Shifting Narratives: Towards Economic and Political Empowerment of Women, Phase 2: Importance of Women’s Economic Empowerment and Current Legal and Policy Challenges Women Face in Lebanon

Abstract

There are 2 billion unpaid workers in the world with women making up 76% of them. They contribute three times more than men do in unpaid care work. This huge contribution from women takes away many opportunities for them to participate in the economy. This is true in the Arab World as well, where women shoulder most of the burdens of unpaid care work. In this region, women spend anywhere from 17 to 34 hours weekly on unpaid care work while men only spend a few hours.

Although some care workers receive payment for their labor under the formal sector, the majority remain unpaid or grossly underpaid. This further exacerbates the gender disparity and contributes to the perpetuation of unpaid care work as a predominantly female responsibility.

In Lebanon, women’s participation in the labor force is dishearteningly low, barely reaching 28%5. This is largely due to the fact that women are shouldering around 94% of childcare responsibilities, hindering their ability to pursue economic opportunities and actively participate in the workforce. Recognizing these challenges, Dr. Inaya Ezzedine, the Chair of the Women and Children Parliamentary Committee, has recently proposed amendments to the Lebanese Labor Law, aiming to provide women with more flexible work arrangements. Such changes would alleviate the burdens of unpaid care work and empower women to take an active role in the country’s economic life.

Another pressing issue in the Arab World is the exploitation faced by migrant domestic workers, who are predominantly women. The Kafala system, which governs their work conditions, allows employers to sponsor these workers, leading to their vulnerability to underpaid care work and exploitation. In Lebanon, migrant domestic workers who work in people’s homes are excluded from the protection of the Lebanese Labor Code, as stated in article 7. This restrictive system ties their residency in the country to their sponsors or employers, leaving them at the mercy of their employers’ whims and subjecting them to the risk of deportation or detention for any actions without their employers’ permission.

To address these pressing concerns and promote women’s economic empowerment, the Embassies of Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden in Lebanon, in collaboration with the Asfari Institute for Civil Society and Citizenship at the American University of Beirut and UN Women, organized a workshop on July 10th, 2023. The workshop focused on the importance of women’s economic empowerment and shed light on the existing legal and policy challenges faced by women in Lebanon. This event comes at a critical time, given the worsening conditions of care workers and the care economy, exacerbated by the ongoing economic crisis and the proposed amendments to the Lebanese Labor Law by Dr. Inaya Ezzedine. The project, supported by the Nordic Council for Ministers, aims to empower women economically and politically in Lebanon.