Women and discrimination: authorities subject women to gynecological tests to get a job
Wuhan (AsiaNews) - A woman looking for work must undergo gynecological tests, vaginal inspection and a Pap smear test. As absurd as this might appear, it is what happened to candidates for a government job in Hubei province, central China. Published by the Legal Daily, a Chinese language paper, the case underscores how, despite the Chinese Communist Party's much vaunted "liberation of women," women are still at the bottom of the country's economy.
A medical student, Xiaochun, reported the case after she went to a government office to apply for a civil service job. During the interview, she was asked about her first menstruation. She was also subjected to a series of humiliating exams imposed on her and other female candidates, including a "vaginal inspection" and a Pap smear tests. The candidates also had to reveal personal information.
Outraged by the tests, the students staged a protest outside the Human Resources and Social Security Department in Wuhan, the capital city of Hubei province. They held signs that read, "Say yes to government jobs; say no to gynaecology tests".
"Even if women carry sexually transmitted diseases, their colleagues won't get infected under normal circumstances," Xiaochun said.
"These tests are hidden discrimination against women applicants," said Professor Han Guijun at Zhongnan University of Economics and Law in Wuhan.
What is more, by setting such a bad example, the government might encourage the private sector to introduce similar practices in the future.
Discrimination against women in the workplace goes back to the founding of the People's Republic.
According to the All China Women Federation, the number of women in the workforce rose from 600,000 in 1949 to 31.28 million in 1978 (from 7.5per cent to 32,9per cent). Today, they are 370 million up from 330 million in 2004.
Despite being almost half of the workforce, they tend to be relegated to less qualified jobs and subordinate roles from a material and moral point of view.
Laws adopted in the 1990s to promote equality have actually made gender discrimination worse, since women are also mothers.
In most cases, when female works get pregnant, they end up fired with only a few years of seniority or forced to take early retirement.
In the past, state companies provided maternity subsidies; now they have been cut or reduced.
On average, women earn 30 per cent less than their male counterpoarts doing the same job. They are more easily fired or laid off because their contracts are not the same as men's.
Women are also subject to sexual harassment and bullying by their bosses and tend to be pushed towards the humblest jobs, like janitorial services.
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