Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights(SRHR) as Rights to Safe working Environment
– Na young, center for Sexual rigHts And Reproductive justicE, SHARE
On April 29, 2020, the Supreme Courts made a historic judgment to acknowledge that children of worker are entitled to workers’ compensation benefits. The case was filed by nurses of Jeju Medical Center who had taken charge of preparing anticancer drugs. Out of fifteen nurses who had gotten pregnant in 2009, four gave birth of babies with congenital heart anomalies and five had miscarriages. The High Court denied these children’s entitlement but the decision was quashed by the Supreme Court. Fetus is a part of the body of its mother during pregnancy, according to the judgment by the Supreme Court, so that the affected child also can be entitled to workers’ compensation insurance benefits if its illness or disorder occurred during pregnancy due to hazardous working environments. The Supreme Court also judged that the child’s entitlement is not denied even after its mother loses employee status nor gives birth, based on the Section 1 of Article 88 of Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act, saying ‘each employee’s entitlement to insurance benefits shall not be extinguished by his/her retirement’.
This judgment is very meaningful since it relieved the pain of workers who had to file a civil suit for damages when their children have illnesses or disorders due to workplace hazards. It is also important that the potential harm of hazardous working environments to both women workers and their children is recognized by this judgment. However, lots of things are still left to be discussed in terms of amendment of the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act, the criteria of entitlement to insurance benefits, and so on. That is because the rights and entitlement have been discussed from a limited viewpoint of ‘maternity protection’ without considering the characteristics and differences of working environments according to gender. Discussions on how to deal with reproductive health problems other than pregnancy or childbirth and whether children’s health problems originated from damage to reproductive health of male workers can be entitled to insurance benefits have not been done. Moreover, can’t we extend the meaning beyond a mere compensation to health damage of children towards their own rights to life? What are the significance and meaning to shift the viewpoint on workplace injury and to secure safe working environment in terms of ‘Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights’ and ‘Reproductive Justice’?
Every Worker has Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights
Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights(SRHR) is a concept integrating sexual health, sexual rights, reproductive health, and reproductive rights, which can be defined as ‘right to health and autonomy regarding matters concerning one’s body, sexuality, and reproduction, for whole life of every individual, free of violence, coercion, discrimination, and stigma; right to enjoy sexual pleasure; right to unhindered access to a whole range of relevant facilities, goods and information; and right to make free and responsible decisions and choices’. ‘Reproduction’ in this context does not mean only procreation such as pregnancy and childbirth but ‘maintaining sustainability of the whole process of life which affects the individuals and the community interactively’. UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights states “the right to sexual and reproductive health is an integral part of the right to health enshrined in article 12 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights” in its General comment No. 22 (2016) on the right to sexual and reproductive health. If sexual health, sexual rights, reproductive health, and reproductive rights should be protected as rights, works for social justice in political, economic, social, and cultural contexts against discrimination, inequality, and exploitation to protect these rights can be called as ‘Reproductive Justice’ movement.
The rights to safe working environments has been discussed within a viewpoint of labor rights. However, this right could could also be explained as one of the sexual and reproductive rights if it is acknowledged that every worker has the rights on sexual and reproductive health. Because working in unstable or exploitative or unhealthy working condition would make it difficult to go out with somebody, to enjoy sexual pleasure, to maintain a partnership or make a family, to keep reproductive health, to have safe contraception, pregnancy, childbirth, and abortion, and to keep up with requirements for care as well as to maintain a stable life.
However, Korean society has not considered these issues as the matter of rights but just has only tried to satisfy the productivity goal of the nation, and then has treated workers’ bodies as just a means to control populations for maintaining that productivity. As a result, in 1970’s and 80’s, the era of family-planning, double duties to manage frugal living of a family by giving birth to smaller number of babies as well as to contribute to the economy of both the nation and the family by providing cheap workforce were given to female workers while a role as breadwinner was given to male workers. Then in 2000’s, when the full-scale measures on low birth rate and the aging society were initiated, both male and female workers were forced to bear poor working environments characterized by insecurity and multi-layered subcontracting, and then the burden of childbirth and childcare on women workers became heavier. If we discuss rights to decent working condition and safe working environment as rights to sexual and reproductive health, workers’ bodies and lives which have been considered merely as a tool of national economic growth and population control would be filled with rights to sustainable life, rights to make equal and autonomous partnership and family, rights to care, and rights to health and autonomy on their own body.
center for Sexual rigHts And Reproductive justicE(SHARE) proposed ‘the Framework Act on Sexual and Reproductive Rights’ as an alternative bill after decriminalization of abortion in 2021. Chapter 13 of the Bill is about ‘protection of sexual and reproductive rights in workplaces’. Article 46 of this Bill says ‘①Workers shall have sexual and reproductive rights, which shall not be violated on grounds that the person is an employee; ②Sexual and reproductive health of workers shall not be violated for any work-related reason; ③Workers shall not be excluded from work or discriminated in employment in the name of protection of sexual and reproductive health’.
