DISCRIMINATION BASED ON GENDER

Although both Ukrainian law and Ukraine's obligations under international human rights law prohibit discrimination based on sex, gender discrimination in employment is widespread.In data collected from employers, the ILO determined "a slight tendency" within firms to discriminate against women in training practices and an even greater tendency to discriminate in recruitment. [96] One means by which employers discriminate is through gender-specific job vacancy announcements.Job announcements specifying gender appear in newspapers, employment magazines, and on Internet employment sites, as well as in private recruiting firms and job-placement agencies, and at state employment centers.Some vacancy announcements are for positions that, under Ukrainian law, may only be filled by men, [97] yet many more advertisements specifying gender do so in violation of the law.Human Rights Watch interviews revealed that employers do not acknowledge the discriminatory nature of their advertising practices.According to one manager in the personnel department of a major industrial holding in eastern Ukraine, her company routinely uses age and gender specifications in vacancy announcements.She explained, "As far as I understand the law allows this [kind of advertising]. Maybe I did read somewhere that if an employer makes a selection based on gender, this is a violation of the law.However, I have never heard of a single [court] case about this." [98]

Not all advertisements specify gender.Even those that specify gender do not always preclude the hiring of someone not of the gender advertised.But the practical effect of gender-specific job announcements is to perpetuate gender stereotypes.Furthermore, such advertisements are clearly discriminatory against women because they impair equality of opportunity in employment.Because many more advertisements specify men than women, including many advertisements for higher paid and supervisory positions, gender-specific job advertising dissuades women from applying for well-compensated and prestigious jobs for which they may have the requisite education, experience, and skills.To analyze gender-specific job announcements, Human Rights Watch examined print publications from Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Lviv, as well as popular Ukrainian Internet job sites.

Gender Specifications in Job Advertising

Both state agencies and private companies in Ukraine practice gender discrimination in job advertising.Information provided by state employment centers offers insight into the extent of discriminatory vacancy announcements provided by employers as well as the state's role in promoting such practices. An April 14, 2003 list of vacancies from the Lviv City Employment Center lists 1,301 vacancy announcements in both the private and public sector.The listings offer over 160 different types of jobs, with salaries ranging from 185 to 1,015 hryvna (U.S.$37-$203) per month.Of these announcements, only 117 specify women applicants, and only forty-nine are gender neutral.The remaining 1,135 vacancy announcements specify men. [99] State employment centers use forms that request information from employers including gender specifications in vacancy announcements.The standard vacancy report form distributed by state employment centers includes a box titled "the number of vacancies" followed by a box titled "of these, how many for women." [100] Employers' preferences are then reflected in the databases of vacancy announcements in which job listings are recorded specifying man, woman, or either.

Searches on several Internet job sites also reveal the extent to which employers discriminate in job advertising.A general search of postings on the popular site Rabota v Kharkove [Work in Kharkov] produced more than twice as many vacancy announcements specifying men than women.Out of a total 12,096 postings, nearly one-third of them specify gender, with 2,703 vacancy announcements specifying male applicants and only 1,262 specifying female applicants. [101] Although the total number of jobs specifying gender was smaller on Rabota Plus [Work Plus], job advertisements specifying men were three times as numerous as those specifying women, 356 and 110, respectively. [102] Research by other organizations into discriminatory job advertising found similar results, with up to 60 percent of vacancies available exclusively for men, with the remainder being available for both sexes. [103]

Many popular websites provide standard announcement forms that encourage employers to provide gender-specific advertising.The site Rabota v Kharkove, includes a category for "gender" in the standard form used by employers for posting vacancies on the site.All advertisements thus appear in a consistent form with categories that include basic information, including "Category [of work]," "Position," "Work schedule," "Minimum salary," as well as requirements for the applicant listed under "Age," "Gender" and "Education," and "Additional Information" categories.If the employer does not wish to specify, the "gender" and "education" categories may be filled with "Does not matter." [104] The standard vacancy announcement form on the all-Ukraine site Rabota Plus also includes a category for gender.

