EXPLOITATION OF WOMEN AND GIRLS IN GUATEMALA

February 12, 2002 (HRW) -- Tens of thousands of Guatemalan women working as domestic workers and in the maquila sector (apparel factories) face widespread discrimination that is sponsored or tolerated by the government. The government denies domestic workers basic labor rights, including the otherwise recognized right to an eight-hour workday and the minimum wage. These workers also suffer significant levels of sexual harassment. Employers in the maquila sector often require women seeking jobs to declare whether they are pregnant, and often deny pregnant workers full maternity benefits. Workers in both spheres encounter obstacles accessing reproductive health care.

On February 12, at a press conference in Guatemala City, Human Rights Watch released the report, "From the Household to the Factory: Sex Discrimination in the Guatemalan Labor Force," which documents this discrimination. News about the report was carried in Guatemala on the two major television networks, two daily newspapers, and at least five radio stations. BBC Mundo and CNN español carried interviews with HRW researcher Jude Sunderland. The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal also ran pieces about the report. While in Guatemala, Sunderland met with the new labor minister, members of Congress, an official in the Ministry of Economy, representatives of the private sector, the governmental Human Rights Ombudsman's Office, the South Korean embassy, and the U.S. embassy, among others. The new labor minister, Victor Hugo Godoy met HRW on his first day in office and agreed to lend his support to crucial labor code reforms to provide equal rights and protections to domestic workers. He also agreed to improve coordination with other state agencies to improve monitoring of labor rights in the maquila sector. And, he acknowledged the need to strengthen the Working Women's Unit within the ministry.

Read the report online at http://www.hrw.org/reports/2002/guat/
Order the report at http://store.yahoo.com/hrwpubs/guatfromhous.html

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