HIST 3030 The Evolution of Social Policy: Some Observations on Gender, Citizenship and Labour Rights since the Forde Commission Report on the Status of Women (1976)

Some Observations on Gender, Citizenship, Labour Rights since the Forde Commission Report on Women (1976) in Barbados

By, Cherri-Ann Skeete, Student, HIST 3030 The Evolution of Social Policy in Barbados, Department of History and Philosophy, The UWI, Cave Hill Campus

The Forde Commission on the status of women was carried out in 1976 and presented in 1978 by Norma Monica Forde on recommendation by Sir Henry Forde who was an advocate for women’s rights in Barbados. The Commission looked at women and their rights in terms of marriage, labour laws, citizenship, criminal laws, and divorce, just to name a few, and made recommendations for the improvement of women’s rights. Citizenship and labour laws are the topics of focus for this research.

             The Constitution of Barbados at that time was discriminatory against women in terms of citizenship. In terms of citizenship by descent, a legitimate child of a father born in Barbados was a citizen of Barbados once the father and child were both citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies in 1966. This law did not apply to mothers under similar circumstances. Secondly, under section 5 of the Constitution, the legitimate post-independence child (born after November 30, 1966) of a Barbadian father whose citizenship is not acquired merely by descent is a citizen of Barbados, but not the legitimate child of a Barbadian mother in similar circumstances. In terms of citizenship by marriage, a woman who was a citizen of Barbados could not help her husband who was not a Barbadian by birth, obtain citizenship. On the other hand, a woman who married a Barbadian man could register for citizenship as outlined in Section 6 of the Constitution. In terms of legitimation of citizenship by subsequent marriage of parents, legitimation was based on domicile of the father rather than the mother. In terms of adoption, citizenship was not conferred to the adopted children of a Barbadian woman and a non-Barbadian man. However, it was conferred to a Barbadian man and non-Barbadian woman.

The Commission made its recommendations for the equality of citizenship laws. The report stated that citizenship laws should be unbiased and not based on gender/sex. And women and men should have equal citizenship laws. It also stated that any discriminatory provisions, which prevent the husband of a Barbadian woman from registering as a Barbadian citizen, a right now enjoyed by the wife of a Barbadian man, should be altered. Moreover, any restrictions imposed on granting citizenship should be applicable to both men and women.

The Barbados Citizenship Act was amended in 1982 where some of the discriminatory components of the citizenship laws were removed. Children can now be granted citizenship on the basis of nationality of mother. A person born in Barbados after the 29th November 1966 shall be a citizen of Barbados by birth if his mother was a citizen of Barbados at the time when he was born. Secondly, where under any enactment in force in Barbados relating to the adoption of children an adoption order is made in respect of a minor not a citizen of Barbados, then if the adopter or in the case of a joint adoption the male adopter is a citizen of Barbados, the minor shall become a citizen of Barbados as from the date of the order. Therefore, women can now apply as an adopter for citizenship of adopted children.

Moreover, non-Barbadian men married to Barbadian women are now eligible for citizenship. The Act states ‘’if your spouse is a citizen or permanent resident of Barbados, you are eligible for residency. If your spouse is a citizen, you can apply for citizenship after being a resident in Barbados for a period of 7 years. Please note that the status of one’s spouse needs to be legally recognized in Barbados’’.

Labour laws served to create a space of fair employment for both males and females.  The legislation in Barbados provided reasonable working conditions for both sexes equally to some extent. However special conditions for women were embedded into statutes and some sections of statues of the legislations.

At the time of the report, statistics showed that 60.2 percent of the workforce were male while 38.8 percent were female which clearly suggested that the number of unemployed women where high as compared to males, resulting in a concern for review. Fourteen acts were reviewed with nine of these 14 acts needing some revision due to special provisions made for female workers or work intended to be regulated by legislation, seeing more women than men opposed to an evening out of the sexes.

          The Factories Act stated that a woman shall not clean any part of any machinery or machine if cleaning would expose her to risk of injury. Where women work is performed standing, adequate seating should be provided so that any opportunity for rest could be taken. The commission recommended that the provisions which speak specifically to women regarding their cleaning machines be amended as women are competent to complete such tasks, however special attention should be made to the language used here as it states women are now competent as if to imply they were not before. This was interesting to note. The commission also recommended that both males and females be afforded the same opportunities health standards, suitable and sufficient seating accommodation and organized intervals for meals and rest. 

The maternity leave act outlines provisions for expecting mothers providing mothers to receive 6 weeks before and after the baby is born even in the case of a still born with an extension of 6 weeks in the cause of illness coming out of the “confinement” and providing job security for pregnant mothers, however, a mother would not be eligible for leave more than three times from the same employers (which seems restrictive and a hindrance to men in my opinion), also there was a call for a longer maternity leave.  The act makes no mention of male maternity leave. The commission considered the idea of an extended leave. However, it recommended that the 12 weeks remain as it is.

While not being able to encompass all that the report addressed, it is clear to see that the report highlighted important points that still challenge us today. As we seek to win the battle against gender inequality we are still addressing concerns around the further extension of maternity to at least six (6) months leave as well as the introduction of paternity leave and we still see gender segregation in work environments as a problem.

WORKS CITED:

1.     UNHCR. (2017). Barbados Citizenship Act 1982. Retrieved from

https://www.ilo.org/dyn/natlex/docs/ELECTRONIC/87113/98976/F941454882/. Accessed 11/29/2019.

2.     Barbados Labour Party. (2019). BLP Manifesto 1976. Retrieved from https://www.blp.org.bb/. Accessed 11/29/2019.

3.     Barbados Immigration Department. (2019). Barbadian Citizenship. Retrieved from https://www.immigration.gov.bb/pages/Citizenship.aspx. Accessed 11/29/2019.

4.     Cepal. (2019). Beijing + 25 Report: Progress made on the implementation of the Beijing Declaration And Platform For Act 2014-2019. Retrieved from  https://www.cepal.org/sites/default/files/barbados_beijing_plus_25_report_2014-2019.pdf. Accessed 11/29/2019.

5.     Forde, N. (1978).  Commission on the status of women in Barbados. Retrieved from http://myelearning.cavehill.uwi.edu/pluginfile.php/1075872/mod_resource/content/0/Documents/Women_and_the_Law.PDF. Accessed 11/29/2019.

6.     LegalBeagle. (2018). How to apply for Citizenship in Barbados. Retrieved from https://legalbeagle.com/6687146-apply-citizenship-barbados.html. Accessed 11/29/2019.

7.     Social and Human Sciences. (2018). The Feminization of Poverty. Retrieved from https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/b3ce/b7e9b091f9f97576175e97ef2d9bcc9fad67.pdf. Accessed 11/29/2019.

8.     Science Direct. (2019). Gender Division of Labour. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/social-sciences/gender-division-of-labour. Accessed 11/29/2019.

9.     Researchgate. (2016). The Feminization of Poverty. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/268506084_FEMINIZATION_OF_POVERTY. Accessed 11/29/2019.

10.  Cepal. (2016). Women: The most harmed by unemployment. Retrieved from https://oig.cepal.org/sites/default/files/ndeg_22_desempleo_eng.pdf. Accessed 11/29/2019.