The gender agenda

Any discussion of gender equality, especially in the developed world, runs the risk of becoming entangled in arguments about the differences between men and women, writes Sarah Collins

The statistics bear these differences out. “Women are paid 16 per cent less than men in the world, on average, according to a new ITUC report; for every 100 boys out of school in the developing world, says Brenda King of the European economic and social committee, there are 133 girls in the same position; and in EU member states, women parliamentarians are on average a 23 per cent minority. So what constructive conclusions can be drawn from highlighting these differences? A series of experts, officials and civil society representatives turned out in force in advance of international women’s day to look into it.

The commission had a very prominent face, with Vladimir Špidla, Ján Figel’, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, Margot Wallström and Viviane Reding all sharing their differing perspectives – to largely female audiences, however. According to Špidla and Figel’, the way to attain gender equality is by talking about culture and improving education. “Women are often better equipped to build bridges,” Špidla told a conference organised by the Socialist group on 5 March. “The engagement of women is a fundamental prerequisite for intercultural dialogue to be successful.” Figel’ agrees. “Women in intercultural dialogue is the perfect angle because it recognises the role women play as a bridge between family and society.”

But he added, “Education is the most important equaliser. Access and quality of education are important for living together.” The commission has put in place several instruments and guidelines to form an EU gender policy. But one of the most important conclusions drawn from the series of events for women’s day is that despite all of this very encouraging legislation and planning, there is still much left to do.

“Member states can make it easier to reconcile family and political life,” said Marjeta Cotman, Slovenian minister for social affairs, to an audience at the parliament on 6 March. “We don’t have gender-neutral policies. We have policies that are gender blind.” Perhaps this is the problem, then, that in the effort to make men and women equal, we have forgotten that they are fundamentally different, and legislation needs to reflect that.

According to Brenda King, “It’s not about putting down men and boys; it’s about getting policymakers to thing about how policy will impact on men and women. It will affect men and women differently.” So is the key to integrating gender policy to have more female representation – to have more women at the top of the EU? The consensus seems to be yes, but the problem arises when trying to find ways to introduce women to top posts.

German Socialist deputy Lissy Gröner thinks that if all else fails, quotas need to be introduced. And Neelie Kroes, who holds one of the commission’s crucial portfolios, says she wouldn’t be where she is had commission president Barroso not introduced quotas in 2004. “I’m absolutely sure that I wouldn’t have been a commissioner if that [quota] wasn’t maintained at that time. We need more quotas,” she told journalists in Strasbourg last week. But Piia-Noora Kauppi, a Finnish EPP-ED deputy, thinks that quotas are not the way to achieve equality. “The most essential element of equality at work is the content – rather than mere gender,” she said.

So do we need to work from the bottom up rather then the top down, and find the missing link between society and institutions? The fact is that women graduates are on the rise, so there is no shortage of qualified women, says Vladimir Špidla. “Sixty per cent of graduates are women – that’s more than men.” But these graduates are not getting the better jobs, says Zita Gurmai, vice chair of the parliament’s committee on women’s rights. “The question is what does the Lisbon agenda mean for us? Out of 12m new jobs created, 7.5m were for women, but these were not the better jobs.”

For external relations commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner, the reason is because good policies are not being implemented properly. “Whilst key policy and legal instruments for achieving gender equality are in place, commitments are not properly followed by action and resources,” she said. Špidla thinks this is a case for member states to address. “We must make sure that the Lisbon treaty is approved because it will strengthen the role of national parliaments in European legislation. In national parliaments we must make sure gender mainstreaming takes place, and not just at European level.” Kratsa-Tsagaropoulou agrees. “European affairs committees in national parliaments shouldn’t just look at the treaty and the council. They should look at all policies including a strategy for equality between the sexes.”

Whatever your approach to a solution, the fact remains that inequalities do persist. As information society chief Viviane Reding says, “I have never been fond of these special days. As a woman, I believe that there will only be full equality if we no longer have a women’s day.”