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people
A woman's world...
Renee
Laiviera is associated with women's rights, NADINE BRINCAT talks
to her on Women's Day
Renee Laiviera started off as a teacher, but she was forced to resign
when she got married, because the then law forced female teachers
who got married to resign. However, she was not immediately effected
by this, as she left for London, two days after her wedding.
Ms Renee Laiviera, Director of the Department of Women in Society,
was born in 1949, she has an older brother and two younger sisters.
"When I got to London, I thought that I would encounter difficulties
in job hunting, particularly because of the miner's strike, which
at the time, meant a three day working week. To my surprise, within
a week I received three job offers," she recollected. Ms Laiviera
recounted her working days in London, employed with a prominent
bank, where she did not encounter problems women in Malta faced.
However, after working and living in the English capital for two
and a half years, Ms Laiviera, was hit by culture shock on returning
to Malta. "Until 1993, the husband was the head of the Maltese
household. In England, I did not find distinctions between being
a single or married woman. When I came back, the difference hit
me hard. I still remember that when we bought the house my husband
could not make the signing of the contract, so he told the contractor
I, a woman would be signing myself,” she recounted.
The contractor's baffled reaction made opened her eyes to the need
for change. “The dominant mentality dictated that, once married
women should be kept by the husband, it was customary for women
to retire from the labour market. If women worked, it was seen as
a shame on the husband, for failing to provide a good living to
keep his wife,” she said.
She tried staying at home like other women, but was unhappy. When
she consulted her husband, he suggested she go out to work, if this
would make her happy. “I had no idea the job hunt would be
so frustrating. In London, people often preferred the stability
of married women, who did not have late nights out, and who had
higher job commitment because of financial constraints, to single
women. But in Malta employers either dismissed me, blatantly saying
I was married, or came up with the excuse that I was over qualified
for the job, upsetting me very much,” she said.
“Eventually I decided to return to teaching, but despite being
fully qualified, I could only work as a teacher on a part-time basis.
Being married, I was made to feel uncomfortable in the staff, so
I quit the job after only three weeks,” Ms Laiviera said.
However, her next job turned out to be more fortunate, as a UN information
officer with, what is now known as REMPAC. She kept the post for
13 years, where she gained experience and knowledge, and managed
to have a son.
In December 1980, the marriage ban was lifted so married women could
work with the government, with the proviso that they would have
to start at the bottom of the scale.
“This made me think of teaching again, since the hours were
ideal for a mother. In 1989, I re-entered the picture as a teacher,
working as an Assistant Head of a school. In January 1997 I was
transferred to the Secretariat for Women's Rights as a advisor on
Gender Issues. I was later appointed Chairperson for the Commission
for the Advancement of Women, and in 1998, I was made Director of
the then Department for Women's Rights,” she told MaltaToday.
Ms Laiviera got involved in Women's issues, when she returned from
London. She was initiated in women's issues when she joined the
Moviment Emancipazzjoni tal-Mara, which aimed to raise gender issues
in the media. This led her to an eight-year involvement in a women's
sports group. “I was president of the Tigne Sports Association
for two years. I was very active in the Moviment Min-Naha tan-Nisa,
which lobbied for important issues, affecting different areas, such
as family planning clinics, the removal of the marriage ban, lowering
kindergarten age entrance to three years, amendments to family law,
divorce, the amelioration of the plight of separated women and men
and opening of child-care centres,” she said.
Ms Laiviera's career in women's issues led her to membership of
the Commission working on the proposals of the 1985 White Paper,
to amend the family legislation. She was involved in the project
at Evan's Lab, which Min-Naha tan-Nisa physically turned into a
child care centre. In the early 90s, she was a founding member of
the Association of Women for the Mediterranean region, and was General
Secretary for 5 years.
Ms Laiviera read for a Diploma in the Administration and Management
of Education in 1987, at the University of Malta, where she furthered
her education with another Diploma in Political Studies in 1996.
During her first Diploma, she conducted a study on why women and
men work. The results showed that many women work to get out of
the house and socialise. “In many cases, married female factory
workers, worked on a part-time basis because their work is too tiring,”
she added.
From the recent study issued by the Commission for the Advancement
of Women, entitled A Day in Her Life, it emerges that women work
11 hours everyday, caring for others, within the household, Ms Laiviera
said. "In discussing women's issues, particularly at work,
we must differentiate between women of a certain level of education
who can find satisfying work, and those who have tiring jobs, which
are not so satisfying," she commented.
Ms Laiviera spoke at a Malta-EU Information Centre forum, outside
City Gate, Valletta, last Wednesday, dealing with various aspects
of Gender Issues, however, she was disappointed to note that the
attendance to the event was sporadic and poor. "Gender issues
are often considered to be women's domain, and are not give enough
importance, but these issues affect society, because it affects
society's basic fabric the family," she reminded.
Ms Laiviera noted that unfortunately women are interested in these
issue when they face problems, by when, it may be too late. “We
receive numerous calls from separated people with financial problems,
these women have been out of the labour market for some time and
find it difficult to enter again,” she stated.
“The problem is made more serious when they have to provide
for young children, and other family members," she noted. Ms
Laiviera added that women unfortunately face a situation where they
are asked directly about their family background at job interviews,
however she maintains that people should be assessed for what they
really are, regardless of whether they are women or men,” she
continued.
When asked about Women's Day, held yesterday, Ms Laiviera said she
would rather do without it. “ We would not need Women's Day
if women and men are treated as human beings with personal and individual
qualities all year round," she added, pointing out that Women's
Day provided the opportunity to take stock of the past and examine
what direction to take for the future.
The Director of the Department for Women in Society holds that flexibility
at the workplace, is particularly important, since in December 2000,
women totalled a mere 30 per cent of the full-time labour market.
Women's participation in the labour market is important to society,
also since there is a considerable investment in women's education,
with 54 per cent of the student population at University being female.
She related these statistics to the welfare gap, "Malta needs
more people to be productive and contribute to taxes and National
Insurance," she continued.
According to Ms Laiviera, the feminisation of poverty, is an important
aspect, concerning particularly the elderly, disabled women, lone
parents, and separated women struggling for financial independence.
She added that women are not encouraged to open their own businesses
because they are not given enough backing, while other women face
discrimination at work. "Women who work at home, are unfortunately
unrecognised and unpaid, however, they form part of the hidden economy.
The skills gained by caring for their family and home are as valid
as other skills attained at the more formal workplace," she
concluded.
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