A mother’s rights recognised

A professional mezzo-soprano opera singer was left speechless – or, in this case, tuneless – by the action of her employer, the New York Metropolitan Opera, which dismissed her for a temporary problem of being unable to reach the very highest notes in her singing. This was probably because it involves the muscles of the diaphragm and abdomen that are naturally weak after delivery. What made the dismissal controversial is that it was a temporary issue linked to post-pregnancy. The singer took the Met to court under a battery of laws including the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act and restrictions involving pregnancy discrimination under the New York Human Rights Law.

Isn’t it strange that babies and children are considered the future of humankind and yet, women who bear them and men and women who parent them as a unit, are inevitably given the least support? The very fact that nations pass Pregnancy Fairness laws is a testimony to the fact that we have not grasped the priorities necessary to navigate this essential balancing act.

Yes, women today are more educated and have access to a more varied and enriching career. Instead of locking them out of the workplace, let us change the laws so that women can contribute effectively as caretakers of the family unit as well as in the office.

That is what Bahrain has been doing. We recognise the right of women to work in any career of her choosing but we also support her with a granular approach to childbearing and the first three years. Women in the Kingdom get generous paid pregnancy leave and breastfeeding time off. Women’s education, intellect and workplace progress is celebrated here but not at the expense of family responsibilities.

Now we are slowly coming round to recognizing the importance of fathers too in the nurturing matrix. I want to urge the Bahrain authorities – the government and the MPs – to increase the number of paternity days off. In the same breath, I want young fathers to note that this is meant for them to bond with their infants and help in the caring and not to escape office for a night in coffee houses, leaving the poor new mums holding the diaper! 

(Captain Mahmood Al Mahmood is the Editor-in-Chief of The Daily Tribune and the President of the Arab-African Unity Organisation for Relief, Human Rights and Counterterrorism)