Family reconciliation is very difficult for working mothers, and unfortunately it is even more difficult in the military field, where be a woman and a mother, it is in many cases grounds of discrimination. This is reported by a legionary, mother of a two-year-old girl, who claims to suffer harassment after having asked permission to take care of her daughter.
The soldier requested permission not to attend the parade on December 8, having no one to take care of her daughter. He then claimed a day of his own affairs to which the military is entitled, but he was denied. After that incident he claims to have been the target of constant harassment by his superiors. Today we have known that the head of the Army of Earth decided activate in this case the protocol against sexual and sexual harassment in the Armed Forces.
What happened on December 8?
The soldier, assigned to the Third John of Austria of the Legion, enjoys a working day reduction of one hour a day to take care of his two-year-old daughter (with the proportional decrease in their salaries), a right that all the military have in charge of children under 12 years old.
The legionary was summoned to parade in the acts of the patron saint of Infantry on December 8 at the base of Viator (Almería). Being a holiday, she had no one to leave the girl with, since her husband, also a soldier, requested permission and was refused, and her mother was convalescent of cancer. So he claimed a day of his own affairs, which was denied and on December 7, having no choice, he informed his superior that, feeling very sorry, I wouldn't go to the parade.
When he arrived at the barracks on Monday, the sergeant told him that what he had done is an absolute disloyalty, that they were going to arrest her, and sanctioned her with three days fine for missing the celebration of the Immaculate. In addition, he recriminated:
“What you have done has no name, it is an absolute disloyalty. If you go from coming to a parade, what will you do when there is a war? If you were civil today I would throw you out and your daughter would starve to death. The privileges are for people who meet, so forget about studying for the course. ”
The reduction of working hours is a right of working parents, and also of military mothers. In the army, this permit exempts them from participating in guards, maneuvers and other acts, such as this could have been, but their enjoyment is "subject to the needs of the service."
His boss considers that attending this act was part of "service needs", which take precedence over the right to family conciliation, and that "his absence from a relevant act meant an injury to discipline" that must be sanctioned.
According to the statement, the captain told him that he could not consent to his authority being overlooked, and that he should have done as another legionary, who came to the base with an eight-month-old baby bundled up in a blanket and left him in the stands with A stranger while parading. (How? If true, this should be investigated.)
Constant harassment
As of that day, the legionary denounces have suffered constant harassment. As he has stated to El País, “almost daily (his superior) threw him some reprimand in front of his companions, encouraging them to isolate her”, he was entrusted with tasks to prevent him from attending the corporal course and he was accused of having reduced working hours, such as If it were a prize.
The soldier appealed the sanction that was applied, which the captain did not like at all. She was told "they can arrest her for anything."
In a letter sent by the soldier to the defense minister, Dolores de Cospedal, notes:
“I was never a bad soldier until I was a mother, until I requested a reduction in working hours to take care of my daughter, until I asked for the rights I have as a military to be respected.”
Protocol against harassment: activated
Now, the head of the Army, General Francisco Javier Varela, has ordered to activate the protocol against sexual harassment and by reason of sex in the case of the legionary.
This action protocol is inspired by the principle of equality and non-discrimination based on gender and sex, and in respect for the personal dignity and work of every military, contained in Organic Law 9/2011, of July 27, on the rights and duties of the members of the Armed Forces.
In the Practical Guide for the Victim of Harassment published by the Ministry of Defense a list of behaviors that could evidence the existence of sexually harassing behavior, among them we find:
Derogatory comments about women or values considered feminine, and, in general, sexist comments about women or men based on gender bias
Demerit of professional worth due to maternity or paternity
Hostile behavior towards those who are men or women exercise rights of reconciliation of personal, family and professional life
Undervaluation, contempt or isolation of those who do not behave according to the roles socially assigned to their sex
It is unfortunate that our military women have to deal daily with discrimination situations like this because of being mothers.
Photos | Twitter and Gtres
Via | The country
In Babies and more | Reconciliation of work and family life: a long way to go
