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Maternity Protection and the Tunisian Tourism Industry

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Book cover Sustainable Human Resource Management in Tourism

Part of the book series: Geographies of Tourism and Global Change ((GTGC))

Abstract

In many contexts adequate maternity protection is almost non-existent, especially in the tourism-related industries. Maternity protection ensures not only equal access to employment, but also to the continuation of employment; a lack of maternity protection can alienate half of a country’s human resource and perpetuate traditional biological sex roles. Drawing on the stories of women working informally and formally, and in the public and private sectors in the Tunisian tourism industry, maternity protection is presented as a major challenge to the UNWTOs assertion that tourism can aid in the attainment of SDG 5: ‘achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls’ (UNWTO, 2016). Women’s stories highlight the incompatibility of policy with pregnancy, presented here as culturally bound, and tourism.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Middlesex University Dubai, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

    Heather Louise Jeffrey

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  1. Heather Louise Jeffrey
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Correspondence to Heather Louise Jeffrey .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Human Resource Management, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK

    Tom Baum

  2. Department of Human Resource Management, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK

    Ann Ndiuini

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Jeffrey, H.L. (2020). Maternity Protection and the Tunisian Tourism Industry. In: Baum, T., Ndiuini, A. (eds) Sustainable Human Resource Management in Tourism. Geographies of Tourism and Global Change. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-41735-2_10

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