Importance of women's political empowerement - Gurmai Zita

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Britta Thomsen Importance of women's political empowerment The importance of political empowerment of women Europe faces the biggest crisis since the end of the Second World War. In this time of crisis we of course focus on bringing our economy back on track, but we must also focus on preventing a social crisis. It is a well known fact, that when the economy is struck down by a crisis, the highest price is paid by the most vulnerable sectors of society. We know that women are more affected by poverty than men. Women receive lower salaries than men and do not have the same access to high level positions in society. The Commission's 2010 annual report on gender equality states that women on average earn between 14-17 percent less than men. And we also know that especially single mothers and elderly women are at high risk of poverty. Women's low income and exposure to poverty is linked to the situation on the labour market. Women are more likely to work on a part-time contract. They also need to give birth to children and is still seen as the primary care person. Women depend on access to child care and nurseries to be able to choose a more time-consuming career. In addition to this, women's pension is often reduced compared to men's because of the part time contracts and maternity leave. In other words, there is still a lot we need to change in order to achieve more gender equality in the European society. In that aspect it is a great concern that only 23 percent of national parliamentary seats are held by women. Not to say, that men cannot or will not change the reality of women today. But we must strive to achieve more diversity both at political level and at business level. This diversity is also highly important for a thriving democracy. At the overall level we must also discuss and confront cultural stereotypes. We still can observe how the competences of female politicians are still doubted especially by the media. In addition to that, female politicians often have to answer questions about their private life for example regarding how they combine family life with a political career. Men are rarely asked the same questions. It would be more relevant also to judge female politicians on their competences and acts the same way we judge male politicians. Women play a great role in that aspect. Sometimes women themselves pursue and maximize the cultural stereotypes. 93
94 The importance of political empowerment of women The above underlines the great importance of strengthening gender equality at a European and at a global level especially during these times of crisis. We must promote women’s representation in politics as candidates and voters. We also need to promote the career opportunities of women. We need to adopt legislation that promotes gender mainstreaming and gender equality. But it is still necessary to protect women through legislation for instance from exploitation like human trafficking and prostitution. To promote women's position on the labour market we must also make regulations regarding maternity leave. The European Parliament adopted a modern and ambitious position on the maternity leave directive guarantying all European women the right to 20 weeks of fully paid leave and two weeks paternity leave for the father - also with full payment. Unfortunately the Council is still blocking the directive so the situation still remains in a deadlock. In Denmark, the centre-left wing government is preparing a law that earmarks one third of the parental leave to the father after the Icelandic model. Only if we encourage families to share the burden, we can break down the stereotype of women as the primary care person in families. Hence that will improve the family-work balance, improve the rights of the father and help women's participation on the labour market, women's carrier opportunities and diminish the gender pay gap. I would like to make one final point regarding women empowerment and that relates to the lack of female representation in decision-making. It is a fact that financial and political power is concentrated in boards and other decision-making arenas. If the women are not there they do not have any influence on the important decisions that affect half of the population. Therefore it is crucial that we take action on this as well. Different quota models have already been introduced in several European countries, and now we are waiting on Commissioner Viviane Reding to make a move. Legislation is the only way forward if we want anything to happen. We have for a very long time impatiently watched businesses talk about volunteer measures to get more women into the boards and executive positions. But nothing happens. It is time for political action if we want a more gender-balanced Europe where women are recognised as equally competent decision-makers as men. We all want a prosperous and socially balanced Europe. For that to happen we need to keep fighting for women's rights to be heard and participate in the society on an equal level with men. It is all about working in the best interest of the next generation. More information: http://www.brittathomsen.dk/
Page 1 and 2:
Importance of women’s political e
Page 3 and 4:
Importance of women’s political e
Page 5 and 6:
4 Contents Rovana PLUMB Importance
Page 8 and 9:
Daša Šašić Šilović Foreword o
Page 10:
Zita Gurmai Member of the European
Page 13 and 14:
12 Foreword of the publisher backla
Page 16 and 17:
Besima Boric Importance of women's
Page 18:
Importance of women's political emp
Page 22 and 23:
Sylvie Guillaume Women’s empowerm
Page 24:
Page 28 and 29:
Zita Gurmai Importance of women's p
Page 30 and 31:
Page 32:
Edit Herczog Member of the European
Page 35 and 36:
34 Political empowerment of women t
Page 38 and 39:
Mija Javornik Importance of women's
Page 40:
Page 44 and 45: Sonja Lokar Importance of women's p
Page 46 and 47: Importance of women's political emp
Page 48: Sanja Major Adviser, City Office fo
Page 51 and 52: 50 Being a young woman in Croatia t
Page 54 and 55: Thomas Maes Importance of women's p
Page 56: Importance of women's political emp
Page 60 and 61: Kaysa Penny Importance of women's p
Page 62: Rovana Plumb Member of the European
Page 65 and 66: 64 Importance of women's political
Page 68: Professor Dr.h.c.Christa Randzio-Pl
Page 71 and 72: 70 Women in Politics political solu
Page 74: Brigita Schmögnerová former Vice
Page 77 and 78: 76 Women’s voice to be heard The
Page 80: Judit Tánczos Policy Advisor, Foun
Page 83 and 84: 82 Forever assistants? Challenges o
Page 86: Patrizia Toia Member of the Europea
Page 89 and 90: 88 Greater equality for all If we a
Page 92: Britta Thomsen Member of the Europe
Page 98 and 99: Attila Benedek - Márta Bonifert Im
Page 102 and 103: Closing remarks Importance of women
Page 104 and 105: Annex Importance of women's politic
Page 106 and 107: Dan JØRGENSEN Denmark Socialdemokr
Page 108 and 109: António Fernando CORREIA DE CAMPOS
Page 110 and 111: Richard HOWITT United Kingdom Labou
Page 114 and 115: Annex II Charts and figures Women i
Page 118 and 119: Republic of Korea Importance of wom
Page 128 and 129: Gender quotas in the EU Source: Der
Page 130: CEE Network for Gender Issues The C
show all

Importance of women's political empowerement - Gurmai Zita

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?