…women advocates urge caution against move to ban night security work for single moms

IT may be a caring gesture to propose no night work for single mothers in the local security industry, but that idea does not sit well with the reality of things, women’s rights activists have indicated.

Minister within the Ministry of Social Protection, Keith Scott, is proposing the eventual elimination of mandatory policy that compels single mothers to work late-night shifts in private security. In a public missive Monday, Scott restated his unrelenting intent, “to minimise in the first instance, and eventually eliminate night work for single mothers within the private security industry.”

Some activists are not buying this, however. Co-founder of the women and children advocacy group Red Thread, Karen De Souza, told the Guyana Chronicle that the statements being made by the minister sounds good on the surface, but will require a deeper strategy to sincerely address the concerns and well-being of single mothers.
“It is not enough to adequately represent the cause for these single mothers by just saying they should not work at night without first saying the following possibilities that exist.”

De Souza offered that along with the minister’s statement, should be those that speak to better wages, improved public assistance and increased education opportunities for single mothers, as well as other citizens in need of such a service. De Souza declared that advocacy for single mothers would be better served if there is an earnest fight in improving the minimum wage.

Nicole Cole, Commissioner on the Rights of the Child Commission, Women and Gender Equality Commission and a women’s rights advocate, also called on Scott to declare the provision being put in place in light of the support to not have single mothers work the late-night security shift. “Who will support these women who are single moms?” she asked.
Cole, who is a single mother herself, related that the plight of female security guards has been researched by the social work unit at the University of Guyana and it would be fitting for the labour department to work with researchers and persons experienced in the related area to come up with feasible solutions to the matter.

Cole had also given a presentation in relation to the matter when the labour department held public consultations. She said she had proposed that government assist single mothers who work at nights by subsidising night-care services and not to eliminate in total, women working night shifts in the security sector, because it is their right to do so. Cole reiterated that there exists academic research on the matter and it should be taken into consideration.

The proposition to pursue a paradigm shift in the working arrangements for single mothers on the private security platform was made at a seminar hosted by Minister Scott in August. The minister had first recognised what was described as elderly, and in many cases, vulnerable persons working in the security field and later addressed the danger associated with having women, many being single mothers, working late security shifts, in some cases alone and in desolate locations. Scott has called on the support of his colleagues and other senior government functionaries to take all feasible steps to give efficacy to the initiative. These steps, he mentioned, should include contracts for the provision of private security services providing for the exclusion of single mothers from night work.

The labour department has noted however that whatever policies are developed and implemented, they should not run counter to the individual desire of a single mother who may elect to work at nights. In other words, “they should not be structurally compelled to do night work.” The labour department says the proposition offered for single mothers is intended to promote the interest and safety of the family unit.