Gender-specific vacancy announcements can be found for all categories of jobs, although advertisements in some fields of work and for certain types of jobs specify a particular gender more frequently than others.Job advertisements that frequently request male candidates and rarely specify female applicants include those for blue-collar work, particularly those jobs involving physical labor.Advertisements for salaried mid- to upper-level managerial positions and lawyers also specify male applicants much more frequently than female.The majority of advertisements specifying "woman" are found among service sector positions-such as wait staff and domestic help-culturally perceived as "female professions" as well as for lower-wage and non-supervisory professional positions as secretaries and accountants.Such specifications reflect beliefs that men and women are physically or intellectually qualified to work in certain professions or in certain positions and not in others.One employer told Human Rights Watch that she makes hiring decisions based on the idea that "men have a higher analytical capacity.They are especially qualified for managerial jobs. Women make better secretaries and accountants; they are more attentive, thoughtful." [105] Other employers, employment center officials, and government officials echoed similar sentiments.

In addition, searches based on salary revealed that advertisements for higher paid positions more frequently demand male candidates than female candidates and that highly paid jobs specifying women applicants are only in certain sectors perceived to be "female."Of 3,294 jobs advertised on Rabota v Kharkove with salaries higher than 200 y.e. (U.S.$200) per month, [106] 861 of them, or over 26 percent, specified men, and only 197 specified women. [107] Jobs advertised for men appeared under the categories of "supervision," "management," or "computer programming." [108] Announcements specifying women applicants for jobs in the same salary range included vacancies for secretaries, accountants, dancers, and nannies, including au pair work abroad. [109] Thus, even in cases when women may have access to high paying jobs, these positions do not offer the same opportunities for professional development and career growth that are available to men.

Blue-Collar Employment

Job vacancy announcements specifying men are frequently found in the field of blue-collar employment.Some job vacancy announcements in this sector specify "man" in the list of requirements for candidates because Ukrainian law prohibits women from working in certain job categories supposedly due to potential health hazards.However, vacancy announcements for jobs for which there are no legal restrictions on the gender of the employees also often specify gender.When seeking employees of a particular gender, most employers of blue-collar labor request male applicants, while few seek female applicants.Job vacancy announcements in this category do not include requirements for certain physical capabilities, such as the ability to lift up to a certain weight.Instead, employers discriminate in job advertising for many blue-collar jobs based on stereotypical ideas that women per se cannot perform the same physical work that men can.

The April 2003 edition of the popular Kyiv weekly, ProponuiuRobotu [I Offer Work], listed hundreds of available jobs in the "Construction" and "Worker specializations" sections.Many of the announcements do not state gender requirements.Nevertheless, there are numerous discriminatory listings that seek male applicants such as, "Metalworker, man under 50, work experience;" [110] and "Cabinet maker, man under 35." [111] Similarly, in the "Construction and Repairs" section of the April 14, 2003 edition of Izruk v ruki [From Hands to Hands], one job advertisement requests, "Professional worker, man, 30-50, higher education, mid-level specialization, 3 years work experience, salary from 600 y.e. [U.S.$600 per month]." [112] Two other advertisements in the same section from the private Ukrainian firm Target specify "man, 25-45 years, work experience." [113] In the "Other blue-collar professions, additional workers," section of the small Kharkiv bi-weekly, Rabota [Work], one announcement from a polyurethane bag factory requests "male workers (under 27)." [114]

Vacancy announcements in the "Workers" section of the Internet publication Rabota v Kharkove, demonstrate that gender, not education or experience, is some employers' primary criterion for employment: "Construction and finishing work; kind of work: full time; minimum monthly salary: 100 y.e. [U.S.$100], gender: male; education: does not matter;" and, from the Company Tredex, Ltd. "Electrical installation; minimum monthly salary: 80 y.e. [U.S.$80], age: 25 to 45, gender: male, education: does not matter." [115] Another advertisement posted by an unnamed private company on the same site goes into even greater detail about the work requirements, "Construction worker; minimum monthly salary: 120 y.e. [U.S.$120]; age: 23 to 25; gender: male; education: specialized high school; additional information: seeking someone with at least some work experience but with the desire to learn to do serious masculine work for appropriate pay." [116]

