Storm in Belgium over Bernard Clerfayt, Minister of Labor in the Brussels region. According to the Belgian politician, female unemployment in the country is due to the “Mediterranean model” of Italian, Turkish and Moroccan women. «Many women still follow a Mediterranean model, whether they are of Italian, Moroccan or Turkish origin. It’s a family model where the man works and the woman stays at home to take care of the children,” Clerfayt told the Ln24 television station. “It’s a reality. This also applies to native Italians. I encourage changing these mentalities because everyone is better off working. The emancipation of women also means that they have the right to have a job», he continued with other phrases to turn pale.
The statements by the regional minister, a member of the independent French-speaking Federalist Democratic center party, sparked strong protests from the left among socialists and ecologists, above all due to the fact that the first two foreign communities in the capital were Moroccans and Italians. “It is unacceptable and defamatory – thundered the socialist deputy Fadila Laanan – I think of all these women who look for work and are discriminated against, these single mothers who struggle on a daily basis and are referred to their origins by the minister”.
Also criticized by the Minister of the Environment, Zakia Khattabi, of Moroccan origin: “Seriously, which cliché to start with? What is the Mediterranean model? And, above all, turning a blind eye to objective structural reasons is mind-boggling,” he tweeted with the hashtag shame. The local minister, after the criticism, reiterated his position: “The numbers confirm what I say. Reporting a fact is not stigmatizing. And I need not apologize for the distortion of my remarks by some political parties. This does not change my determination to work towards the empowerment of all and continue to improve the employment rate for women in the Brussels region. Indeed, the employment rate of women is lower than that of men, despite the higher level of education. This is the case across Belgium, but the difference is greatest in the Brussels region (10 percentage points difference), followed closely by the province of Hainaut (9.5 percentage points difference). This statistical discrepancy can be explained, in particular, by a lower participation rate of women in the labor market. Not a step back and more controversies to come.
Source: IL Tempo
Emma Fitzgerald is an accomplished political journalist and author at The Nation View. With a background in political science and international relations, she has a deep understanding of the political landscape and the forces that shape it.
