Committee passes Gender Equality bill

Social Committee of the Parliament has passed the Gender Equality bill fighting gender discrimination.

The bill presented by the MP for the Central Maafaannnu consitutency, Asma Rasheed at the committee meeting today was passed by the vote of six members.

The bill says that Article 17 of the Constitution prohibits gender discrimination. And say that the benefits and protection assured by the constitution is a right to everyone which has assured in Article 20 of the constitution.

The purpose of the Gender Equality bill to fully provide the rights and freedom to everyone without discrimination based on gender.

It further states that the bill must be considered under the fundamentals of Islamic ruling.

MP Asma’s bill forbids direct and indirect discrimination based on gender. The bill would consider the discrimination of gender based on gender dominated employment fields as discrimination.

The bill based on 46 Articles equal opportunities must be provided to both men and women when giving employment and job advancements. And equal pay for both men and women doing the same work must be assured without discrimination.

The bill also states that media services must put forward quality at the workplace. And providing equal opportunity at every level in the field of politics is the responsibility of the state and the political parties.

If the discrimination is shown at the workplace, the recipient of the discrimination has to submit a request addressing the discrimination according to the bill. And the employer has to respond, in writing within 30 days.

And if the suggested corrections are not made within 60 days, the recipient of the discrimination has the right to go to court requesting a return.

If the discriminatory party was an entity of the government or an institute related to the government, their actions can be reviewed at court. And if both parties involved are unhappy with the court ruling, the case can be appealed under Article 56 of the Constitution.