One Ukrainian company offers the only job vacancy in the "Construction and Repairs" category of the April 14, 2003 edition of Izruk v ruki specifying a female applicant: "Painter-plasterer, 25-45, 3 years work experience, woman." [117] This same vacancy announcement appears again on an Internet job site, and is also one of the only vacancies in the worker category of that publication which specifies female applicants. [118] One of the only blue-collar jobs advertised for a woman in the listings of the Lviv City Employment Center is for a painter. [119] Painting and plastering are often regarded as two blue-collar fields appropriate for women.Raissa R., a former construction worker, told Human Rights Watch, that jobs involving "painting, wallpaper, [and] smoothing ceilings," are held "mostly by women. Men don't want to do it because it is difficult, there are not mechanized instruments to do it, it is all done by hand, [and] it is very monotonous and repetitive." [120] Nevertheless, some employers demand male applicants even in this field, and many of the listings for painting jobs do specify "man."Two of the job announcements in the Kyiv weekly, ProponuiuRobotu, for example, were: "Painter, furniture production, man, under 35, two years work experience" and "Painters, no less than ten years work experience are invited to work at the open stock company Ykrenergoprom [Ukraine Energy Industry], men, under 50." [121] Of the seventy-eight vacancy announcements for painters in the Lviv City Employment Center List for April 14, 2003, only one is for a woman; the other seventy-seven specify men. [122]

Managerial Employment

Although managerial positions rarely require the physical strength demanded by many blue-collar jobs, advertising for supervisory or managerial positions more frequently specify male applicants.Human Rights Watch interviewed employers who explained why they limit their searches to one gender or another.According to a former employee of a staffing agency specializing in supervisory personnel, "In middle and upper management there was more demand for men. There is a social historical understanding that a man is a commander and a woman fulfills requests." [123] For others, certain job duties, particularly business travel, precluded women from holding many managerial positions.According to one personnel manager, "Gender is relevant to the duties of the position. For example, managers and directors often have to travel, settle agreements.Women can't leave the family, but men can leave these problems behind." [124] A female co-owner of a small industrial company that requires its employees to travel similarly stated, "As an entrepreneur I never hire women. [In this work], there is a lot of difficult traveling on business.A woman can't leave on short notice. Men have better health, are more mobile, can work late hours." [125] However, she acknowledged not having had a single actual experience to justify the claim that women categorically refuse to travel on business, telling Human Rights Watch, "I never hire women." [126]

Employment center information and searches on several web sites confirm employers' discriminatory attitudes regarding managerial positions.In the listings from the Lviv City employment center for April 14, 2003, of the twenty-five vacancies with the title "head" or "chief" [nachalnik], only one specifies a woman. [127] On the all-Ukraine website Rabota Plus, the majority of advertisements for managerial positions specify men.A series of searches for all cities under the category "Supervision" produced forty-two vacancy announcements, twelve, or nearly 29 percent, of which specified male applicants. No announcements in this category specified women. [128] In a search under the category "Sales Managers" on the same site, of several hundred postings, sixty-five specified men, and only nine specified women. [129]

Advertisements in print publications similarly specify gender in advertising for managerial level positions.In a sample of listings for managerial positions in the April 2003 edition of ProponuiuRobotu, two columns list a total of seventeen vacancy announcements, seven of which specify "men" in the requirements, although there is no particular information about the work to explain why only a male employee could fill this position.One announcement reads, "Manager. Man. under 35, communicative, energetic, PC [knowledge of personal computers]. Salary from 100 y.e. [U.S.$100]." [130] Two others read, respectively, "Manager. Man. under 35, higher education required, PC, English language." and "Manager-Marketing Specialist. Man. over 25, [driver's] license category "V," PC, technical or higher education, Kyiv residence permit. Resume by fax only." [131] None of the advertisements specify women. In the "Supervision" section of the same magazine, there are fifty advertisements, eleven of which specify male applicants, including, "director of sales," "head of sales department," "head of supply," and two "deputy director" positions. [132]

The main English language newspaper, The Kyiv Post, also publishes gender-specific vacancy announcements.In the April 24, 2003 edition, one unnamed employer seeks a "Property Manager (Marketologist)" with the qualifications: "university degree, male aged under 32, fluent English, 1+ years relevant experience in the field of real property." [133] A week earlier, the beverage company Slavutich advertised eight department head and managerial vacancies, seeking men for seven of the positions, including "head of the legal department," "head of the technical department" and "a specialist on labor protection." [134]

