Women as a Force for Development and Renewal of Political and Social Life

NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF THE WOMEN’S SECTOR OF PASOK “WOMEN, A FORCE FOR DEVELOPMENT AND RENEWAL OF POLITICAL AND SOCIAL LIFE” 24.09.2001 Speech ANNA KARAMANOU Secretary of the Women’s Sector of PASOK – Member of the European Parliament

Dear comrades, I understand that there have been many speeches before, several hours of sitting, and there is fatigue. However, within the framework of the pre-conference process, we must present the evaluation of the sector, meaning we should put before you the actions we developed between the 5th and 6th congress.

We have already heard some praise, and we thank Mr. Secretary, Mrs. Minister, and Mrs. Commissioner for recognizing the work we have done. It is true that we are quite a dynamic sector, and I hope that the new leadership of the women’s sector, which will emerge from the 6th congress, will continue on the same path.

I would like to thank you very much for all the support you have given to the work of the sector, and of course, I will not stop fighting for the achievement of full equality between men and women. I will try to be brief. We have given you folders containing the summary of the sector’s activities. Reading it last night, I remembered other things we have done that are not included, but in any case, through the text you have in your folders, you will see that we fought quite hard in the last three years to promote the position of women. After all, the increase in women’s participation in PASOK organizations and the fact that we are now claiming one-third of the members of the Central Committee is due to the activity developed by the sector, but primarily to your support.

Immediately after the 5th congress, with the election of the Secretary by the Central Committee—you know that the sector’s Secretary is elected by the Central Committee—and subsequently the appointment of the Secretariat by the Executive Office, our sector developed a three-year action plan, 1999-2002, which was submitted to the leadership of the Movement.

Based on this program, I have the honor to present to you a summary of our rich activities and to put them before you for your evaluation. I am confident that you will appreciate the work of our sector, despite the fact that the contributions, creativity, and efforts of women are generally systematically underestimated.

In Greece, over the last twenty years, it is true that an active policy for equality and the enhancement of women’s participation in the production process, education, and democratic institutions has been implemented. Today, reflecting on our achievements and recognizing the significant progress made, we feel justified satisfaction and pride as women and as members and officials of PASOK.

It was very positive today that the entire historical leadership of the women’s movement was present in this room. Mrs. Margarita Papandreou honored us with her presence, as did Mrs. President of the Central Committee, Mrs. M. Kypriotaki, and of course, the leading female officials of our Movement and all of you who have fought for the cause of equality for many years within the organizations of PASOK.

PASOK, as a Movement and as a Government, despite the significant resistance and the deep roots of a peculiar Balkan patriarchy that prevails in the country, adopted and implemented an active policy for equality and the enhancement of women’s participation in the production process, education, and democratic institutions.

For this purpose, with the support of the European Union, a strong legal foundation and an institutional framework were created, among the most progressive in the modern world. However, while today we proudly count students in universities and note that the majority are women, and while we observe the dynamic presence of women in almost all professional sectors, we unfortunately see that these significant changes, primarily in the fields of education and employment, have not been accompanied by corresponding changes and an increase in women’s participation where policies are shaped and critical decisions for the future are made.

In our country, women’s participation continues to remain at very low levels. Therefore, the political priority of the women’s sector in the past three years has been the integration of equality into the overall effort for the modernization and development of the country, through the creation of equal opportunity conditions, the utilization of all human resources, and a fair distribution of responsibilities and obligations between the two genders, both in the private and public spheres.

In this context, initiatives were undertaken aimed at raising awareness and mobilizing, primarily, women themselves, as well as the entire citizenry. We focused our actions on what we consider to be the major deficit in Greek society, namely the participation of women in political action and decision-making centers. This in no way means that we underestimate other aspects or sides of inequality, such as violence against women.

And I see here one of the women who has been at the forefront in Greece for combating violence against women, Mrs. Kaiti Kostavara, who is the President of the Movement of Democratic Women. She is known as a lawyer and has intervened many times, including in the women’s movement, regarding issues of violence against women. You also heard earlier from Mrs. A. Diamantopoulou, who mentioned shocking statistics that highlight the magnitude of the problem, particularly concerning domestic violence.

There are indeed very significant problems that women continue to face. However, during the period from the 5th to the 6th congress, as the women’s sector of PASOK, we focused our attention on what we consider to be a priority at this stage. That is, to strengthen the political presence of women and their participation, both in PASOK’s bodies and in Parliament and the Government, as well as in various organizations that exercise policy and make critical decisions.

