Women’s Rights in Mediterranean Countries

SESSION OF THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2002

Women’s rights and equal opportunities in Mediterranean countries

Karamanou (PSE). – Mr. President, I would like to warmly congratulate Ms. Kratsa, both for the initiative to draft this report and for its content and the clear policy proposals it includes.

This report represents a significant contribution to the women of the Mediterranean, who, despite some improvement in conditions over recent years, continue to suffer from discrimination and gender inequalities. Illiteracy, poverty, domestic violence, inadequate healthcare, and low participation in professional and political life are the main characteristics of the lives of women on the southern shore of the Mediterranean Basin. However, the worst of all, and at this point I would like to completely agree with Ms. Bonino, is that women are the primary victims of religious and political fundamentalism, ultra-conservatism, and authoritarian regimes, which largely maintain their power through control over women’s sexual behavior, their way of life, their reproductive functions, and even their manner of dressing.

Undoubtedly, irrationality and intolerance are the main obstacles to both the emancipation of women and the overall social and economic development of these countries. Certainly, the best defense against the forces of regression and intolerance is the strengthening of the secular nature of the state and the rule of law. Our message must be clear: no political system, religious movement, tradition, or custom can be above the respect for the fundamental freedoms of women, human rights, and the rule of law. As long as these basic elements of democratic governance are absent from many Mediterranean countries, hopes for improving the status of women will remain faint, and the resolutions from conferences held within the framework of the Barcelona Process will be without impact.

That is why we urge the European Commission to make use of all the mechanisms at its disposal, particularly in the negotiations of association agreements, to include clear clauses and commitments for the recognition and protection of women’s rights and the principles of the rule of law, as prerequisites for the social development of the Mediterranean countries and the emergence of the Mediterranean Basin as a region of peace and cooperation.