Employers advertising in another prestigious job category, law, also often specify men.One advertisement from a government agency listed in the Kharkiv weekly magazine Vashdelevoi partner [Your Business Partner] reads, "Lawyer, Man under 32, in state institution." [135] Two of the eight advertisements for lawyers in the April 8, 2003 edition of ProponuiuRobotu specify men. [136] Two announcements for lawyers on the site vakansii.com.ua also specify men.One position, with a company in Kyiv, offers a starting salary of 500 y.e. [$U.S.500] per month and the second in Donetsk, offers 200 y.e. [U.S.$200] per month. [137]

Occasionally advertisements for vacant managerial positions do seek women applicants specifically. These are often for jobs working with products marketed to women or in positions related to personnel. For example, an interregional staffing agency lists a series of fifteen vacancies in the April 8, 2003 edition of Premer 2000, seven of which specify men for different positions including department head, supervisor, and sales representative.Of the two advertisements specifying women, one is for a managerial position in "jewelry box sales." [138] Elsewhere, an advertisement from a "Large sales company" seeks "a personnel manager [with] 2 years work experience in analogous position, knowledge of staff documentation, experience in personnel selection, woman 25-40, higher education." [139] On the site Rabota Plus an announcement for "Personnel Manager" posted on May 19, 2003, seeks a female candidate with some experience in the field and the "ability to communicate with people" for work "in a foreign company." [140] Employers also frequently seek women for the administrative position of office manager, whose duties often resemble those of secretaries and not of supervisors.For example, of the eight office manager vacancies posted in the business personnel section of ProponuiuRobotu no. 14, four of them seek female candidates. [141]

Even in industries whose products are directed toward women, such as cosmetics, companies may differentiate in their gender preferences based on the level of the position, giving preference to men in managerial positions.The cosmetics company Faberlic advertised in several publications for new employees in their sales department without specifying gender.However, in the announcement of a vacancy for "service center manager," Faberlic specified "a communicative man under 40." [142] In addition, advertisements for professionals and managers that specify women candidates also often have added requirements related to physical appearance (see below).In its research, Human Rights Watch did not find similar requirements for men in professional and managerial vacancy announcements.

Of the professional categories most frequently advertised in print and Internet publications, accounting is the only field in which employers often seek women applicants more frequently than men.According to one job seeker interviewed by Human Rights Watch, "accounting is a female profession." [143] Of the 260 advertisements listed under the "Finance and Accounting" section of Rabota Plus, twenty-six sought female applicants, and only ten specified men. [144] Despite the greater demand for women in this case, however, the jobs advertised for men and for women were of a qualitatively different nature, with men preferred in supervisory and top management positions.The job listings specifying men included vacancies for a controller with a salary of 500 y.e. (U.S.$500) per month and a department manager, with no salary specified.Of the vacancies specifying women, most specified non-managerial positions such as accountant, analyst, or cashier, and none of the announcements listed a salary higher than 300 y.e. (U.S.$300) per month, even for "head accountant" positions.

Service Sector Employment

In contrast to advertising for blue-collar and managerial posts, job postings in various types of services frequently specify women.Job vacancy announcements reveal, however, that certain types of work, such as security and driving, remain "male" in the eyes of employers.Jobs in the hospitality sector, entertainment, sales, secretarial, and domestic work very frequently specify women.Private sector businesses offer the majority of these jobs.Advertisements for both authorized and unauthorized work outside of Ukraine are most frequently found in the service sector, although there are increasing number of offers for construction, factory, and agricultural work abroad. [145]

Advertisements for service professions stereotypically seen as "male," such as security guards and sentries most often specify men, although some announcements do not state a preference.In the April 2003 edition of ProponuiuRobotu, several similar ads from different staffing agencies all read, "Guards, sentries, and street cleaners: man, under 50, 24-hour shifts, available immediately!" [146] An April edition of the newspaper Nova Robota [New Work] posts similar listings from other staffing agencies, including "Security guard, sentry: man under 50, various work schedules Salary 400-700 hryvna [U.S.$76-$133 per month]." [147] In only one instance in the publications surveyed by Human Rights Watch was there a sentry advertisement requesting women applicants: "Seeking a woman sentry. Work 24 hour/2 shifts. Salary 150 hryvna [U.S.$28.50 per month]." [148]

