Conference of ELEGYP – Positive Actions for the Advancement of Women in Leadership Positions.

ELEGYP Conference

Positive Actions for the Advancement of Women in Leadership Positions

Auditorium “Antonis Tritsis” of the Municipality of Athens, 50 Akadimias Street

April 24, 2015

Anna Karamanou

(former president of the European Parliament Women’s Committee, PES Women vice-president – speaking points)

The excellent quality of the presentations that preceded, and the wealth of information about actions in universities, businesses, and politics, highlight the need for dialogue and meetings like the one organized today by ELEGYP.
The economic crisis is undoubtedly being used as an excuse for the further degradation of the position of women in all sectors. Particularly in politics, where power is still associated with masculinity, we observe only marginal improvements. In the most recent parliamentary elections (25.01.15), 69 women were elected (23%), a percentage that places Greece at the bottom of the EU member states. The percentages are even worse in the composition of the government.
Great progress has been made in legislation, which has been fully Europeanized, as well as in the primarily meritocratic field of education. Today, female students make up the majority of the student body, with percentages above 60%, even in postgraduate studies, demonstrating that where there is equality of opportunity and where systems operate meritocratically, women succeed.
Local Government and the trade union movement remain strongholds of patriarchy that sustain and reproduce male dominance and the exclusion of women, even from power structures at relatively low levels. In the latest Local Elections (May 2014), only 15 women were elected out of a total of 325 mayors, and two women were elected regional governors out of 13.
The trade union movement remains the most hostile space towards the feminist movement, insisting on the mentality and practices of the 19th century. The electoral processes of the latest GSEE Congress in March 2013 attest to this: no women in the presidency and only one in the 15-member Executive Committee. As if working women do not exist! The same image can be seen in employer organizations.
Political parties and social partners are reluctant to adopt rules and positive actions for the promotion of equality and treat the demand for balanced gender participation in decision-making as a zero-sum game. 21^st-century Greece ranks 91^st in the Global Gender Gap Index by the World Economic Forum, among 142 countries (2014 data). The figures suggest more of a Middle Eastern country than an EU member state.
The best method to shed light on and understand the causes of this delay is through a dialogue between the present and the historical past. That is, to trace the roots of the phenomena and identify the underlying background and values upon which feminist struggles were based and expressed. This has not been done systematically, so as to understand the dynamics at play and to create a strategy that will eliminate gender-based political, social, and economic asymmetry. In this direction, I will attempt a very brief historical journey:

