Vatican seminar to discuss challenges facing women in workplace
(Vatican Radio) An international seminar on Women and Work takes place in Rome on December 4th and 5th organised by the Pontifical Council for the Laity. About a hundred participants from across the globe will be discussing the challenges facing professional women trying to balance the demands of their careers and their family life.
As the Council marks the twentieth anniversary of the publication of Saint John Paul II’s Letter to Women, the seminar will be looking at the ongoing issues of a gender pay gap, as well as innovative solutions to help women overcome discrimination in the workplace.
Among those attending the seminar is Donella Johnston who heads the Australian Catholic bishops’ office for women’s participation, based in the capital Canberra. Philippa Hitchen talked to her about her work, in particular in the field of combatting violence against women in the family home…
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Donella says the Australian bishops recognized the challenge of women’s participation in the life of the Church back in the 1990s, conducting a large research project which culminated in the publication of the ‘Woman and Man: One in Christ Jesus’ report in 1999.
The report notes that women out-participate men in all areas of Church life – except for decision making, leadership and ordained ministry. In education, health care and social service, it found that women carry out respectively around 70%, 80% and 90% of the work.
One of the recommendations of the report was the establishment of a commission for Australian Catholic women which was set up in 2000. Donella says she believes the Australian Church was unique in “the magnitude and scope” of its work in this field two decades ago, although she points out the Indian bishops now also have “a remarkable gender policy”. Several goals of the report, have yet to be achieved, she notes, “but the vision is there”.
Donella says that Pope Francis is “a big influence” on her work, especially his call for a “profound theology of women”. She notes that “we have great feminist theologians teaching in Catholic institutions” who are well placed to work with the bishops and the Pope on these issues. She also points to the Pope’s words describing the gender pay gap as “a scandal”, noting that in Australia that gap is 18.8% and rising.
Another area where Donella would like to see the Church playing a stronger role is in combatting domestic or family violence: 2 women a week are dying at the hands of their intimate partners, she says. Recent research has found that key causes of such violence are “gender inequality and rigid gender stereotypes”. The Anglican Church has been discussing this, she says, adding that the Catholic Church could also discuss more about the way rigid stereotyping “influences the way women and girls are seen by men and boys”.
Noting how CEOs of large Australian companies are stepping up to become ‘male champions of change”, Donella asks “how can the men of our Church” speak out more forcefully about violence against women? As a Catholic woman, she says, “I’d really like to hear that voice a little bit more”.