Legal Work


The legal program was established at Kayan in 2006, with the goal of increasing Palestinian women’s access to justice, advancing their legal status, and ending rights violations against them within legal and judiciary institutions.

Women’s Rights in the Workplace

 

Kayan works to promote Palestinian women’s rights and status in the workplace and to end sexual harassment in the work place.

Palestinian women are amongst the most economically disenfranchised communities in Israel, with 79% of Palestinian women in Israel currently unemployed (as compared to 39% of Jewish women). Within the workplace, Palestinian women face consistent labor rights violations, especially in the private employment sector. A 2014 survey conducted by Kayan, which aimed to identify the prevalence of labor rights violations against Palestinian women in Israel revealed a disturbing reality. Findings included: 88% of the women reported a salary lower than the minimum wage defined by law, and 60% reported earning 15 NIS per hour (less than 65% of the minimum wage). The lowest salary documented by the research was 5 NIS per hour and the highest was minimum wage. 80% of surveyed women did not receive a salary slip or reported receiving a fictive salary slip, 85% of the women did not receive convalescence pay, 92% reported that their employer did not provide them with any pension fund plan, and 92% reported that they did not receive the paid leave nor sick leave they are entitled to by law. 81% of women reported working overtime, while 68% did not receive any compensation for these extra hours.

It is important to note that Kayan’s approach to women’s rights in the workplace addresses the layered discriminations that Arab women face. These include ethnic discrimination as a national minority in Israel, and gender-based discrimination. As part of the Palestinian minority in Israel, Palestinian women face ongoing barriers to fair employment that are a direct result of State discrimination. For example, poor infrastructure in Palestinian society, a lack of public transportation to and from Palestinian areas, a lack of State subsidized day cares in Palestinian areas, and a lack of industrial zones in Palestinian areas have all contributed to the marginalization of Palestinian women in the workforce. In order to change this reality and promote Palestinian women’s employment status, Kayan works on institutional levels to remove these barriers, and within the society in order to change gender-based norms that inhibit Arab women from receiving fair employment and the full spectrum of their labor rights. 

SOME OF OUR ACTIVITIES FOR WOMEN’S LABOR RIGHTS

01

Awareness-raising

Each year Kayan provides workshops and lectures for women and employers about women’s labor rights. These activities include in-depth and accessible explanations of the laws, the results of rights violations, and methods for achieving labor rights. For workshops with women, Kayan’s staff also include empowerment aspects in order to give women the confidence to demand their rights. After each of these lectures women approach our staff for free legal aid.

SOME OF OUR ACTIVITIES FOR WOMEN’S LABOR RIGHTS

02

Research and publications

Kayan uses research as a method for identifying the major challenges related to Palestinian women’s status in the workplace. This research gets used for advocacy, and for awareness-raising. Furthermore, Kayan publishes research on labor rights in accessible language and in Arabic in order to be used as a resource for women in the grassroots and for employers. To see our research and publications please see the resources section of the website.

SOME OF OUR ACTIVITIES FOR WOMEN’S LABOR RIGHTS

03

Social campaigns

Kayan’s campaigns aim to raise wide-spread social awareness about critical issues facing Palestinian women in the workplace, and to put these issues onto the social agenda. Part of this campaigning entails addressing socially based barriers to Palestinian women’s labor rights. Please visit the resources section of our website to see past materials related to our labor rights campaigns.

SOME OF OUR ACTIVITIES FOR WOMEN’S LABOR RIGHTS

04

Legal Aid Hotline

Kayan provides free legal consultations and aid for Arab women that face labor rights violations. These consultations all take place in the Arabic language, are free, and are given by Arab feminist lawyers. This Arabic feminist legal aid is particularly important, as often Arab women fear to speak up for their rights in front of employers, and cannot afford representation.