M. van Klaveren, K.G. Tijdens, M. Hughie-Williams and N.E. Ramos Martin
30% of women has experienced sexual harassment at work. Another survey revealed that it is believed
broadly that women should quit their job if they experience sexual harassment from their employer or from
a co-worker (Center Women and Modern World et al 2009).
In 2009, the country was primarily a source and transit point for women, men, and children trafficked
for sexual exploitation and forced labour. The US Dept of State maintains that the risk of women migrants
of being trafficked is increasing, and that young women and girls are usually trafficked through well-or-
ganized international crime networks with powerful national and international connections. Mentioned as
primary destination countries are Turkey and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Domestic monitors recently
reported a growing trend of internal trafficking of women and girls for sexual exploitation, primarily from
regional areas to Baku (ADB 2005; website OECD-SIGI; US Dept of State 2009, 2010). In October 2009,
the Executive Committee of the Azerbaijan Trade Union Confederation (ATUC) discussed how to contrib-
ute to the struggle against human trafficking (InformContact, October-December 2009).
For 2008 the Gender Gap Index of the World Economic Forum ranked Azerbaijan no. 61 of 130
countries.2 For three of the four yardsticks used, low scores were attached to Azerbaijan: though for the
position of women in economic participation and opportunity, the country was ranked very high with a
fourth position,3 for educational attainment the score was no. 91, for health and survival no. 129, while for
political empowerment the country was to be found on the 114th spot. In the lower middle income group
of countries, Azerbaijan took a middle position, just above Ukraine (Hausmann et al 2008). Finally, it is
worth mentioning that the SIGI Gender Equality and Social Institutions Index ranked Azerbaijan 37th of
102 countries in 2008 (website OECD-SIGI).
2.1.3. Prospects
The reverse to Azerbaijan’s economic progress is its growing dependency on exports, in 2008 making
up nearly 70% of its GDP against 23% ten years earlier (OECD 2009). The country has to a considerable
extent been integrated in the world economy, though globalization or transnationality indices do not seem
to take this fully into account.4 In spite of all governmental efforts to diversify the economy, the propensity
of multinational enterprises (MNEs) to invest in extracting the country’s mineral wealth, and the underlying
2 To be included in this index, a country must have data available for a minimum of 12 indicators out of 14 variables; Azerbaijan
had two indicators missing (Hausmann et al 2008, 7). The index ranks economic participation and opportunity; educational
attainment; health and survival, and political empowerment.
3 Mainly because of a no. 5 position worldwide on “wage equality on similar work”, indicating a 16% gender pay gap; though
according to Hausmann et al based on a survey, a questionable outcome (compare our section 2.8.1).
4 For example, on the KOF Globalization Index 2010 Azerbaijan ranked no. 95 of 141 countries on globalisation at large and
no. 89 on economic globalisation, in the latter respect scoring slightly higher than for example the Russian Federation (no. 92)
(KOF Swiss Economic Institute 2010).
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