Furthermore, I remind you that immediately after the elections of April 1999, the European elections followed. It was natural for the sector to focus its efforts on strengthening PASOK in the electoral battle, as well as ensuring a good participation of women on the European ballot, which indeed happened. One-third of the positions that PASOK holds in the European Parliament are occupied by women, a percentage that we do not find in other bodies. This is also aided by the fact that there is a list system.

Therefore, we must reflect on how the electoral system affects the participation of women in political life. I hope that our officials and MPs will consider this, and I see here the head of the PASOK Parliamentary Group in the Greek Parliament, Mr. Kosmas Sfyriou. We mention this so he can hear it too, because in the struggle for women’s rights, we certainly need alliances; we cannot move forward alone. International analyses are being conducted.

In Sweden, where equality has been almost fully achieved, they have a government with an equal number of women and men, and women’s participation in Parliament exceeds 40%. This happened there because men recognized the just demands of women and actively supported them. Here in Greece, we are searching for such men who would truly fight for the assurance of gender equality in political life. We hope to find such men and to broaden our alliances.

I was telling you about the European elections, that there were outreach activities by the sector’s teams with buses, which included the distribution of printed material, meetings with mayors, events, speeches, and interviews with local media, aimed at creating an electoral atmosphere and promoting the positions of the Movement.

Our sector, with teams, visited the regions of Trikala, Karditsa, Larissa, Magnesia, Evia, Fokida, Aetolia-Acarnania, Viotia, Florina, Serres, Eastern Attica, and Piraeus. These were not a few regions, especially considering the limited support these women’s activities received from the Central Party Mechanism.

We published a special pamphlet and posters addressed specifically to women, highlighting key points of the government’s work, the activities of the sector, and European equality policy. We organized an open political event and concert at Freedom Park, and of course, many local women’s initiatives were undertaken, promoted by the regional committees throughout Greece.

A few months after the European elections, we had the parliamentary elections on 9/4/2000, where the sector was also active nationwide, aiming for victory in the elections of 9/4/2000 and the greatest possible participation of women in the electoral lists.

I will briefly mention so we don’t forget and say that nothing was done. We made formal nominations of female candidates to the Central Election Committee and to the Executive Office, with simultaneous and parallel personal representations from the sector’s Secretariat to apply pressure for the endorsement of women. We held a major press conference and presented the female candidates at the “TITANIA” hotel. Those of you who were there will remember it was a very good event.

Outreach activities were also conducted for the distribution of printed materials, interviews, etc. I will quickly read you the regions: Heraklion, Arta, Kavala, Drama, Xanthi, Aetolia-Acarnania, Arcadia, Zakynthos, Cephalonia, Lefkada, Evia, Viotia, Kilkis, Pieria, Trikala, Ilia, Florina, Rodopi, Evros, Trikala, Viotia, Laconia, Cyclades, Heraklion, Thessaloniki, Fthiotida, and the region of Ilia.

Teams were also organized for the preparation of the campaign speeches of the Prime Minister and President of PASOK, Mr. Simitis, in the following cities: Heraklion, Patras, Larissa, Rhodes, Chalkida, Agrinio, Ioannina, Mytilene, Thessaloniki, Kozani, and Pyrgos Ilia. There was also mobilization for the central women’s event with speaker President and Prime Minister Mr. Simitis, at the Peace and Friendship Stadium. After our victory in the 2000 elections, some of you participated in the event we held for PASOK’s victory and the increase in the number of women in the Greek Parliament, which took place at “TANGO” on June 1, 2000.

Regarding other initiatives and events, I remind you that many plenary sessions of the women’s sector were held, with the participation of equality officers from the regional committees nationwide. Approximately ten such plenary sessions took place—I’m trying to count them so I don’t mention them by name. In the plenary session that was held on 26/4/2001, a discussion took place initially on the reform of the social security system.

I would like to announce that we will have the opportunity to discuss this issue in depth at an event, a seminar that I will organize as a member of our Parliamentary Group in the European Parliament, with the participation of women from other European countries, to see what is happening there and how women’s social security issues are being addressed.

This event will take place by the end of the year, and you will receive a relevant invitation because I believe we need to have a significant discussion about what truly benefits women regarding the reform of the social security system.

We also had, and this initiative is becoming relevant now, a collaboration with the Women’s Federation of Iran in October 1999. In fact, a relevant agreement was made for the joint organization of a conference in Athens on the topic: “The Role of Women in the Dialogue Between Cultures.”

