Gender equality is a founding value of the EU, so why the lack of progress?
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Version 0 of 1. We all know we are a long way from living in a gender equal world. Globally speaking, Europe is seen as a leader in moving women’s rights forward, but just how far are European countries from putting men and women on an equal footing? On Friday, the European Institute for Gender Equality published its second gender equality index. This kind of research is essential, because it provides credible and comparable data across EU member states. The index focuses on eight domains relevant to EU policy: money, knowledge, time, power, health, violence, work and intersecting inequalities. The results allow us to see if gender equality policies lead to progress and what additional measures need to be taken. This year’s report, which analyses data from 2005 to 2012, shows that women are only halfway to equality with men, and that progress has stagnated since 2005. In 2010, women were 52.4% equal compared with 52.9% in 2012. The picture is very diverse across the EU, with Sweden achieving an overall score of 74.2% while Romania is at 33.7%. The index also shows women’s rights regressing in eight countries, including the UK and Austria. Progress is particularly sluggish with regard to power and time. Men are still hugely over-represented in political and economic decision-making: more than 75% of parliamentarians and 84% of corporate board members in Europe are men. Related: Less pay, more work, no pension: the 21st-century woman's lot laid bare At the same time, women’s free time is limited, with an extremely wide gender gap in time spent on care work and educating children and grandchildren, as well as on cooking and housework. There have been some minor improvements on pay and work, significant because these areas have been the focus of the most strategic action at the EU level. The gender gap in monthly earnings has decreased from 22% to 20%, and women’s full-time employment rate has increased slightly. How can we explain this lack of progress? After all, equality between women and men is one of the EU’s “founding values”. As far back as 1957, article 119 of the Treaty of Rome stated: “each Member State shall ensure that the principle of equal pay for male and female workers for equal work or work of equal value is applied”. But recession and austerity in Europe have led to rapid change. Ideologically driven austerity has contributed to disillusionment with democratic institutions, driving disproportionate numbers of women into poverty, unemployment and precarious, low-paid jobs. This is not inevitable, but results from political choices made by male-dominated institutions. These choices have a worse impact on women than on men. Despite the evidence that progress on gender equality in Europe has stagnated, the economic crisis is used to excuse a lack of political vision and the failure to bring in concrete measuresto support women’s rights, representation and resources. As the international community takes stock of the 20th anniversary of the Beijing Platform for Action, a new post-2015 framework – the sustainable development goals – will be adopted, linking human rights and environmental sustainability. Women’s rights and equality between women and men will be a standalone goal, and overall this new blueprint will provide a renewed opportunity for global, European and national feminist action. To turn these goals into reality, we need more data of the quality provided by the gender equality index, in Europe and beyond. We need evidence about the shape and scope of inequality, the outcomes of political choices and programmes, and the links between gender equality and wider societal wellbeing. We need better communication to make this information more accessible to Europe’s citizens, with more activism to raise awareness. We need the EU to champion legislation, strategies, and programmes in support of women’s rights. We need to build feminist leadership, strengthen women’s organisations and support women to take on political and economic leadership roles. Gender equality institutions and women’s organisations need resources to work with political leaders to build their awareness of what is at stake and what the solutions might be. The European commission must stop stalling on the adoption of an ambitious new strategy on equality , which should set out clear, accountable commitments for EU action to ensure that, five years from now, we are not still only halfway to equality. In Europe we have the experience and we know what works for gender equality. The time to act is now. We must commit, accelerate and invest in women’s rights. |