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Special Economic Zones
remains highly segmented with women crowded in a few industries in low value added, assembly-type operations with conditions of work that include long working hours, impediments to the freedom of association, sexual harassment, and other forms of gender-based discrimination. These conditions have severely limited the gains that could have otherwise been made. Further, with the scaling up and expansion of the SEZ model to incorporate a variety of activities, including information processing, financial services, and logistics among others, the gender dimension of employment in the zones is likely to be affected. In service-oriented SEZs, the nature of work and skill profile of workers is expected to be quite different from the traditional EPZ model, which involves mostly blue-collar work. Women have generally benefited in terms of employment gains from the increasing share of services in output (see GET 2009), but evidence suggests that service activities also tend to be segmented by gender. Mitter (2003, 10–13) finds that women predominate in the low-skilled segments of IT and IT-enabled services in a number of developing countries. Kelkar, Shrestha, and Veena (2002, 70–71) also highlight the segmentation of women in low-skilled jobs in the IT-enabled service industry in India, such as in call centers and medical transcription centers. In a study of firms engaged in high-tech production in the Philippines, McKay (2006, 231) predicts that women will have little access to the high-skilled jobs that are finally being created in the industry as a result of entrenched gender norms. What policy conclusions do we draw from these developments? The policy implications for SEZs can be inferred at two different levels: (1) protecting the rights of all workers in the zone and (2) addressing the various forms of gender-based discrimination that women workers face in particular. Perhaps the most important step in this regard would be to remove existing barriers to the right of freedom of association in SEZs so that workers can engage in collective bargaining and can organize to access the full range of their rights. Because trade unions have traditionally been hostile to the inclusion of gender concerns, this will require a change in their culture and a larger role and voice for women. National labor laws also need to be brought in line with international labor standards to raise standards for all workers in general. Given that zones cover a limited geographic area and generally are governed by a centralized zone authority, they can be used to spearhead innovative labor reforms that can serve as models for the rest of the country. The ILO’s Decent Work Programme, which promotes fundamental