Problems by working women

Women excel in all fields including space exploration and rocket science. Women play a vital role in economic development of the country and their contribution is nothing short of their male counterparts. However there are still several issues and problems that women face today. Sometimes, they are not treated equally in their workplace and are considered as inferior to their male co-workers. In some cases they do not get the same benefits as that of a male employee. The major issues and problems that women face in their work places includes unequal pay, security, sexual harassment, lack of proper family support, deficient maternity leave, etc. Problems Faced by Women at Workplace

Sexual Harassment
It is a major issue that women face at their workplace and many women fall victim of sexual harassment at workplace. At times employers try to take sexual favors from women employee in return of other benefits and promotions. It can be classified into various categories like Physical contact and advances

Showing pornography
A demand or request for sexual favors
Any other unwelcome physical, verbal or non-verbal activities (like whistling, obscene jokes, comments about physical appearances, threats, innuendos, gender based derogatory remarks etc.) Unequal Pay

It is another issue that women face at their workplace. Even though, women prove to be more efficient than male employees most of the time, they are not paid equally. Lack of Family Support
Lack of proper family support is another issue that working women suffers from. At times, the family doesn’t support women to leave the household work and go to office. They also resist for women working till late in office which also hampers the performance of the women and this also affects their promotion. Poor Security

It is another major issue that women face in the workplaces. Women working in BPO sector mostly fall victim of various crimes at workplace and this is due to lack of security provided to the employees. There are many cases that has been registered where women working at BPO sector have become victims of sexual abuses and rapes while going back home and this is due to lack of proper security. Insufficient Maternity Leaves

Insufficient maternity leave is another major issue that is faced by a working mother. This not only affects the performance of women employees at work, but is also detrimental to their personal lives. Consequences of Problems Faced by Women

Due to the various problems faced by women at workplace, an organization may have to face bad consequences of the same. Some of these are mentioned below: Increased absenteeism and dropout rates
Reduced efficiency
Additional costs of recruitment & training on resignation
Damage to image in the market
Lawsuits and high legal costs involving court fees, settlements, etc Tackling Problems Faced by Women
The UN Convention of the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women(CEDAW), adopted in 1979 at Beijing, recognizes and also acknowledged that sexual Harassment is a serious problem and has categorized it as gender discrimination and a form of gender based violence. Most developed and developing countries are a signatory to it. This puts the onus on the employers to provide a safe and healthy workplace to all its employees. To accomplish this, the employers deploy various policies. Few of them are listed below Education campaign for women employees about their rights

Training for managers and others in workplaces including acceptable and professional workplace behavior, and diversity training Forming a complaints committee, which will keep the privacy of the employee complaining and investigate the complain independently Creating appropriate work conditions to ensure that there is no hostile environment towards women Ensuring women do not work late hours, except in secure situations Ensuring participation of women at all level of management

Providing safe pickup and drop facility in odd hours
Providing adequate maternity leaves
Providing day care facilities for working mothers
Retention of performance ratings – this means that organizations secure the performance ratings of women during maternity leave.

Conclusion
Policies and legal mechanisms alone cannot help in curbing the problems faced by women at work place – the overall attitude and acceptance level of the people of needs to change. Just letting women work outside home does not mean that society treats men and women equally. The issues and problems that women face in their workplaces should be put to an end and then only it can be said that men and women have equal status. Although there are various laws that are made for protection of women even in workplace but due to lack of proper implementation and interpretation of law, it has not been quite effective in protecting women from the crimes and inequality in the workplace. Organizations are going out of their way to ensure they provide safe work environment for their women employees, and are also putting up policies to ensure the women feel motivated to work and continue their career, even after child birth.