In the month of International Workers' Day, we reflect on the inequalities experienced by cis women workers in the labor and professional field and how this impacts those who are in situations of violence.

The growing participation of women in paid employment in recent decades has exposed the tension between the times involved in domestic and care work and the demands of the labor market, giving rise to the so-called "triple working day" for women. The unequal distribution of productive and reproductive work according to gender has a significant impact on women's poverty, in addition to being historically one of the greatest sources of inequality, if not the original one.

As a consequence of the imposed female dedication to domestic and care work, there is an unequal insertion in the labor market. There is much evidence of it. When analyzing the maternity wage gap, women with children earn less than women without children throughout Latin America. The activity rate, which reflects the desire to participate in the labor market, is lower for women, with this difference widening with respect to men as there are more children in these households. The unemployment rate, higher for women, is also an indicator of this unequal insertion. When they do find a job, the inequities are expressed in that, on average, they have lower wages than men around the world, while also doing work related to domestic and care tasks.

All these factors are intensified in the lives of women who are in situations of violence. They are gradually losing their autonomy and this is expressed, among other ways, in the progressive isolation, in the abandonment of their jobs under threats or harassment from their partners, in the loss of their own income and the exclusive dedication to raising and caring for their children. the children Many women come to Shalom Bait in this context. Part of our work seeks to make visible how economic violence is combined and strengthened with this structural inequality. We accompany them in the search for strategies that lead them to the exit. Returning to working life can be part of the recovery of autonomy, managing one's own time and making decisions.

In the month of International Workers' Day, our commitment is to continue fighting against inequalities and violence that affect the autonomy of women in all its forms. And also, given its unfair historical assessment, we say that caring is work and that it deserves a social and economic assessment according to how essential it is to sustain our societies.