Equality between men and women in Europe

SESSION OF WEDNESDAY, APRIL 24, 2002

Equality between men and women

Karamanou (PSE). – Mr. President, today we are discussing two very important reports on women’s rights. A few days ago, I was asked whether I truly believe that there are violations of women’s rights in Europe. I didn’t need to think much to respond that, compared to other areas of the world, Europe is indeed a paradise for women’s rights. Undoubtedly, there has been significant progress over the past few years, as reflected in the annual reports of the European Commission. However, serious problems remain in democratic Europe, such as violence against women in its various forms, domestic violence, sexual violence, and violence in the workplace. And it is to the credit of the Spanish Presidency, I will emphasize once again, that it included these issues among its priorities and brought them to the forefront.

The fact that approximately 500,000 women are sold and bought annually in the European Union is certainly a blatant violation of fundamental rights, while the European Union has not been particularly sensitized and, much more, has not taken specific measures to combat this phenomenon. The fact that 3,000 women in the United Kingdom alone are sexually mutilated every year, in honor of the cultural traditions brought by immigrants from fundamentalist and undemocratic regimes, also constitutes a violation of basic rights, as does the recent honor crime in Sweden.

The fact that the labor market in Europe remains fragmented by gender and that women’s wages lag behind those of men, that only 25% of businesses are owned by women, and that women occupy the lowest levels of the hierarchy while being absent from management positions of responsibility and decision-making, are indicators of violations and discrimination against women. Furthermore, the quality that is the central idea of the European employment strategy should also be a goal for women’s employment, as should the strengthening of measures for reconciling work and family life, as well as the individualization of rights, as rightly supported by my colleague Ms. Fraisse.