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Women in a corporate environment.
Women from different sectors in leadership roles have been discussing their contribution to the workplace in a one-day women’s empowerment seminar at the Kruger National Park in Mpumalanga.
Many women believe they are still being sidelined from occupying leadership positions and are being sexually harassed in the private and public sectors.
The seminar was organised by the Commission for Gender Equality in collaboration with the Kruger National Park.
One of the women said, “Some of the major challenges women are facing are issues of sexual harassment, where they are expected to behave in a certain way and to render sexual favours to advance in their jobs. Sometimes it is being harassed just for being a woman. Women who want to be heard need to speak or dress in a certain way just to be respected or taken seriously.”
The National Commissioner for the Commission for Gender Equality, Eurika Mogane says the issues raised will be captured in a report and recommendations will be made to Parliament.
“Based on the feedback we received today, we will ensure we play our oversight role, and we’ll ask, ‘is it really transformation that we see there or is it just someone trying to tick all the boxes which means that we are going to be monitoring and researching throughout the conference and including the concerns and issues of all the women?’ From there, we have to draft necessary recommendations as per the Constitution. We will ensure we are able to align women in leadership with policies that are in a strategic legal framework to ensure they are empowered, not just to play leadership roles but for transformation to take place. But at the end of the day we want to know what the way forward is going to be, to ensure policies are being implemented,” says Mogane.
Seminar on women empowerment in the workplace
