Kanyi Okeke
Norway’s anti-discrimination ombudsman attacked Qatar Airways after the carrier told women to attend a recruitment day in Oslo wearing short skirts. Men, however, were asked to wear ‘business suits’, with the airline drawing sharp criticism for being sexist.
‘We believe that it is contrary to law that there should be different clothing requirements for men and women,’ Carl Fredrik Riise, an adviser for Norway’s anti-discrimination ombudsman, told Norway’s DN newspaper. ‘It discriminates between applicants on the basis of gender.’
Later Tuesday the advert was changed and both men and women were asked to come to the recruitment event in Oslo dressed in ‘business wear’.
But an advert on Qatar Airway’s website for a similar hiring day in Romania still asked women to come in short skirts, with the option of stockings, according to Norwegian English-language news website The Local.
‘For Ladies: business Suit, knee length skirt (with skin color stockings or no stockings) and short sleeved blouse. Hair neatly tied back with appropriate make up,’ the advert reads.
Males, however, are asked to wear a ‘business suit with shirt and tie and [be] neatly groomed’.
On its website Qatar Airways says that ‘being cabin crew is not just a job but a way of life’. Crew must have a minimum arm reach on tip toes of 212cm, the airline says, and have excellent health and fitness.