The feminist movement is rooted in the fundamental values of individual rights, equality, democracy, and the rule of law that developed in the 18^th century. The claim for gender equality began simultaneously with the Renaissance and the European Enlightenment. However, the great Enlightenment philosophers, such as Kant and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, not only excluded women but described them in the darkest terms. The leaders of the French Revolution persecuted women who sought to be included in rights and executed the activist Olympe de Gouges.
Among the political philosophers, I highlight two: from the ancient world, Plato, and from modern times, John Stuart Mill (19^th century). Plato is the only philosopher of ancient Greece who did not accept as given the prevailing belief of his time that women are inferior and incapable. In the fifth book of The Republic, he argues that women and men can equally become philosophers, warriors, and equally govern the state, provided they receive the same education as men and are freed from family duties and child-rearing, with those responsibilities assigned to the state. In other words, Plato argues that each individual should be judged based on their abilities, not their gender.
This position was also supported by the great visionary of the Greek Revolution, Rigas Velestinlis, who in his “Constitution” advocated for “schools in all villages for both male and female children” and the right of women to bear arms. It seems that the Greek women responded to this message and participated en masse in the liberation struggle. What happened after liberation is well-known. Their contribution was not only unappreciated, but they were also faced with fierce opposition when they demanded their fundamental rights. As Sasa Moschou-Sakorrafou wrote, “after the Revolution, they were locked in their homes to bear children and take care of the men.” Thus, patriarchy was restructured in Greece. The heroines of 1821 were sidelined and ignored by all constitutions until 1975.
In the second half of the 19^th century, amidst the negative atmosphere of post-Ottoman Greece, the first women’s organizations were created, and the first magazines were published. With the publication of the “Ladies’ Newspaper” by the first great feminist, Kallirroē Parēn, Greek women, at least a vanguard of educated women, were present in shaping society and forging national consciousness. A key demand was the right to education. However, the legacy of Ottoman rule was very heavy.
At the end of the 19^th century and the beginning of the 20^th century, the echoes of discussions about women’s rights, with the contribution of the Englishman John Stuart Mill, began to reach the countries of Southeastern Europe from the European capitals. The main demand was the right to dignified work and education. In Greece of that time, fundamental freedoms and human rights were considered unthinkable for women, even by enlightened intellectuals of the era, such as Roïdis.
The Constitution of Eleftherios Venizelos in 1911 and his legislative work created a favorable framework for women’s claims. Political rights became dominant at that time. Venizelos, having constant contact with Europe, supported women’s right to vote, but lacked parliamentary support. During that period, significant roles were played by the “Association for Women’s Rights” (founded in 1919), with its magazine “The Struggle of Women,” as well as the “Lyceum of Greek Women” founded by Kallirhoe Parreν (founded in 1911).
In 1930, the right to vote in municipal elections was recognized for literate women over the age of 30. For the first time, women voted in 1934, with only 240 women participating. Very few of them were literate at the time. With the dictatorship of Metaxas, all feminist activities were halted, as all dictatorships and generally authoritarian regimes are hostile to gender equality.
During World War II, women once again took part en masse in the national mobilization and Resistance. However, as Efhi Kalliga notably says, they seized the opportunities. They actively participated, contributed, and in many cases, replaced men. Survival was secured thanks to the competence of women.
After the war, significant momentum for women’s rights was provided by the initiatives of the UN, with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as well as the “bible” of feminism, “The Second Sex” by Simone de Beauvoir, in 1949. The Vatican quickly added it to its blacklist.
Under the pressure of feminist organizations and the country’s international commitments, in 1952, women were finally granted the right to vote and stand for election. Greece’s European orientation had a positive impact on the subsequent expansion of rights and the establishment of many active women’s organizations, as part of the second feminist wave.
Feminist activism was once again interrupted by the dictatorship of the colonels in 1967. Just as Greece did not participate in the Renaissance and the European Enlightenment – only through Ancient Greek literature, which was utilized by philosophers and scientists in the West – during the junta, it was unable to participate in the significant movements and changes occurring in Europe, in the realms of ideas and society. The messages of May 1968 arrived in Greece with a significant delay.
The transition to democracy in 1974 took place under conditions of national turmoil, due to the Cyprus issue and the international economic crisis. The feminist movement reorganized, and the organizations resumed their activities. There was intense opposition to the patriarchal political system. The new Constitution of 1975 enshrined equal rights for Greek men and women. However, significant changes took place with Greece’s accession to the European Union in 1981. Until then, discrimination against women was widespread in all areas of the public and private spheres.
The most significant change of the 1980s was the Europeanization of family law. The EU’s community programs and the positive actions accompanying European policy gave a strong boost to gender equality, employment, education, and professional training. These initiatives were instrumental in aligning national legislation with EU standards, which promoted equal opportunities for women and contributed to their increased participation in various sectors of society.
Following this, the policy of integrating gender equality into all policies (gender mainstreaming), the UN Women’s Conference in Beijing, the Amsterdam Treaty, and more recently the Lisbon Treaty, played key roles in advancing gender equality across Europe. Greece, in particular, adopted the entire body of EU legislation on gender equality. Additionally, the implementation of quota policies significantly contributed to increasing the representation of women in politics and positions of responsibility, helping to break down long-standing barriers and ensure more balanced participation in decision-making processes.
In the modern era, negative developments in the economy and the inherent weaknesses of the Eurozone are exacerbating the position of women. In the midst of this challenging situation, gender equality is often excluded from the political agenda. The compatibility of work, family, and personal life is treated as a private matter, with negative consequences for women’s employment. Unemployment has surged, reaching over 30%, and the gender gap in the labor market continues to widen, highlighting the ongoing struggles for equality and the need for comprehensive policies that address both economic challenges and gender equity.

Conclusions:

The Europeanization of the legislation is the most visible area of progress that has been made over the last 40 years. The Greek legal system formally ensures not only equal rights and obligations for both genders but also defines the state’s duties. However, the gap between legal gender equality and everyday life, particularly in the private sphere, remains. Legislation, no matter how strong, does not constitute a sufficient condition for ensuring gender justice in everyday life. In Greece, European policies on positive actions, gender mainstreaming, and gender budgeting have not received much attention.
The historical overview demonstrates that in Greece, the recognition of gender equality as a value per se, as well as the policy of “positive actions,” faces significant difficulties because the concept of individual rights still lags behind traditional family values and rights that dominate our Balkan/Mediterranean/patriarchal culture.
The lag compared to other European countries is due to both structural and institutional factors, as well as causes related to history, the quality of democracy, the role of religion, political culture, social expectations, and the remnants of the Ottoman legacy.
The de facto implementation of gender equality requires: a) strong political will from the entire political system, b) mass mobilization of women themselves and pressure through civil society for a fair redistribution of roles and responsibilities between the sexes in both the public and private spheres, and c) systematic and planned intervention in culture and cultural constraints, through the education system, humanities education, and the media.