Affirmative action in the fire safety industry

Kiambu County is one of the Counties in Kenya that has at least five fire sub - stations spread across the county. However a recent study by a scholar Mr. Lango, revealed that affirmative action in the fire department of the county government is something the County government would want to take seriously since it has not been implemented as per constitutional threshold which requires one third of the team to be disadvantaged gender and in this case the women. In Thika for example, the sub-county fire department has only two ladies out of a population of about 37. This is no only acceptable but also states that the gains a department get by giving an equal opportunity to the opposite sex is not enjoyed.

The fallacy

Firefighting has been known to be an -all -male profession due to the aspect of paramillitary training involved and women are considered the lesser sex. In Africa, women have for along time been considered lesser being and professions like engineering, paramilitary, and the like of firefighting are considered not female professions. A woman in a mans' profession was considered out of place and in most instances would never be married as tradition considered them to be competing with men. It is important however to note that this has changed and with countries like Kenya ensuring that women are given equal opportunity by the new constitution enacted in 2008 giving women equal opportunities in all public appointment and private and public job recruitment.

The challenges

Since women have only recently begun to be formally considered firefighters, there have been many difficult adjustments for the fire service, which is a practice steeped in tradition, formalized, para-military relationships and discrimination.

Facilities

One major hurdle to entrance into firefighting for women was the lack of facilities. The immediate problem of sleeping quarters and bathing areas had to be solved before women could participate fully in firefighting as an occupation and as a culture. Communal showers and open bunk halls were designed for men only. Today, although most stations are now designed to accommodate firefighters of both genders, some female firefighters still face issues related to their gender.

Protective gear

One of the greatest difficulties experienced by most women in the fire service is ill-fitting protective gear. Gear designed for men often will not fit correctly. In an environment where uncovered skin can be almost instantly covered in full-thickness burns, it is essential that protective gear fit properly.

Discrimination

According to a study at Cornell University, "the under-representation of women in firefighting is an alarming inequity that needs to be immediately addressed,” said Francine Moccio, director of the institute and co-author of the report, “A National Report Card on Women in Firefighting,” which was presented at the International Association of Women in Fire and Emergency Services meeting, April 24, in Phoenix, Arizona. “Women are not getting recruited and hired because of an occupational culture that is exclusionary and unequal employment practices in recruiting, hiring, assigning and promoting women generally – and women of color in particular – in fire service,” Moccio added.

Sexual dimorphism

According to the publication LA Weekly, "Firefighters pull heavy lengths of hose, climb stairs while wielding giant power tools like chain saws, and lift 180-pound, 35-foot wooden ladders... Firefighters' physicians say that a human expected to pull the heaviest hose lines must weigh at least 143 pounds," and some women go through extensive training, sometimes paid for by the hiring municipality, prior to beginning actual training in a firefighting academy.
There have been occasional charges of some departments lowering standards so that they could hire more women. In 2005, Laura Chick (the LA City Controller) stated in a report that Fire Chief Bamattre lowered physical requirements for female recruits and ordered that women be passed even if they failed their tests.

Sexual harassment

In a survey conducted by Women in the Fire Service in 1995, 551 women in fire departments across the U.S were asked about their experiences with sexual harassment and other forms of job discrimination. Eighty-eight percent of fire service women responding had experienced some form of sexual harassment at some point in their fire service careers or volunteer time. Nearly seventy percent of the women in the survey said they were experiencing ongoing harassment at the time of the study. Of the 339 women who said they had complained about harassment, only a third (115 women) listed only positive outcomes: investigating/taking care of the problem, and disciplining the harasser. Twenty-six percent said they were retaliated against for reporting the incident.

 

By B. Lango, A research student at the University of Nairobi