The Peaceful Revolution of Women from 1821 to the present: The historical milestones.

6^th District of the Municipality of Athens, 14.03.2018.

Anna Karamanou ,

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

Thanks…

As the 200th anniversary of the historic uprising of 1821, which led to the foundation of the Greek nation-state, approaches, and having experienced a profound and multifaceted crisis over the past 10 years, I often wonder: What would Greece be like today if half of its human resources had not been excluded from the country’s economic and political life? If Bouboulina and Manto Mavrogenous, instead of being sidelined and slandered, had participated in the administration of the newly established nation-state? Surely, the situation would be very different.

As historically recorded, thousands of women enlisted and contributed significantly to the liberation struggle against the Ottomans. However, the contribution of women was not only unappreciated, but they also faced strong opposition when, after the liberation, they claimed their fundamental human rights. The heroines of 1821 were sidelined and ignored by all the post-revolutionary Constitutions, until the Constitution of 1975. Women were excluded from the political body, without rights, isolated in the domestic sphere, under the authority of husbands, fathers, and brothers. During the same period, the Orthodox Church played a key role in maintaining traditional gender stereotypes.

What happened immediately after the 1821 revolution until today, in Greece and Turkey, piqued my curiosity to research. The data I will present for Greece is part of this research. It is the fascinating history of feminist struggles in light of the early European orientation of the two countries and their pursuit of European identity.

My aim is to contribute to a deeper understanding of the conditions and common elements that shaped the political, social, cultural, and economic reality of the two countries, beyond and outside the usual nationalistic analyses. The study revealed that, beyond geographical proximity, there is a cultural affinity between Greece and Turkey, as both countries strongly exhibit characteristics of patriarchal/ Mediterranean/ Balkan culture, which, among other things, is also evidenced by the popularity of Turkish TV series in Greece!

Europeanization, as the adoption of the values of European Enlightenment and the liberal political tradition of equality, rule of law, equal citizenship, and individual rights, formed the basis for the emergence of the feminist movement. Simply and aptly, feminists incorporated women and gender equality into the values of modernity, which men had failed to include. From this perspective, Europeanization served as a reference system and a source of knowledge and inspiration. The research has been published in a 700-page book titled… The Europe & Women’s Rights. Europeanization in Greece and Turkey – A Comparative Analysis , εκδόσεων Παπαζήση.

The feminist movement in Greece and the claims of women began almost immediately after the 1821 revolution, under the positive influence of the messages of the Enlightenment and the French Revolution, which reached Greece mainly through the intellectuals of the diaspora. The main demand of women in the post-Ottoman era was the right to education and decent employment.

The most important milestones:

1. The first schools for girls were established during the time of Kapodistrias. In 1829, a school with 20 female students opened in Argos, and in 1830, the first secondary school for girls was founded in Ermoupoli, Syros, following a decision by the Municipality of Ermoupoli to build a special school for young women. This was followed by the establishment of the Hill School in 1831, and later the Zappeion and Arsakeion schools.

A systematic effort for the professional training of women in “female” arts and the fight against illiteracy was made by the Association of Ladies for Female Education, founded by Kalliopi Kehagiá in Athens in 1872. This was the time when parents who allowed their daughters to learn reading and writing were considered pioneers in progressiveness.

2. The publication of the magazine *I Efiris ton Kyrion* (The Ladies’ Newspaper), the most important women’s publication of the time, was issued continuously from 1887 until 1918. The editor was the pioneering and most prominent Greek feminist Kalliroi Parren, a teacher and journalist, who dedicated her life to the fight for women’s rights. In the first issue, she wrote: “The Greek woman is capable of undertaking the struggle for her development alone, without expecting any help from men in this endeavor, for he remains indifferent and, in his selfishness, sees only one thing: he desires and wants the servitude of the woman to his gestures.” The role of the first women’s magazines and literary works, as well as women’s organizations, was very important in the negative post-Ottoman Greece regarding women’s claims. The slogan “vote for women” was first expressed in 1887-88 in many European countries and was echoed by *I Efiris ton Kyrion* of Kalliroi Parren.

3. The constitutional revision of 1911 and, subsequently, the legislative work of Eleftherios Venizelos, which created a favorable institutional framework, where various social groups, including educated women, found fertile ground to claim rights. During the period 1911-1920, the first serious effort by the modern Greek state to rationalize and modernize took place. In the early 20th century, many active feminist organizations were founded, following European models.

