Discrimination against women

A question I wanted to ask PM but missed

A majority of us feel that women do not face discrimination in Bhutan. It’s true upto some extend because in Bhutan inheritance favours daughters; wives do not take their husband’s names; widows and divorcees can remarry and our law protects women.

Bhutan joined CEDAW (elimination of all forms of discrimination against women) on July 17, 1980 is a clear indication of it.

But survey says otherwise. If we look at the employment, the civil service has 19,835 regular employees. Out of them only 6,166 are women. That’s barely 31% of the civil service.
Of 81 executive level civil servants i.e. directors and above – only 8 are women.
Out of 50 specialists, only 6 are women and only one of the many secretaries is woman.
The head of the all government owned corporations are men except for one woman.

In the parliament, out of 72 members, only 10 are women with no NA speaker and NC chairman as women.

Out of 205 gups only one is woman.

This is not because women are not capable and cannot do what their menfolk can do. We do have capable women like Dasho Neten Zangmo. Today we even have women taxi drivers. A profession which is believed to be men oriented.

Forms of discriminations:

Recently, there were vacancies with Punatsangchu project which said “women need not apply”. There are female VTI graduates too. After undergoing training if women folks are not given job then what is the whole purpose of undergoing the training?

So many women suffer at the hands of men at home called the domestic violence. Women simply have too many things to deal with.

Working women, a bread earner, no lesser than her husband, does all the household chores and takes care of their children when the husband does nothing at all.

Why discrimination?

Are we women happy to allow our men folks to supersede us?

Are we still following our traditional culture where women are supposed to stay at home and tend to the household chores while their men folk earn the living?