International Day for Women in Maritime; “Mobilizing Networks for Gender Equality”.

Today is recognized across the world as International Day for Women in Maritime. The day is being recognized under the theme “Mobilizing Networks for Gender Equality”. First established in 2021, the day celebrates women in the industry and is intended to promote the recruitment, retention and sustained employment of women in the maritime sector. The Belize Port Authority held an event this afternoon where several women were awarded for their work in the field.

Darlin Gaitan

Darlin Gaitan, Ag. Ports Commissioner, Belize Port Authority

“I think we face similar issue as in other sectors that have gender barriers such as harassment, unequal pay, the glass ceiling that is ever so present. When you look at the data you can see that the opportunities, the window of opportunities as you go higher up decrease overtime. So, that clearly indicates there is an issue. There isn’t lack of female talent, but there is a lack of female opportunities or opportunities that should be for both male and female. So, the glass ceiling is ever present in this sector. We will really need to look at the data, but for example for the various agencies we have seen a lot of female participation because it is a very diverse sector. We have shipping agents, a lot of females. We have the maritime administration which has a lot of females. The Port Authority also has a lot of female, almost forty percent females. So, I do believe there is a level of interest for the sector because it is a very dynamic sector and so it should appeal to females as well. For the awardees, we are awarding the eight members of the WIMAC which we are promoting the association and so because they signed up for it, that indicates they are interested in the subject matter, wants to know more and wants to work towards creating better opportunities for women.”