The technological boom of the 21^st century changed life irrevocably but it also obliterated the difference between what used to be male and female professions. “Now gender no longer matters, what does matter are the work skills one invests in the prosperity of the company,” says Plamen Tolev, manager at a Bulgarian-German software company. As he puts it, the question whether women have a place in the IT sector has been answered long ago – in favour of equality. In his words, what latter-day employers want is for each member of their team to be capable individuals with a vivid personality. No international company would ever categorize its employees according to “gender”, “nationality”, “religion” etc.

Most managers agree that they select their employees according to their abilities and not gender. Many women in Bulgaria would deny ever having been placed in a position of inequality with men at the office. Yet, according to official data, the salaries women receive are around 20 percent below those of men. The tendency persists of households, whose bread-earners are women being 25-30 percent poorer and this has prompted demographic policy experts to talk about a “feminization of poverty” in Bulgaria.

Each year there is a growing number of complaints by women lodged at the Commission for Protection against Discrimination. Most often than not, the grievances are against employers who refuse to appoint women after a certain age, women who are pregnant or women with many children. There are instances of working women lodging sexual harassment complaints. Others are given additional work that is not adequate to their job description. The most blatant instance is that of a flute player at the city orchestra in the town of Lovech who was obligated to work as a…cleaner in the rehearsal hall, the explanation being that she was the only woman among the musicians. Genoveva Tisheva, manager of the Bulgarian Gender Research Foundation can adduce hundreds of examples of such instances of discrimination of women by employers.

“What prompted us to take a closer look at the position of women on the Bulgarian labour market was the planned pension reform because once our careers are over we all hope to acquire a well-earned pension,” Genoveva Tisheva says. “What suggests that women are discriminated against at an earlier age is the fact that on the narrowing labour market, women are finding it more and more difficult to find a job and are left in isolation for longer periods of time compared to men. They work in conditions that are less advantageous in terms of the work load-payment ratio. Age discrimination is widespread as well – though they may have the certificate and qualification required, employers are reluctant to appoint women over 40-45. The reason – their appearance does not live up to the employers’ expectations. Even in job ads, there are employers who describe what an applicant should look like, especially in the services. Complaints of exploitative working conditions become more and more frequent once women reach an age when they have to provide for their families. It is public knowledge that in the clothing industry, for example, the working conditions provided by foreign employers are atrocious, yet supervisory authorities have been doing nothing. Making the retirement age the same for men and women, as is the aim of the pension reform will, in our view, lead to even greater discrimination of women. Accumulating 37 years of service in order to retire on a pension will prove impossible for a great many women in Bulgaria.”

But the problem goes beyond that. Even when discrimination at work has been proven, women refuse to initiate legal proceedings to uphold their rights. One such case – that of Elka Sharbanova from Rousse was given extensive coverage by the media. After an investigation into her complaint, the Commission for Protection against Discrimination ruled that her dismissal was an act of direct gender discrimination, yet the employer has not been issued a writ to this moment. According to Genoveva Tisheva women who dare pursue their rights are blacklisted by employers, especially in small towns and villages which automatically means they are blackballed.