Skopje, 13 March 2023 (MIA) – Gender equality is necessary to establish sustainable development in a society, and only if we all have equal rights and access to those rights in all social spheres, we can move forward. However, the commitments to achieve certain societal values have results when the public is educated and awareness raised for various target groups, Minister of Labor and Social Policy Jovanka Trenchevska told Monday's panel discussion on discrimination against female medical workers. 

The discussion was part of a first-time campaign by the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy titled “Loud and bold”.

“Whenever healthcare and healthcare workers are mentioned, it’s in the context of their legal obligation to care for the sick, but it’s imperative that they realize their rights by securing a safe work environment for themselves and their coworkers by eliminating gender based violence, any kind of workplace harassment, sexism and other forms of discrimination and non-tolerable violence,” the Minister said.

She added that the Law on Prevention and Protection against Discrimination was adopted in order to secure the principle of equality and the prevention of and protection against discrimination.

“This law is also applicable in healthcare and health insurance, but more importantly, the law gives access to protection against potential discrimination. In accordance with the law, an anti-discrimination commission was formed, which is responsible for applying this law and proving possible discrimination based on the criteria determined by this law such as race, skin color, nationality or ethnicity, gender, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, being part of a marginalized group, language, education, etc.,” the Minister said.

She encouraged the attendees to be loud and bold and report any kind of potential discrimination, harassment and attempted violence. dk/nn/