CURRENT RESEARCH JOURNAL OF HISTORY (ISSN: 2767-472X)
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13
VOLUME:
Vol.06 Issue03 2025
10.37547/history-crjh-06-03-03
Page: - 13-17
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Empowering Women: The Importance of Social Support and
Labor Protection
Istora Jurayeva
PhD student, Department of History, Namangan State University, 160100, Namangan, Uzbekistan
Received:
22 January 2025
Accepted:
24 February 2025
Published:
21 March 2025
INTRODUCTION
Empowerment of women in various fields leads to
economic development . Increasing the share of female
employees has a positive effect on product and process.
Gender inequality in the labor market is very high in some
Central Asian countries. On average, women earn
significantly less than men, and most management
positions are held by men. From the first days of
independence, Uzbekistan recognized human value as the
highest value and became a member of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights on September 30, 1991. As
the Uzbek people praise human dignity as the highest
value, respect, appreciation and protection of women in
particular is our heritage over the centuries. Honoring
women, who are the pillars of family and society, the pride
and beauty of our lives, showing respect and honor to them
has been a great value for our people since time
immemorial and will remain so [1]. When it comes to
honoring and appreciating women, ensuring their rights
and legally guaranteeing them is one of the criteria for
increasing the dignity of women. When analyzing the
literature, there is very little information on concepts such
as "women's rights" that are defined and commented on,
these concepts are partially covered in legal literature.
Women's rights are human rights in general, as well as the
special position of women in society and the family, as well
as a set of specific rights and freedoms that apply only to
women [2]. On August 31, 1995, the Oliy Majlis of the
Republic of Uzbekistan ratified the Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against
Women (CEDAW). According to tradition, the Republic
of Uzbekistan submitted the first national report to the
CEDAW Committee on the implementation of the
Convention in 1999. The Second and Third National
Reports of the Republic of Uzbekistan were reviewed by
the UN CEDAW Committee in New York on August 6-13,
2006.
ABSTRACT
How important is women's empowerment in effective use of labor resources? In the course of our research, we have analyzed the
participation of women in various fields and the factors that increase their activity. At present, it is necessary to reach new levels
of development and make effective use of human capital. Not effectively using the opportunities of women, who make up half of
the world's population, is equivalent to denying half of the world's labor resources. But due to negative reasons such as
underestimating women's work and potential, women are not able to reveal their full potential. Many women face mental or
physical shock in the work process and in the family. The system of strengthening their social and labor protection, clarifying it
with laws, and introducing additional benefits is analyzed on the example of Uzbekistan. Some differences and similarities of
approaches to women's issues in Uzbekistan from other countries of Central Asia are shown. Measures to protect women's rights
and legal guarantees, and to increase legal literacy were also discussed. In order to expand the opportunities of women and
increase their activity in society, it is necessary to clearly define their social and labor protection.
Keywords:
Empowerment, women's rights, legal guarantees, retirement, maternity, violence, national program.
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MATERIALS AND METHODS
In many countries of the world, women face additional
limitations in their ability to improve their economic,
physical and psychological well-being due to the negative
effects of gender discrimination throughout their lives[3].
This, in turn, limits women's ability to improve the
economic and nutritional status of their families and
communities[4]. The presence of gender aspects in career
choice and employment indicates that there are some
problems in this topic [5]. Gender inequality is also
reflected in labor participation [6]. Studies show that due
to the one-sided opinion that "married women cannot work
effectively", some women temporarily or completely
refuse to get married for the purpose of professional growth
[7]. In such cases, the personality of women also plays an
important role. The fact that active women of the 21st
century are delaying motherhood through education and
professional development [8] shows that there are not
enough amenities for mothers with children. Married
women can also work effectively enough, for this they
should have enough support for child rearing and work.
Women simultaneously live with family and school
problems during their working lives. . The fact that women
retire earlier than men is also a high value given to women's
work. In Uzbekistan, unlike other countries in Central
Asia, the retirement age for women is set at 55 years. In
Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, benefits are given for the
work of women with children. Beginning from 2022, the
retirement age for mothers of many children was reduced
in Turkmenistan. Thus, the age of mothers with many
children has been reduced by 2 years (52 years), and the
required period of work - by 5 years (10 years). In order to
further develop the state policy for women in Uzbekistan,
the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women, the International Labor
Organization's Convention on Maternity Protection and
Labor and Employment Ratification of conventions on
"discrimination in the field of education" was one of the
important steps. In the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan
"On Labor Protection" there are defined privileges and
guarantees in the working conditions of women, and
Section V of the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan "On
Health Care" namely "Maternity and child protection,
women's childcare issues are legally guaranteed. On March
17, 1999, the Presidential Decree "On additional measures
to strengthen the social protection of women and girls" was
adopted. Also, the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of
Uzbekistan adopted a decision "On receiving a preferential
tax from the income of women whose working conditions
are particularly harmful and are employed in particularly
difficult jobs" [9]. Due to local and regional characteristics,
most of the women who are engaged in seasonal work in
light industries in cities and in rural areas work in
unfavorable working conditions. According to the type of
industrial economic activity, the share of women employed
in unfavorable working conditions compared to the total
number of workers was 20.0 percent in 2013, 16.5 percent
in 2017, and 12.8 percent in 2021 [10]. Usually, they are
found to be working in excessively dusty and unsanitary
conditions. In the course of work, women and girls are
given special privileges, unlike men. In particular,
pregnant women and women with children under the age
of three are not subject to the initial trial period. Women
who have two or more children under the age of 12 or a
dependent child under the age of 16 with a disability are
granted additional paid leave of at least 3 working days per
year. They are also entitled to unpaid leave of not less than
14 calendar days per year. Such leave can be used in
addition to annual leave or separately [11]. Women with
children under the age of 2 have an additional break for
feeding the child, in addition to the break for rest and
meals. Employment contracts concluded with pregnant
women and women with children under the age of three are
not allowed to be terminated at the initiative of the
employer, except in cases of complete liquidation of the
enterprise. Also, in accordance with Article 18 of the Law
of the Republic of Uzbekistan No. 265-I "On the Protection
of Citizens' Health" adopted on August 29, 1996, children
under the age of three, along with When seriously ill older
children who, according to the doctors' opinion, need
additional care, are being treated in an inpatient hospital,
their mother will be given the opportunity to be with her
child in the treatment facility and will be given a certificate
of incapacity for work [12]. Due to the fact that women
have reached the retirement age or have the right to receive
state pension according to the law, it is prohibited to
terminate the indefinite-term employment contract
concluded with them until they reach the age of 60 or until
the end of the term of the fixed-term employment contract
at the initiative of the employer [13]. Women who were
released from work and declared unemployed due to
changes in technology, production and labor organization,
the reduction of the volume of work that led to a change in
the number of employees (staff) or the nature of work, or
the termination of the enterprise, when they reach the age
of 53 and their length of service he will be entitled to a
pension when he is at least 20 years old [14].