In the case of employment in sectors stereotypically seen as "female," however, employers often specifically request women, usually young women.Vacancy listings provided by the Lviv Employment Center specifying women applicants include several for nurses, wait staff, manicurists, cashiers, and seamstresses. [149] In the April 14, 2003 edition of KharkovskiiKurer, one advertisement requests "women [age] 20-35 for work cleaning elite buildings." [150] Advertisements for nannies and governesses also usually specify women.Two Internet postings for au pair work abroad seek young women.An organization called Live-in Caregiver seeks "women from 23 to 43," and Alexa Au-pair Agentur looks for "women from 17 to 30." [151] In the April 8, 2003 edition of Premer 2000, of the fifty-four jobs listed in the "Secretaries" section, twenty-two specify "young women," and the rest do not specify. [152] In The Kyiv Post employment section for April 17, 2003, the "Kyiv sales office of a major U.S. Manufacturing Company" seeks "female candidates for the position of a highly qualified assistant." [153]

For some professions, gender is specified by the job title specifically used in vacancy announcements, as is the case with an advertisement in the popular Lviv weekly, Zaproshuemonarobotu[Invitation to Work], for female "packagers [upakovshitsi] [and] sorters [sortirovschitsi]." [154] Many employers also use gender-specific terms when seeking wait staff, and will demand specifically "waitresses," [ofitsianktki] or, on one case, "young women servers" [devushki-ofitsiantki]. [155] Job announcements for the less specific "server" [ofitsiant], which applies to both men and women, sometimes specify women, with advertisements such as, "Servers sought for the billiard club Svoiak, young women under 28, work experience," [156] but also may specify young men.

Two of the publications surveyed by Human Rights Watch, Premer 2000 and KharvovskiiKyrer, dedicate an entire employment category to "young women" [devushki].The jobs advertised in this section do not include vacancy announcements for managerial or even stable, career-oriented employment opportunities, but rather reflect clearly the stereotypical assumptions made by many employers about which kinds of jobs young women should hold.In the April 14, 2003 edition of the KharvovskiiKyrer, the jobs advertised in the "young women" section include photo developing, cosmetics sales, and secretarial work. Similar advertisements appear in Premer 2000, as well as advertisements for apparel, cosmetics, and furniture salespeople, dispatchers, and cashiers.These announcements appear only after a list of seventeen highlighted advertisements that any woman reading through this section would read first. Two of the highlighted announcements are from employers seeking young women to work as dancers and entertainers abroad.Several others advertise for nondescript work, with very specific requirements related exclusively to physical appearance, suggesting employment in the entertainment or sex industries: "Highly paid work requiring young women without complexes, daytime work, excellent conditions, effective appearance required," and "Highly paid work in the service sector invites young girls 18-25 with very large external gifts." [157]

Gender -Specific Advertising and Women's Access to Employment

Human Rights Watch interviewed numerous women who described the insidious effect of pervasive gender-specific employment advertising on their employment opportunities. In cases where women contact employers about positions advertised as men only, they are regularly rejected well before the interview stage because the employer firmly insists on hiring a man.Human Rights Watch found evidence of employers hiringwomen for positions advertised for men in only a few cases when women were assisted by employment placement agencies.In the vast majority of cases, gender-specific vacancy announcements reflect employers' unambiguous choice regarding candidates for employment. As a result, women recognize the futility of even attempting to apply for many jobs that match their professional skills and qualifications.

Some women are willing to contact employers regarding positions advertised for men only, but had little success in gaining access to these jobs.Vera V. said she found many vacancy announcements from private companies in Lviv for which she felt qualified but that required a man.She described to Human Rights Watch one particular advertisement in Zaproshuemonarobotufor an office manger with the requirements "honesty, professionalism, important- man, over 24." [158] When asked if she would apply for jobs such as this even though they specified a man, she said, "Yes, maybe, but I wouldn't be surprised if I didn't get the job." [159] Vera V. knew other women who had inquired about these kinds of jobs but had no success. [160]

