBITE SPANISH Gladis Vega, President of Association of Human Resources of Colombia ACRIP.

“(According to the latest research by the World Economy Forum…) Colombia is ranked 22nd in this index, versus Brazil at 92nd, Venezuela at 67th, Ecuador at 48th, and Peru at 66th place. So, in effect, although we are in a privileged place in the region, the truth is that we are seeing that we have a long way to go and that we need to be much more forceful.”

– SOUNDBITE SPANISH Maria Alejandra Lopez, lawyer at SISMA WOMAN Corporation. 

“Those who during crisis, like the pandemic, always raise the unemployment figures are women. It really is very noticeable.”

– SOUNDBITE SPANISH Maria Alejandra Lopez, lawyer at SISMA WOMAN Corporation. 

“We are the ones who have the least access to the Internet. Not only because of the difficulties to obtain electronic and digital equipment, but also because of access to the service itself, because here the Internet service is not public, it is a service that is obtained by paying, in addition to there are no networks throughout the territory… It is an expensive service.”

– SOUNDBITE SPANISH Maria Alejandra Lopez, lawyer at SISMA WOMAN Corporation. 

“Women continue to have very specific barriers to developing their productive projects, such as technical skills. Having a productive project is not only knowing how to cook, knowing how to provide the service you are providing, but also running the business. This also implies access to technological resources to be able to easily carry out accounting, or something as simple as knowing how to read, write, add and subtract. Women here still have a very large barrier to accessing education.”