We had agreed to hold this conference in 2001, which has been designated—tragically ironically—by the UN as the Year of Dialogue Among Cultures. Of course, this conference did not take place due to the difficulties and the political situation that you know exists in Iran. However, we, as a sector, considered it an opportunity to open a dialogue with women coming from different cultures and religions. Perhaps this collaboration will be realized in the future and will genuinely open a dialogue among cultures.

I believe more than ever, we need this dialogue among women. A delegation from Iran came here to Athens, and we had relevant discussions between the Secretariat of the Sector and the women from Iran.

I would also like to remind you that we submitted two proposals at the Nationwide Conference of PASOK, with the topics “Women and Politics in Greece in 2000,” and the second proposal titled “No to the Revival of Nazism in Europe: A Front Against Nationalism, Racism, and Xenophobia.”

Our sector, I know, has placed particular emphasis on these issues, as Mr. Secretary, Mr. Skandalidis, mentioned earlier. We believe that we, as women, should actively promote the formation of a society where there is absolute respect for diversity—different national origins, different races, different religious beliefs. This dialogue and this struggle, especially after the events of September 11, take on particular relevance today.

Immediately after the elections, we made representations to the Prime Minister and all the Ministers regarding the inclusion of many women in the staffing of organizations, general secretariats, boards of directors, etc. We also reached out to the members of the Evaluation Committee for staff, advocating for the inclusion of women in the staffing of boards of directors. We sent a letter to the President of the Movement’s bodies to protest against the barrage of objections against elected MPs. As you know, five women from the Greek Parliament lost their political seats due to these objections.

I remember from the past, since I have been with PASOK since day one in 1974, there was a time when it was considered completely unethical and improper for an MP who was not elected to contest the election of a fellow party member. Oh, how times have changed. It seems that morals have shifted, and I don’t believe that the women who lost their parliamentary seats had such prominent positions that allowed them to influence the electorate.

A very notable case was that of Ms. S. Sakorafa, as well as Ms. S. Merentidou, who lost her seat in Trikala despite being elected first with preference votes. I would like to remind you of another conference we held with women MPs from Southeastern Europe. We organized this event in collaboration with the political women’s association at the end of September 2000.

We also participated in another event organized by the women’s sector in collaboration with the Friedrich Ebert Foundation of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, titled “Women and the New Challenges for European Social Democracy,” which featured Minister Ms. Kristina Bergmann, responsible for family, senior women, and youth issues, at Zappeion on December 11, 2000.

There was also a visit by a delegation from the women’s sector to the women’s prison in Korydallos, where toys and clothing were distributed for the children and pregnant women. There is a special section in the women’s prison where women who have been convicted of various offenses are housed, but who happen to have babies or are pregnant.

We also provide them with legal support and monitor whether some of them can be released by paying small amounts, which they may not be able to afford, and we facilitate this process.

I would like to remind you that the sector held this event, which was also mentioned by our comrade Mr. K. Skandalidis, on equality and diversity in celebration of International Women’s Day, which had as its central slogan. It is time to open together with inspiration and imagination, dedicated to highlighting and emphasizing the value of renewal, the integration of gender equality in the fight against racism and xenophobia.

In addition to the above, several articles, interviews in the media, and participation of the sector in the events of other organizations, such as the Political Association of Women, the General Secretariat for Equality, and the EKE, should be included. There was also significant participation of the Sector and representation at the meetings of the Socialist International, the European Socialist Party, and many other organizations; I won’t mention them as they are recorded and span several pages.

Now, reflecting and evaluating our actions, how do we assess them, how do we measure them, and how do we judge the degree of implementation of the program? I mentioned from the beginning that we submitted to the leadership of the Movement. We need to make a brief assessment of our actions. We submitted a program of action and developed an activity. What were the results? Because we often say that in politics—and it’s true, that’s how it is—we are judged by the results.

Regarding the PASOK ballot for the European elections, although we aimed for a balanced participation of women and men, we consider it a positive outcome that 1/3 of the positions were given to women. Out of the 9 Members of the European Parliament from PASOK’s parliamentary group today, 3 are women.

Regarding the PASOK electoral lists for the elections on April 9th, our goal of having a list in every electoral district without women’s participation was not achieved despite our efforts and pressures.

However, in these elections, 42 very important women, including those on the national list, participated in PASOK’s electoral combinations and competently sought entry into Parliament. Seventeen women were elected to PASOK’s parliamentary group, compared to six in the previous group, representing an increase of 183.3%.