4. End of World War I: Struggle for political, civil, and economic rights. Women’s Suffrage! For the first time, the main demand for women’s political rights is presented with such clarity and determination. On January 16, 1920, the Association for Women’s Rights was founded. It is the first association with a purely feminist agenda, as it explicitly declares: “We demand political, civil, and economic rights, equal and identical for women and men.” Three years later, in 1923, the Association’s magazine, *O Agonas tis Gynaikas* (The Struggle of Women), was published, becoming the longest-running magazine in Greece. The Association played a significant role in the claim and securing of women’s rights, up until the modern era.

5. The Asia Minor Catastrophe, 1922: It led millions of refugees to Greece and was a catalyst for the progress of the feminist movement. The women from Asia Minor, many of whom were educated, multilingual, and Europeanized, brought with them new social behavior models, introduced new forms of employment, and contributed to the development of the country. The number of working women began to rise, thus creating the first female labor force.
6. Recognition of the right to vote in municipal elections for literate women over 30 years old (February 1930): In the 1934 municipal elections, only 240 women made it to the polls. The restrictions on municipal voting were later removed with Law 2159 of 1952, when women participated en masse in the municipal elections.

7. Interwar period: International action of women: Women’s organizations showed great interest in developing relationships of trust and cooperation with European nations, especially the Balkan countries, and engaged in significant international and diplomatic action. The Association for Women’s Rights created the Small Women’s “Entente” in 1923, a space for dialogue on all international issues. It is noteworthy that during the interwar period, particularly in the 1930s, when militarism, national socialism, and aggression had reached new heights in Europe, women, through their international actions, focused on issues of peace, disarmament, peaceful resolution of conflicts, and compromise solutions. During the Metaxas dictatorship, the militant efforts of feminist organizations came to a halt, and with the onset of World War II, they shifted their focus to their participation in the National Resistance.

8. 1945 and 1948: Historical decisions and declarations by the UN for gender equality. 1946: The Panhellenic Women’s Conference led to the founding of the Panhellenic Union of Women (PEG), which was dissolved with the onset of the Civil War. The demand for women’s suffrage was renewed after 1949, within the favorable framework created by the UN decisions, as well as the publication in 1949 of Simone de Beauvoir’s landmark book *The Second Sex*. The position of women at that time in Greece was lamentable in all areas.

9. 1952: Ratification of the UN international conventions for equality of political rights and equal access of the genders to all public offices. With Law 2159/1952, Greek women were granted the right to vote and stand for election, and with Law 3192/1955, the right to be hired in all public services, except for the military and the church.
10. 1957: Treaty of Rome, Article 19^A, equal pay for equal work. This established the foundation for European gender equality policy as well as the mobilization of women’s organizations for wage equality and the improvement of working conditions.
11. 1964: Educational Reform. The most significant milestone in educational policy, which paved the way for the mass participation of women in education, was the 1964 reform under the government of Georgios Papandreou, with Law 4379, which established free education. A major contributor to this was the great intellectual and philosopher Evangelos Papanoutsos.
12. Constitution of 1975: democratization and Europeanization: Greek men and women have equal rights and obligations (Article 4, paragraph 2). The constitutional guarantee of gender equality was the second major milestone, after the recognition of political rights in 1952. The 1975 Constitution, for the first time, refers to equal rights. The declaration of 1975 by the UN as the International Year of the Woman also gave a significant boost to women’s demands.
13. 1983: New Family Law. With Greece’s accession to the European Community in 1981, a wind of modernization and Europeanization blew through the country. The reform of the Family Law brought about major changes to the existing legislation and was a decisive step in the modernization of Civil Law. The new law was considered the most progressive in Europe. In the same year, with Law 1342/1983, the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) was ratified.
14. 1984: Equality in Employment Relations. In 1984, international labor conventions that had been pending for decades were ratified. Laws 1423/1984 and 1424/1984 ratified International Labor Conventions 122 and 111, respectively. Law 1483/1984 promoted the combination of professional and family life, and Law 1426/1984 ratified the European Social Charter. The establishment of Law 1414/1984, which applied the principle of gender equality in employment relations, marked the most significant step in the Europeanization process and the integration of EU Directives 75/117 and 27/207 into Greek law, ensuring equal pay and equal treatment in the labor market.
15. 2001, Constitutional Revision and amendment of Article 116 with paragraph 2, which clarifies that the adoption of positive measures to promote equality between men and women does not constitute gender discrimination. And most importantly, that the state is obliged to ensure the removal of inequalities that exist in practice.
16. The legislation from 2000 and 2007 aimed at establishing gender quotas in the candidate lists for local and national elections, as well as in administrative and management boards or other collective governing bodies, including research and technology committees. The measure started with Law 2839 of 2000 (Article 6, Paragraph 1) for the first and second levels of local government and was completed with Articles 34 of P.D. 96/2007 and 3 of Law 3636/2008, which stipulate that for the declaration of electoral combinations by political parties, the number of candidates of each gender must constitute at least one-third of the total number of candidates, across the entire country. This law paved the way for the increase in the number of elected women in democratic institutions and decision-making bodies.
17. 2011: Signing of the Istanbul Convention on the prevention and combating of all forms of violence against women.

