Gender Equality in Greece: are we there yet?
Download
Report
Transcript Gender Equality in Greece: are we there yet?
Gender Equality in Greece:
are we there yet?
LADIES DIARY OF CHANGE - active ladies in
peace dialogue
Hara Kouki, ELIAMEP
Athens, Greece
Gender Equality
Male public space, labour, politics
Female private sphere, family, house
=Gender Roles Socially Constructed
• Not a reality:
we can change this situation
• Not only personal,
collective: it is about all of us
France, 18th century
French Revolution: Declaration of the Rights of Man
and of the Citizen (1791): challenge what was taken for
normal, institutions and morals
Olympiad de Gouges:
Declaration of the Rights of Woman
and of the Woman Citizen (1791)
Women must have equal rights with Men
Britain, early 20th century
Virginia Woolf: A Room of One’s Own (1926)
‘men socially and psychically dominate
women...women are simultaneously
victims of themselves
as well as victims of men and are
upholders of society by acting as mirrors
to men...a woman must have money
and a room of her own’
Greece at a Glance
Population of 11 million
1900-1974: Wars, Dictatorship, Refugees...
1821: Greek War of Independence
1830: independent Greek Kingdom
1922: 1.5 million refugees from Minor Asia
1946-49: civil war
1967-1974: military dictatorship
1974 and then: Presidential Parliamentary Democracy
1981: European Union Member/ currency euro (2001)
Women in Greece: 1900-1950
1.Katerina,
born in 1930
(82 years old)
Daily Life: Born,
raised and lived all
her life in a small
village- visited only
few times a big city,
Athens
Work: working all day until her
70s in the fields (agriculture)
with her husband- but this was
not considered as work/
running the family’s home:
preparing food, cleaning the
house/ clothes, raising 10
children, caring for her old
parents and parents-in-law- but
this was not considered as work
Education: 4 years of primary
education, but after some years
she forgot how to write, she
could read, but never read
newspapers
1. Women in Greece
1900 -1950
Education:
for women (primary), good housewives
for men (universities), good citizens
1919: 392 Women in Universities out of 30.000
Employment women start working
as maids in cities/ workers in industries/ teachers for
girls- situation very bad (timetable/ wages)
1. Women’s Movement in Greece
1900-1950
Women refugees + against Nazi occupation/ during
Civil war different role in society + financial needs
Committee for the Rights of Woman (1923-36):
citizenship rights
1928: first public
assembly for the
women’s right to vote
• 1936: vote only for
municipal elections
1. Women’s Movement in the World,
1900- 1950
•Women started working
outside home
•Women started asking for
the right to vote and
political equality
-Australia: 1902 -Finland: 1906
-United Kingdom: 1918
-United States: 1920 -France: 1944
-Iraq: 1980
2. Women in Greece, 1950-1980
2. Eleni,
born in
1960
52 years old
2. Women in Greece, 1950-1980
1954: Right to Vote
1961: First Woman Member of Parliament,
1964: 135 women Municipal council
members
1967-1974: Women fight against
Dictatorship
2. Women in Greece, 1950-1980
1975 Constitution:
All Greeks,
men and women,
are equal before the Law
and have equal rights
and obligations
1981: 20 women in Parliament
1982: 1.113 women Municipal members (300% up)
Work: less in agriculture, more in cities working
Education: 39% in high schools, 28% in Universities
2. Women in Greece, 1950-1980
2. Eleni, born in 1960 (52 years old)
Daily Life
Born in the village – studied (University) in Athens.
She met her husband (engineer) at the University, they got
married and they have 2 daughters
They live in Athens.
She likes going to the theatre
She has travelled in other countries
more than 15 times
She reads the newspapers
Education: She has a
university degree in
Education. She speaks
French.
Work: Teacher in public
primary school housewife. Stopped
working for 8 years to
raise her kids.
