Rights of Women in the Workplace: International Human Rights and Labour Laws and Their Impact on Kenyan Law

Abstract

All over Africa, women are a strong force for growth and development, making important contributions to the economy as well as playing a major role in the welfare of the family. However, the cultural hindrances in the workplace do not allow flexibility for the working woman, who still remains the primary care-giver in the home and society. The main objective of this research was to find out how well protected the working woman is, at her workplace based on international laws treaties signed and ratified by the Kenyan government and Kenyan labour and human rights law. The research was based on the following questions: the obligations state parties have to upholding of the international laws and treaties they have signed and ratified, the challenges women face at the workplace and what provisions have been made within the Kenyan constitution to protect the rights of the working woman at her workplace. The research methodology used was descriptive and specifically, interview and the survey methods. The target population was women working within the NGO world, public and private sectors and two figures of authority in the areas of Kenyan constitution and international law. Convenience sampling was used to determine the ideal sample size from the target population. The research wholly relied on primary data. The data was collected using interview questions and a questionnaire that was administered to the sample population. The collected data was analysed using descriptive analysis and presented in tables and figures. The data was analysed using the Windows based software Statistical Packaging for Social Sciences The findings of the study on the first research question; obligations of state parties to the international laws and treaties they sin and ratify indicated that the domestication of these treaties was entirely the prerogative of the party state. Though there are mechanisms that hold states accountable based on the committees of the specific treaties, they are not well equipped to handle cases of errant members. It was also found that, despite there being a clause within the new Kenyan constitution in Articles 2, 3 and 4, to automatically nationalize international law, the effort from the government is lacking owing to various reasons, from ignorance of these laws by the legislative and executive arms and lack of awareness of the same laws by the general citizenry. The findings of study on the second research question; challenges women face at the workplace showed that there is indeed a gap in gender equality and the protection of women’s rights at the workplace. It identified the following issues as the main challenges facing women in the workplace: Gender discrimination and stereotyping, promotions and advancements, difficulties in maintaining the work-family balance and unhealthy competition between women On the findings of the study on the third and final research question; provisions made in the Kenyan laws by creating awareness of the rights of women at the workplace and how well the same are implemented within the HR policies showed that there was an inadequate knowledge of Kenyan labour laws and most of the women who were aware of these laws, stated that the laws were poorly implemented and did not think that there were adequate provisions made within the Kenyan law or the HR policies to protect their rights at the workplace as women and working mothers. Following the findings of this research, adequate conclusions regarding the same have also been made, which can be captioned into three segments; short-Term, continuous and long term. The short term recommendations felt to be relevant and adequate are, developing and maintaining effective standards to be set in the workplace and ideally within the law. Recommendations that are expected to be continuous are proper capacity building of both men and women at the workplace and at every other societal level. Finally, long term recommendations will focus on creating an efficient and effective reporting system, where those who are aggrieved can have their cases listened to and attended to promptly. The recommendations made after the findings of this study, were that there is a need for further studies be carried out to address the plight and rights of women who work in informal jobs within the rural areas and informal settlements, and those who work in unconventional jobs such as nannies and those who do menial jobs for survival in construction sites and road works, where there are no set work structures or a formal system to address grievances they might have on discrimination and/ or sexual harassment, paid maternity leave and career development or advancements.