“Gender and the Information Society,” Informal Meeting of EU Ministers for Equality

On behalf of the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality of the European Parliament, which I have the honor to preside over, I would like to extend my warmest congratulations to the Greek Presidency and to Commissioner Mrs. Anna Diamantopoulou for their initiative to bring the issue of “Gender and the Information Society” to the forefront for discussion at this Informal Ministerial Council. We are all witnessing dramatic changes in our society due to the rapid spread of information and communication technology. These changes are expected to accelerate even further and to affect the way of life and work of all citizens – both women and men.

We must be well prepared for these profound changes. We must learn to adapt to the demands of this changing world, because this is what the prosperity and success of all European citizens require, both women and men.

Nevertheless, I foresee the great danger that women may be marginalized and unable to benefit from these significant developments. I fear that women will be left out of the Europe of the Future. The role of women in the enlarged Europe has long been a concern for the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality of the European Parliament. Our efforts to influence developments have been extremely intense over the past twelve months, as we were driven by the fear that the voice of women would not reach the Constitutional Assembly that is discussing the reforms and the building of the future enlarged Europe.

The Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality, with the aim of influencing the discussion process within the framework of the Constitutional Assembly, has submitted a series of proposals. These proposals were the result of numerous meetings we organized, in which we invited women members of the Assembly, representatives of NGOs and civil society, experts, and representatives of the Constitutional Assembly, who supported our work. The role of women in the Assembly has been examined in meetings with the Network of Parliamentarians responsible for gender issues in the member states, candidate countries, and the European Parliament. This meeting was held at my initiative on March 31 in Athens, during which we adopted a Declaration for the Assembly, as a continuation of positions that had initially been articulated in the first Declaration adopted at the Copenhagen Network meeting on November 23-24, 2002.

Allow me to mention some of the demands:

• Gender equality should be included in the values of the European Union.
• Gender mainstreaming should be a fundamental principle of the Constitutional Treaty and should be applied to all policies and actions of the European Union.
• The fight against violence against women should be one of the Union’s objectives and should have a legal basis in the Treaty.
• The new Constitution should be written in gender-neutral language and
• The “acquis communautaire” should be fully safeguarded and strengthened.

The society of the future is the Information Society, which is completely different from what we knew in the past. Today, inequalities and remaining gender-based discrimination, for example, in decision-making, work, education, and research, are mainly reflected in areas connected to new technologies. Women are far behind and are not keeping pace with the rapid developments in fields related to new technologies, such as education, research, work, the use of tools, the launching of new businesses, management, entrepreneurship, teleworking, or the use of computers and the internet. The serious gender differences regarding their position in society, the distribution of responsibilities, and behaviors complete the picture. One of the most negative consequences of the rapid development of new technologies is the increasing use of pornography in the media, which often portrays women and girls as inferior beings, objects of exploitation, or as sexual commodities.

Addressing these gender differences is a necessary condition for achieving the European Union’s goals of full employment, sustainable economic growth, and social cohesion. It is your responsibility, as representatives of the governments and institutions of the European Union, to undertake this important task by designing specific actions so that women and girls can keep pace with men and benefit from the ever-evolving Information Society.

Action programs should also be undertaken at the international level. I find the recommendation from the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women to governments very positive, urging them to take specific initiatives to increase women’s participation and access to mass media and information and communication technologies, as a means of promoting and empowering women.

I consider it my duty to repeat this demand. I hope that the European delegation at the upcoming global World Summit on the Information Society in Geneva this December and in Tunis in 2005 will strongly advocate, in all discussions, for the inclusion of women and that the United Nations’ recommendations will be taken into account during the preparatory work.

Furthermore, the European Parliament should also play its role. A better gender balance in the Information Society is a primary concern of our Committee, and it is also the subject of a new initiative report of which I am the rapporteur. In this, I present comprehensive proposals, enriched by the dialogue that took place at the two-day conference, which the Committee and the Parliament will be able to promote, so that women and girls can participate, on equal terms, in the Information Society and that the benefits of new technologies become accessible to women as well.

Anna Karamanou – MEP (Member of the European Parliament)

President of the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality of the European Parliament.

Mikhalakopoulou 104, 115 28, Athens.

Tel: 210-77 75 223, 210-77 74 654

Fax: 210-77 57 771

E-mail: info@karamanou.gr

www.karamanou.gr