The subject of rights guaranteed by the law is ‘everyone’. Rights to safety and health in the workplace should be guaranteed for ‘everyone’. Therefore, rights to be protected from workplace hazards to sexual and reproductive health is not for women workers in the name of ‘maternity protection’ but for all workers. Maternity protection and any other causes should not be used for false justification of exclusion women workers from specific tasks or discrimination them in employment. Also, the safe working environment should be achieved by active measures to eliminate hazards in the workplaces. It is the responsibility of the state, local government, and all enterprises to protect and support these rights and to provide relevant education.
Let’s Demand Rights to Safe Work through SRHR
For more than one year after the Supreme Court’s decision on the claims of nurses of Jeju Medical Center, the amendment bill of the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act reflecting the Court decision had not been dealt with by the National Assembly of Korea. On 20th May 2021, Supporters of Health and Rights of People in Semiconductor Industry, SHARPS, filed workers’ compensation insurance claims for three workers in semiconductor companies on damage to the health of their children. The decision-making process was initiated quickly, thanks to the struggle by workers of Jeju Medical Center. However, it took a while to achieve amendment of the Bill. Finally in December 2021, the bill was passed by the National Assembly leaving some limitations behind. The demand of this struggle can be further expanded with a few points as below.
First, the definition of reproductive health damage of workers from harmful working environments should not be confined as problems at the period of pregnancy or childbirth. Since Jeju Medical Center cases, entitlement of children to workers’ compensation insurance benefits has been discussed mainly focusing on maternity protection of pregnant women workers. However, the impact of hazardous working environments should be acknowledged not only for the period of pregnancy or childbirth, but for the overall daily working environment. Therefore, general sexual health, menstruation, abortion, pregnancy, and proper health protection for different gender identities should be considered too. Integrated concept of rights to working environments which can protect these aspects should be acknowledged.
Secondly, whether a work environment is hazardous should be decided based on understanding of gender discriminatory structure and space of work and should be acknowledged in more diverse and comprehensive way. Definition of hazardous working environment affecting sexual health, menstruation, abortion, pregnancy and childbirth should not be limited as some specific toxic substances or hazardous factors. Because there are other factors affecting workers’ sexual and reproductive health such as the condition of workplace, employment status, resting area, washroom, break time, vacation, overwork, stress, and so on. Especially when the decision is related to women workers, it should also be considered that workplaces are mostly designed for male workers. In addition, it is important for the industry to change the traditional attitude which does not recognize labor, such as cleaning and cooking, in which women are mainly engaged as labor.
Thirdly, reproductive health of male workers as well as women should be considered as evidence in decision-making on entitlement of children to workers’ compensation insurance benefits. Reproductive health of unmarried or non-childbirth or gender-minority workers should also be treated seriously, because sexual and reproductive health and rights should be guaranteed for every worker regardless of pregnancy or childbirth. Researches on influence of employment and working environment on sex and health of unmarried or non-childbirth or gender-minority workers should be done because those need special consideration. Campaigns to protect their rights are also necessary.
Lastly, I want to point out that children’s health problems due to the hazardous working environment of their parents should be regarded as one related to their own rights. So far, it has been regarded as an issue of damage to pregnant women workers and lots of women workers felt sorry for their children while they struggled for recognition as occupational illnesses while those children with congenital handicaps or diseases could not have positions as the parties demanding their rights. However, once a child is born, it has its own rights as an independent individual and it should be able to speak for its own rights. Moreover, issues on hazardous working environment affecting sexual and reproductive health of workers can be understood as ones on sexual and reproductive health and rights of workers’ children. I hope this fight does not just remain as complaints by parents of victims from occupational reproductive health damage but expands to a fight that the affected children themselves can become the subjects of their own rights. And, I hope to be with more comrades in this fight so that we can see everyone take it for granted that sexual and reproductive rights are workers’ rights.
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