THE Zimbabwe Gender Commission yesterday said the Judicial Services Commission’s (JSC) questioning of women candidates about their reproduction rights during the High Court judges interviews creates a perception of gender discrimination.
BY PAIDAMOYO MUZULU
The gender commission’s statement comes following JSC, putting to task, Choice Damiso over her pregnancy and how she would conduct her duties as a new mother if appointed to the bench.
The gender commission said it was their view that candidates for any job should not be subjected to such questioning.
“It is the view of the commission that women candidates for any position should never have to respond to interview questions pertaining to the timing of their reproductive decisions, as this creates the perception (which may not actually be the reality) that the candidate may be discriminated against on the grounds of pregnancy,” Gender Commission chairperson, Margaret Sangarwe-Mukahanana said.
“The commission takes the view that pregnancy is not an illness and the duty of a mother to her young babies is not and should never be seen by potential employers as a handicap. Too often women are put in an undesirable position of having to defend to current and potential employers the reproductive decisions that they would have made either individually or with their families.”
She further noted they were concerned that “one of the women candidates, who was visibly pregnant had to answer questions put to her by one of the commissioners concerning her readiness to take up a judicial appointment in view of her pregnancy and her impending role as the mother of a young baby”.
To buttress its position, the gender commission quoted section 56 of the Constitution about discrimination.
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The section reads: “Every person has the right not to be treated in an unfairly discriminatory manner on such grounds, as their nationality, race, colour, tribe, place of birth, ethnic or social origin, language, class, religious belief, political affiliation, opinion, custom, culture, sex, gender, marital status, age, pregnancy, disability or economic or social status, or whether they were born in or out of wedlock.”
Six female candidates participated in the interviews that were conducted in Harare last week.
