For women, there’s a bit of good news on the international front: Harvey Weinstein is finally found guilty. In global news headlines, concerns surrounding women at the workplace, attention is on the Weinstein case as well as Michael Bloomberg’s offer to release female employees from three non-disclosure agreements.

These appalling situations have come to light under the #MeToo movement. They highlight a shift in public opinion and there is hope the law changes the way it addresses gender discrimination and sexual allegations. Wall Street Journal’s Laura Kusisto (referring specifically to the Weinstein verdict) explains that factors which would have jeopardised a conviction before (such as the victims having to maintain cordial relationships with Weinstein even after his attacks), no longer hold the same currency today; the courts and the people in general are beginning to acknowledge that such complications do not invalidate the fact that misconduct occurred.

These issues turned our minds towards gender issues in the palm oil sector and its plantations. While rather distant and very different from the elements present above, there is concern about systemic issues and the discriminatory treatment of women at work. Our preliminary research into the matter revealed some issues at the estate and farm level:

1. Women have been largely hired as temporary workers and casual day labourers. Lacking permanent employment status, many female workers do not have pensions and other benefits including maternity leave, and they are vulnerable to sudden termination.

2. Field work is still largely gender segregated, especially since a fresh fruit bunch of palm oil can weight 20-30kg and mechanisation is limited. Women are generally given less physically demanding tasks: spreading fertilisers and spraying pesticides. Many female workers are exposed to harmful chemicals and there is concern about the adequacy of personal protection equipment and use compliance.

3. Many women (and occasionally even their children, but this should only be in their spare time after school), help their husbands, who are plantation workers tasked with collecting fruit bunches, to reach their husbands’ daily collection targets and bonuses. The work that these women may be largely unpaid (an example otherwise is the ‘Mama card’ in PNG where women earn on loose fruits collection).

Many key plantation companies have taken major steps to address these problems. (Ask us if you’d like to know more about the move to estate level gender committees and more). The position of women in palm oil is similar to the situation faced by women in other agriculture segments. There are systemic issues, but this is no longer an acceptable excuse. Only time will tell when more women workers gain more equitable outcomes in terms of permanent work status, job risks, pay and pensions.