Unfortunately, however, only 12 of the 17 elected women currently participate in our parliamentary group, as there was a loss of 5 seats, as I mentioned, due to decisions by the Election Courts.

The campaigns we organized with flyers and the mass outreach of the Sector in the provinces had a significant impact on local communities and brought to the agenda the democratic deficit caused by the low participation of women in democratic institutions and decision-making centers.

The mass processes we implemented were highly successful in terms of participation, dynamism, reflection, and proposals that were submitted, resulting in a significant increase in women’s participation in the Movement’s organizations.

I believe that women’s participation overall in the organizations of PASOK exceeds 30%. Therefore, it is very critical to safeguard women’s representation during the elections next weekend, and I urge all of you to collaborate with the Sector this week, so that there is no polling station conducting the elections of representatives that does not have a woman overseeing it, who will work in cooperation with the Sector to protect our percentage.

Some people talk about 20%. This was clarified by Vasso Papandreou and the Secretary earlier. The 20% is a minimum. This means that if there is an organization—which I believe there isn’t—that has only 10% participation of women, this organization must elect 20%. However, we have organizations with 30%-35%-40%-45%, as we have in B’ Piraeus, where women’s participation exceeds 40%. Based on the registered members, we should elect 40%-45% women.

If we take the national average, in my opinion, we exceed 30%. However, we must protect the percentage of women. We need to be present at the polls and with computers to avoid losses. Because the experience we had from the past is very negative.

At the previous Congress, there was a sifting of women downwards. While we had a participation of women across all Organizations at 30%, it reached 20%-21% at the Congress, resulting in only a few women being elected to the Central Committee. 37 women were elected. Today, with an average percentage of 30%, we should elect at least 54 women to the Central Committee.

We must maintain this percentage within the Congress. Because from what I understood this morning, there is a fear that this percentage may be diluted downwards and that the 54 women may not be elected to the Central Committee, or they might say it reached 25% at the Congress, so we’ll elect 25% for the Central Committee. It is our primary duty, we women ourselves, to safeguard our rights.

Let me tell you something that is very easy. You will look for the circular that the Organizational Department sent to the Nomarchies. The circular is very clear and states a minimum of 20%. Because I also participated in a party process this weekend, I read the circular carefully, and it covers us. But in any case, we are making this clarification today.

With the current relevance brought by the internal party dialogue ahead of the PASOK Congress, our Sector today has entered to place the issue of participation and balanced representation of genders on the political agenda in all democratic institutions and political decision-making centers.

The search for the causes and the overturning of the factors that directly or indirectly hinder the equal and balanced participation of women in the economic, social, cultural, and political development of the country must be a fundamental goal and axis of action for the Women’s Sector of PASOK.

In October 2002, elections will be held in Greece for the election of local government bodies. I would like to remind you that today, out of the 54 elected Prefects, only 2 are women, which represents 3.7%, and out of the 1,029 elected Mayors, only 15 are women, which is 1.45%. I inform you that these percentages are not found even in Africa anymore. We are at the bottom compared to almost all the countries participating in the UN.

While we all recognize the decisive role played by local government bodies, there is a lack of interest both from the parties and from the women themselves in pursuing their participation in these important institutions.

It was previously mentioned, and you know that there was a very important initiative by the Minister of Interior, Public Administration, and Decentralization, Vasso Papandreou, with the legislative regulation from Parliament, to ensure a mandatory participation of 1/3 of female candidates—under penalty of nullity of the ballot.

We must make use of this important legislative regulation, this provision, and advocate for our participation in electoral lists and our election to the Prefectural and Municipal Councils.

We must fight for this:

First, we need to persuade women who have a notable presence in the local community to overturn established beliefs and constraints and to dare to challenge their exclusion from political life in practice.

Second, we need to convince the Movement to implement the legislative regulation passed by the Greek Parliament in April 2001 regarding mandatory minimum participation at the level of leading candidates, such as Prefects and Mayors.

Third, we need to convince the electorate that balanced participation of men and women in politics is a fundamental requirement for the progress of any democratic society. Undoubtedly, none of the challenges of our time can be addressed without the participation and contribution of women’s ideas.

Efforts need to be continued and intensified, and legislative and other measures must be taken to achieve what is self-evident: a balanced participation and a fair distribution of all responsibilities and obligations, both in public and private life.

Our sector will continue this effort for the achievement of what is self-evident. Thank you very much for your presence.