Larisa L., a Kyiv resident trained in sales, marketing, and English language translation and interpretation, made a survey of eleven managerial positions advertised in the April 2003 edition of ProponuiuRobotuthat specified male applicants.In every instance, when she called to inquire about the position, the employer told her that they were not interested in hiring a woman.When Larisa L. called a perfume and cosmetics company regarding a position for a regional manager, the woman serving as the contact person told her, "The position involves a lot of traveling and hard work.Only strong men can do that." [161] In another instance, a representative from a company advertising a position for a manger, under thirty-five, told Larisa L. that a male candidate "was the boss's requirement." [162] Larisa L. also called about a position in a photo shop requiring a "man, 19-23 years old, non-smoker, energetic, smart, hard working." As she recalled later, when she explained that she met all of the requirements, but was a woman, the photo shop manager, "got angry, asked me if I was kidding, and hung up." [163]

Human Rights Watch interviewed employers and employees at staffing services and state employment agencies interviewed who all claimed that although employers routinely specify male candidates in advertising, some employers will ultimately consider both qualified men and women for the position.Anna A., the director of an employment agency in Kharkiv told Human Rights Watch that, while "a few years ago gender requirements existed, now for employers the main requirement is professionalism." [164] She admitted, however, that, "when it comes to executives, [employers] usually specify that they want men." [165] In some circumstances, she will "try to change their minds," and propose a qualified woman for the position-a tactic that has proven successful for her in at least in one case.For example, Anna A. learned from a company that they sought a financial director and specified a man.She recommended a woman who was eventually hired. [166]

In the vast majority of cases, however, women do not attempt to contact employers regarding vacancy announcements that specify men because they consider such efforts to be futile.Nadia N., an economist by training, told Human Rights Watch of the obstacles related to her gender in her search for a job over the last six years.Upon graduating from university at the top of her class in 1997 she was invited to work as a central bank analyst.After forgoing this prestigious job opportunity to move with her husband to Kharkiv, Nadia N. has been looking for a comparable job for six years.She said, "I see a lot of advertisements that I don't respond to because the employer specifies a man.I didn't even bother to try. We are taught to believe newspapers and that that's the final statement." [167] She has also faced discrimination from employers during the interview process (see below).Thus, despite her training and qualifications, Nadia N. now works fifteen-hour shifts as a cashier in a supermarket.Because she goes months with no days off, she is forced to send her five-year-old daughter to live with her parents. [168]

Inna I., a recent business school graduate, discussed similar frustrations.She said, "I'm on many [email] list serves, and sometimes there are [job] advertisements there.Often the ads are for positions such as marketing manager, and the candidate should be a man, age twenty-three to twenty-eight, that sort of thing." [169] When asked if there had been announcements that she wanted to apply for, she replied, "Yes, and it makes me angry, really angry.I mean, I don't see any justification for these advertisements to be only for men." [170] Inna I. did not believe that she would ever apply for one of these positions, even if the employer might not be rigid in choosing a candidate of the specified gender."I'd have a problem working for a company that has that kind of culture," she said."I don't want to work somewhere where women are considered emotional.These stereotypes.That's not for me." [171]

In late 2000, Katia K. interviewed with a large private company for a position in marketing that would complement her background in sociology and economics."According to the education and experience requirements, formally, I was a good fit," she told Human Rights Watch. [172] After an interview, an employee from the human resources department told her that she was fully qualified.However, Katia K. never heard back from the company, and a few weeks later, she reported seeing "an advertisement for the same firm, an announcement for the same job, with the same requirements, but with two additional specifications: steadiness under stress and gender: man." [173] Seeing this, Katia K. "had a picture of the supervisor of this department: a man who only wanted to work with men." [174]

Private employment agencies and the state employment centers routinely provide gender-specific job announcements to women job seekers.After registering with one Kharkiv agency in 2001 and paying to receive information on job vacancies, Oksana O. said that she received only announcements for "the kinds of jobs designated for women: cashiers, secretaries, waitresses," rather than jobs that were related to her education and qualifications as a journalist. [175] Alla A. lost her job in sales management and marketing at a department store in December 2002 and immediately registered at the unemployment center in Lviv in order to receive unemployment benefits and assistance in her job search.Recently, she saw a vacancy announcement for "a person responsible for product supply." [176] Although she was interested, the fact that the advertisement was posted in a state agency conferred a particular authority on the requirements.Alla A. told Human Rights Watch, "It was on a billboard in the unemployment center, and it specified a man was needed, so I didn't even think about it." [177]