Liberia- 1st- Equality & non-discrimination

CHAPTER TWO: SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS
2.1 Introduction

[…] The various stakeholders’ consultations and research conducted between 2019 and 2023 revealed that various human rights violations and abuses occured across the Liberian business sectors – including industrial and artisanal mining, retail and services, manufacturing, fishery, and agribusiness. These abuses happen irrespective of the size or niche of business operations. Sexual harassment and sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA), low remuneration and poor working conditions, including inadequate safety gears, gender discrimination and employment discrimination against persons with disabilities, non-compliance with legal best practices, violation of corporate responsibility in concessional areas, illegal harvesting of timber and mineral resources – these are among several crosscutting concerns that have always attended the business, workplace, and human rights landscape.[…].

2.3.2. Labour rights

[…] There is labor discrimination concerning gender, disability, HIV-positive status, sexual orientation, and gender identity. Women experience economic discrimination based on cultural traditions discouraging their employment outside the home in rural areas. In most instances, men’s wages tend to exceed that of women. Persons with different sexual orientations and people with disabilities face hiring discrimination, and persons with disabilities face difficulty accessing their workplaces and accommodations […].

The NAPBHR consultations identified the following concerns related to labor:

[…]
6. Wage discrimination based on special interest.

7. Employment discrimination against persons with disabilities (PWDs).

2.3.6. Gender, People with Disabilities, and Other Vulnerable Groups.

To fully protect and guarantee adequate human rights for all persons, it is important to deal fairly and humanely with the cause of women and vulnerable groups within society. In other words, responding to gender issues is critical in the strive for human rights.

Across the globe, unfortunately, prevalent social exclusion, widespread inequalities and lack of empowerment, discrimination when accessing employment opportunities, limited access to justice, and domestic violence and sexual exploitation and abuse – all continue to hinder women and girls in many ways. And the listed detriments are equally faced by people with disabilities as well. In many societies people with disabilities live on the margins and are not appropriately catered to; the improved space and services they require to function autonomously as human beings, for instance, are not readily available, which cause their quality and full enjoyment of life to gravely suffer.

Due to the vulnerability of women and persons with disabilities, the Government of Liberia has taken measures to mainstream gender considerations and protect PWDs in business. The government is strongly committed to gender equality as a means of maintaining peace, reducing poverty, enhancing justice, and promoting development. The government recognizes that to assure equal opportunities and participation in management and decision-making at all levels of society, women’s and men’s different experiences, needs, concerns, vulnerabilities, capacities, visions, and contributions must be systematically considered in the country’s ongoing reconstruction efforts. Among other things, the commitment to gender equality is reflected through the government’s ratification of several international and regional treaties, declarations, and agreements on gender equality and the empowerment of women […].