RESULT AND DISCUSSION
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Increasingly, women's "empowerment" has become a
policy objective, both as an end in itself and as a means to
achieve other development goals [15]. Despite increasing
social protection and legal guarantees for women, violence
against women is one of our most painful points. Violence
is the intentional physical, mental, sexual or economic
influence of one person on another person, or by
threatening to use measures to exert such influence on his
life, health, sexual integrity, is an illegal action or inaction
that infringes on their dignity and other rights and freedoms
protected by law [16]. Worldwide, one in three women (35
percent or around 736 million) experience some form of
violence in their lifetime, and unfortunately, these numbers
have not changed in the last decade [17]. Globally, 38
percent of all murdered women are killed by an intimate
partner [18]. The saddest thing is that many women can
become victims of violence in their own families. Today,
the sharp increase in the number of women who are victims
of domestic violence, as well as external violence, requires
strengthening laws against violence [19]. Domestic
violence against women is also reflected in women's
decision making in the household [20]. In particular, 344
women who suffered from domestic violence were
identified in Uzbekistan in 2014, 8 of them in Andijan
region, 16 in Fergana region, and 1 in Namangan region.
By 2017, these indicators decreased in Andijan (5) and
Fergana (15) regions, but increased by 1 in Namangan
region. This study found that, Uzbek women do not tell
anyone about the violence in their family, they are afraid
or intimidated. In order to prevent such situations, the
procedure for issuing protection warrants for women was
introduced and measures of responsibility were clearly
defined [21]. For violating the rights of women in
Uzbekistan, for committing violence against them,
intentionally inflicting severe (Article 104), moderately
severe (Article 105) or light (Article 109) bodily harm,
torture (Article 110), threat of death or violence (Article
112), criminal abortion (Article 114), endangerment
(Article 117), defamation (Article 118), forcing a woman
to have sex (Article 121), violating the law on the age of
marriage (Article 1251), forcing a woman to touch the
ground or preventing her from touching the ground (Article
136) In accordance with the relevant articles of the
Criminal Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan, clear and
strict liability is established [22]. As a result of the
established legal guarantees and the implemented
systematic actions, the number of women subjected to
oppression and violence has decreased sharply, and in 2021
it was 94, 4 in Andijan region, 7 in Fergana region, and 2
in Namangan region. Women who have been subjected to
harassment and violence, even after this situation has
ended, the physical and mental impact inflicted on them
will still have an effect later. It is for this reason that
protecting women from various forms of violence is
considered an important issue for any society.
There is no way to protect women from oppression and
violence without promoting legal culture in society. For
this purpose, in 1997, the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of
Uzbekistan adopted the "National Program for Improving
Legal Culture in Society" [23]. One of the important
conditions for building a democratic legal state is the level
of legal education. The issue of legal literacy is also
gaining importance in the world community. The call
"education is the basis of democracy" was put forward by
the UNO and within the framework of 1995-2004, which
is considered the decade of education in the field of human
rights of the UNO since 1996, in all educational institutions
in Uzbekistan, the name "Human rights" has been taught.
training courses were introduced [24]. In particular, 2009
was declared by the UNO as the international year of
"Education on Human Rights."
CONCLUSIONS
The issues of ensuring and protecting the rights of women
and girls are at the level of state policy in Uzbekistan. 2001
"Year of Mothers and Children," 2005 "Year of Health,"
2007 "Year of Social Protection," 2012 "Year of Strong
Family," 2013 "Year of Prosperous Life", "2014 "Year of
a Healthy Child," 2016 "Year of a Healthy Mother and
Child," 2017 "Year of Communication and Human
Interests," 2019 "Year of Active Investments and Social
Development," which is also reflected in naming 2021 as
the "Year of Youth Support and Public Health Promotion."
In conclusion, the result of the reforms implemented in any
country is reflected in the well-being of the people. It is
impossible to expand women's opportunities without
rewarding their activity in society. The attitude towards
women is one of the invisible factors in the development
of times. A society that values women will develop in all
directions. After all, a woman is the honor and future of the
nation.
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