Women working for the BBC have complained they were paid less than men in equivalent jobs and have accused managers of misleading them about their pay to hide widespread gender discrimination at the public broadcaster. The complaints by BBC Women, a group of 170 staff, were sent to parliament’s media committee, which is investigating BBC pay after the corporation was forced to disclose last July that two- thirds of on-air high earners were men and that some were paid far more than female peers. The revelations caused a spate of bad headlines for the BBC and angered many female staff, who demanded equal pay for equal work. The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) has lodged a collective grievance to the BBC on behalf of 121 women. “While individual BBC managers have been supportive, there is still a bunker mentality in some quarters and women have experienced veiled threats made against them when they raised the subject of equal pay,” BBC Women said in written evidence to parliament’s media committee. The lawmakers are due to hear oral evidence on Wednesday from Carrie Gracie, the BBC’s former China editor, who quit this month in protest over being paid less than her male peers . Senior BBC managers, including Director-General Tony Hall, are due to appear before the committee just after Gracie . Funded by a licence fee levied on TV viewers and reaching 95 percent of British adults every week, the BBC is a pillar of the nation’s life, but as such… [Read full story]
Of nearly 2,000-member VOV staff including reporters, editors, technicians, musicians and artists, women account for 40 percent, having made great contributions to the development of VOV over the past years as well as in the current period. To mark the 76th anniversary of the Vietnam Women's Union, the Committee for the Advancement of Women of Radio the Voice of Vietnam (VOV) held a seminar on October 19 to discuss the role of VOV women in the development of broadcasting industry. Speaking at the seminar, VOV Director General Vu Van Hien highlighted the women's efforts in fulfilling their assigned tasks over…... [read more]
NEW YORK: Serena Williams served up a rallying cry for equal pay for black women Monday (Jul 31), decrying that they would have to work on average eight months longer to earn the same as male counterparts in one year.
Serena Williams, shown here at the Costume Institute Benefit in New York on May 1, is using her voice to plead for equal pay for black women. (Photo: AFP/Angela Weiss)
The record-breaking tennis star and world's highest paid female athlete - who has spoken candidly about…... [read more]
Nguyen Thi Ngoc Bich has come to terms with the fact that she may never earn as much as her husband. The 39-year-old accountant in Ho Chi Minh City said, due to the pay gap, she is expected to do most of the housework in the family. “Money talks. I make less money and so I do the chores,” said Binh. This is not a rare story in Vietnam and other Southeast Asian countries, where women generally earn less than men. A recent report by Oxfam found that women and men across Asia continue to experience gaps in status, pay…... [read more]
The Saigon Heat, Vietnam's only professional basketball team, beat the San Miguel Beermen (Philippines) 92-89 at Ho Chi Minh City's Tan Binh Sport Center on Saturday. Despite the great support from the 3,000 home fans, the Heat got off to a rough start and the Beermen took an early lead. But the Heat recovered, and had taken a 24-20 lead by the end of the first quarter. The second quarter was a seesaw battle which saw both teams play well, but the Beermen were able to a take a 46-42 lead into halftime. At the end of the third quarter,…... [read more]
A workshop in Ho Chi Minh City to review efforts to tackle trafficking in women and children heard that 1,500 cases have been uncovered and 2,500 prosecuted in the last 6 years. The two-day seminar, which ended Friday, was held to assess training needs to fight trafficking, which has become an increasingly serious problem. Several thousands of Vietnamese women were lured into becoming prostitutes or foreigner's mistresses, while children were used for inhumane purposes, Colonel Nguyen Manh Te, deputy chief of the Bureau of Civil Crimes, said. The victims were mostly from remote, rural or border areas, Te added. Police…... [read more]