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Certainly, significant progress has been made since the early 20^th century, when suffragettes were arrested and imprisoned. However, discrimination, both direct and indirect, against women still persists. There is no balanced distribution of power and responsibilities between men and women, neither in the public nor in the private sphere, which would put into practice the principles of Democracy and gender justice.

Legislation is the most visible area of progress that has been made. The Greek legal system ensures not only equal rights and duties for the sexes, but also defines the state’s obligations. In this sense, significant progress has been made. “Legislation,” of course, constitutes a necessary but not sufficient condition for ensuring equality in everyday life.

Tremendous progress has been made in the predominantly meritocratic field of education, with the triumphant path of women, who excel quantitatively and qualitatively at all levels, even in postgraduate studies. Progress is also being made in social perceptions regarding rights and gender equality, as recently expressed with the passing of the Civil Partnership Agreement.

However, despite the undeniable progress, the gap between men and women remains: inequalities and discrimination in employment, as evidenced by the higher unemployment rate among women, underrepresentation in politics and public offices, unequal distribution of family responsibilities and caregiving duties, gender-based violence.

Politics continues to remain a privileged space of patriarchy. The historically highest percentage of elected women was achieved in the national elections of January 25, 2015, with the election of 69 women (23%). This number decreased by 10 in the most recent elections, despite being conducted with a list system, which has worked in favor of women in all European countries, obviously except for Greece.

In 2015, in the cabinet, ministers and deputy ministers were 14.3% of the Greek Government, with the average European rate being 26.8%. Women members of Parliament were 23.3% in January 2015 and 18.3% in September of the same year, with the average European rate being 27.7%.

Members of Regional Councils in Greece are 19.7%, with an average of 28% in the EU. There are only 2 female regional governors out of 15 regions, and only 16 female mayors out of 325. As for the management of large companies and female participation in boards of directors, the percentage in Greece is 9.3%, with the European average being 21.7%. In the Board of Directors of the Central Bank, it is 2.8%, with the European average being 19.4%. In the management of public organizations, it is 18.2%, with the European average being 32.2%. Patriarchy remains strong and unshaken.

The World Economic Forum, in its gender equality index for 2017, ranked Greece in 78^th place out of 144 countries worldwide. These figures confirm the country’s delay and its deeply patriarchal structure. The path to genuine gender equality remains, unfortunately, long and difficult.

The economic crisis is often used as an excuse for further degradation of women’s status. However, the critical nature of the situation calls for action to harness the skills and ideas of women in centers of power and decision-making. The development of our country is intertwined with the utilization of its female potential. We need to dynamically challenge patriarchal structures, the monolithic nature of tradition, and gender power relations, while intensifying our efforts to achieve gender balance in the political system and crisis management. Given Greece’s current situation, the mobilization of women is required to lead the country out of the crisis.

On the occasion of this year’s International Women’s Day, I would like to address, primarily, young women and invite them, based on their outstanding performance in education and all meritocratic systems, to further utilize the legislation and the ideal framework provided by European policy, so that the ideal of gender equality and justice becomes a reality and experience. Constitutions and laws exist. Let them be fully implemented. This is the new great challenge for the feminist movement of the 21^st century.

At the same time, they should shift the focus from the weaknesses and problems of women to the strength they possess, in order to lead the political struggle for the creation of a better, more peaceful, and just globalized world. As the pioneering feminist Kalirroi Parren said 100 years ago, “Let us succeed where men have failed!”

[email protected] www.karamanou.gr