Politics: She is
interested-votes
differently than her
husband
2. Women in Greece,
1950-1980
Eleni, born in 1960
2. Women’s Movement in Greece,
1950-1980
Still men are prepared to work and be leaders in public life
and women are educated, but are mainly responsible for the
family/house (good housewives) depending on the
husband
Radical Women’s associations and feminist groups/
magazines- events
Demands for equal treatment in public life, law,
workplace, family and fighting against violence and for
sexuality
Women’s Movement
in the World, 1950-1980
Personal is Political
Private is Public
(Not JUST) The right to vote
The right to receive an equal wage
The right to be represented in political and institutions
The right to speak your mind, instead of being dismissed
because you are a woman
The right to financial independence
The right to choose your path in life
The Half is Yours, 1977
Women in Public Administration, 1982
Feminist Magazine, The Cleaning Lady, 1978
3. Women in Greece,
1980-2010
Margarita,
born in 1990
22 years old
3. Women in Greece in Law:
1980-2010
1981: Greece member of European Union
1983-2010: national and European laws
family (end of patriarchy, husband and wife
equal),
education
employment (same wages for same labour, a
pregnant woman cannot be fired)
social security (maternity leave)
2003: positive actions for gender equality
3. Women in practice:1980-2010
Education:
in high school 50% girls
in University more women than men!
Work:
39% of total labour force
50% of women work,
75% of women with children work
Politics:
more women in parliament
many more in municipalities
3. Movements for Gender Equality in the World
1980-2010
• European
+Global:
EuropeanWomen’s Lobby/
World March for Women
International/ Women in
Black
•National: Migrants
associations, Groups against
Trafficking, against
Unemployment
•Network/ solidarity
3. Women in Greece: 1980-2010
Margarita, born in 1990, 22 years old
Daily Life
Born in Athens,
Speaks French and English
Studies Media in Thessaloniki
Lives alone
Erasmus student in Barcelona now
Interested in Politics
Likes Travelling
3. Women in Greece: 1980-2010
How do you think Margarita
will be in her 40s? Married
with children or well known
journalist? Or both?
Are women equal to men today?
Do women have problems even
if laws are there? What do you
think?
a. Women in politics today
Increase of female elected members of
Parliament and municipalities
Women in the Greek Parliament: 10% 15%, low by European standards (22.5%)
23% in media
Not present in decision making
processes/ in how men and women are
represented !
Is there
something
missing?
...it is
missing!!
Why there are few women in positions of
responsibility?
they are not interested?
women are less ready than men to fight to make a career?
women have less time because of their family?
work environment is dominated by men who do not
trust women?
women do not always have the required qualities to
hold positions of responsibility?
b. Women in Education Today
very high percentage of women who
pursue higher education
but still 75-85% in arts and humanities
and 15-25% in technical and
engineering
Male and female studies/
professions!
Work is as important for men as for
women?
Which professions are for men and which
are for women?
What kind of skills do you need in order
to become politician?
Women have other skills than men?
c. Women at Work today
Jobs: with little power or responsibility
Wages: lower than men’s
Family and Career: stop working when they have
children, less responsibilities/ wages when backinflexible timetables
Unemployed: 65% women
Household: spent 38 hours a week on house
work (men 9 hours a week)
Women Migrants: in worse position of all
Can women have both
family and career?
women are forced to choose between having
children and working
women can combine working and having
children
Glass ceiling
-not only in Greece)
Transparent Wall in
work that obstructs
women from
developing their skills
Glass ceiling: How?
stereotypes in society
(women work, men make a career)
other expectations from parents (my son will
be a lawyer, my daughter will become a teacher, but the
important is to have a family)
not good education and professional
orientation (girls are good in humanities and arts,
boys are better in physics and engineering subjects)
sexual harassment
Glass ceiling: How?
unjust selection of employees
(she will stay pregnant, so it’s better to hire a man)
discriminations
(the man will be better in deciding)
difficult when family
(abandon the job to have time
for the baby, inflexible timetables)
different wages
What can we do?
Professional orientation at school
Planning + hard work + strong minded
Equal Opportunities Policies
Collective mobilization and networking (women’s
groups/ trade unions)
Flexible work conditions
Media awareness
Are we there yet?
• Change in law is not
enough
• Change in
mentalities both of men
and women is needed