IRENE RAMOS
Periodico El Plural
There is no reason for men and women relax in this fight.
 |
| Photo Ugo Mulas |
a century has passed since in 1911 at the initiative of the Social Clara Zetkin, the establishment of the Day International Women visible to claim property rights, to vote, hold public office, education and employment discrimination. Since then the struggle for equal participation in the economic, social and politics has not stopped getting seat some successes, but constantly finding new challenges.
The full suffrage was one of the main targets of the considered first wave of feminism in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In Finland, won the vote without any restrictions in 1906. In Spain it was not until 1931 that the Constituent Cortes of the Second Republic recognized that equality for all citizens over 23 years of either sex, long after its expansion in the West after the First World War. In fact, our country would be suspended until 1977.
The second wave of the sixties and seventies focused aspects of social and legal rights over their own sexuality and reproductive health, as well as equality in the workplace and wage, economic independence or maternity leave. As a result, significant levels were reached in the emancipation of women from their progressive incorporation into the labor market and the university, which began to generate a break with the traditional value system that relegated to a relatively idle at home. In Spain, however, the dictatorship was a huge decline in the previous progressive advances, which were abolished and replaced by a social model based on patriarchy and the division of labor by gender.
Despite the general improvements for the persistence of inequalities has nurtured a third wave from the nineties that abideth in the need for sustained public action for unresolved issues. The European Commission plan 2006-2010 priorities set as equal representation of men and women in decision-making processes, economic empowerment, eradication of all forms of violence and human trafficking, the reconciliation of personal and professional or the elimination of gender stereotypes.
The balance in each of these sections is quite irregular. Regarding the presence in leadership positions in the old continent women represent 35% of the seats in Parliament on 26% of government offices and an average of 11% in the boards of major companies. Spain has made significant progress towards gender parity in politics, although there is still ample room for improvement, but their participation is limited to 6.59% in the management bodies of companies in the IBEX-35. In addition, the glass ceiling glass ceiling remains and through cultural mechanisms and unwritten social codes, curtailing their professional development.
The female participation rate EU-15 stood in 2009 at 51%, compared with 65% of the male. Despite some convergence, the difference is more pronounced in Spain, where its high level of education coexists with a majority presence in the service sector, mainly in low-skilled occupations. The part-time work (23% vs 6% of males) affects the employment status of women and the wage gap (16%), very close to the European average (EU-27), shows a blatant discrimination that is to fight in the framework of Strategy 2020.
Gender-based violence remains at alarming levels worldwide, constituting, according to the Council of Europe the leading cause of death and disability in women aged 15 to 44 years, up from cancer and traffic accidents. On the other hand, the distribution of family responsibilities is still very uneven. Only a very small number of men opt for paternity leave or part-time work, while they have to choose between motherhood involuntarily or career, with a negative impact on fertility. In turn, care for children or dependents are housed in the main disincentive to job search. In parallel, the stereotypes persist in our everyday life in backward social institutions and behaviors, media, grotesque mockery without in most cases fix it for to oppose forcefully and responsibility.
Therefore, there is no reason to relax in regard to promoting gender equality, but must be continued and intensified from a holistic perspective and with the additional intergenerational collaboration of men and women in this common goal. Must be educated on equality from all settings (family, school, administrative, labor, leisure, etc.). And implement legislation, incentives and evaluation mechanisms lasting.
Vielba Irene Ramos, Head of Policy, And Equal Citizenship Foundation Ideas
0 comments:
Post a Comment