To mark each International Women’s Day, TEPSA takes some time out to step back and assess the state of gender inequalities in Europe, and look ahead to what further work is needed to achieve greater diversity, inclusivity and equity. Across our network of 49 Member Institutes in 37 European countries, we are proud that so many researchers dedicate their expertise to this crucial theme. We are also proud to foreground the work of women researchers and other under-represented groups in research. The struggle for equality doesn’t start and end on March 8th but continues every day, so stay tuned to our website where we gather all our network’s best research on this and many other topics. In the meantime, take a look at our selected five papers from the last year.
“Violence against women: A public health crisis”
Victoria Pedjasaar, European Policy Centre
In the EU, a third of women over the age of 15 have experienced physical or sexual violence and over half have been sexually harassed. Although often overlooked, the majority of (workplace) violence takes place in the healthcare sector as healthcare professionals are 16 times more at risk of violence in comparison to other occupations. Violence does not only manifest in abusive behaviour toward workers on duty but can also be perpetrated on women as receivers of healthcare. High rates of violence in healthcare, brought on and exacerbated by gender stereotypes and inequality, point to dysfunctional health systems. This Discussion Paper provides policy recommendations on the way forward for the EU member states, taking a closer look at: gender-based violence against healthcare workers; obstetric and gynaecological violence against women; gender-based violence as a story of gender inequality; legislation and policies that protect women.
“Online threats and harassment against women journalists are on the rise”
Maria Žuffová, Robert Schuman Centre, European University Institute
The Media Pluralism Monitor’s (MPM) findings show that gender-based violence against women journalists represents a significant problem across Europe. Although the risk to women journalists’ physical safety has decreased in 2022 compared to past iterations of the MPM, it was evaluated as low in only 11 of the 27 EU countries. The risk was assessed as medium in nine and high in seven remaining EU countries. As the CMPF pointed out two years ago, the lack of empirical data remains the main challenge. Most national governments fail to understand the extent of the issue as they do not collect data on violence targeting media professionals. Moreover, journalists tend not to report attacks and threats because they deny risk to them or do not have trust in their national criminal justice system, among many other reasons. In the absence of data, it is very difficult to propose effective measures to tackle it.
“Kosovo Women’s Political Activism for Greater Representation: Bridging the Gap between Gender and Peace Processes”
Jeta Krasniqi, Istituto Affari Internazionali
At the United Nations (UN) 4th Global Conference on Women, held in Beijing in 1995, Hillary Clinton, who was then the United States’ First Lady and would later become Secretary of State and one of the first women to run for the office of US President, passionately declared that “human rights are women’s rights…. And women’s rights are human rights, once and for all”. This powerful message, delivered in the background of an emerging post-Cold War world order, held a strong promise for change, envisaging a new global agenda for gender equality and women’s human rights. The Beijing Declaration and the Platform for Action, signed by 189 countries and endorsed by numerous NGOs from different parts of the world, established an important link between women, conflict resolution and peace. The Declaration was based on the principle that: “Local, national, regional and global peace is attainable and is inextricably linked with the advancement of women, who are a fundamental force for leadership, conflict resolution and the promotion of lasting peace at all levels”. This conviction would especially resonate with delegates coming from countries in conflict or on the verge of it, and those who had long played an active role in fighting for peace and human rights. Amongst them were also ten women delegates representing Kosovo’s “parallel institutions”/government-in-exile and civil society, who directly contributed to the Beijing Platform for Action.
“The Vulnerability of Women in the Labour Market in Serbia”
Svetlana Stefanović & Maša Vračar, Österreichische Gesellschaft für Europapolitik
Gender inequality exists today in all societies around the world, and it is rooted in the social structure and the traditional division of labour. It is inextricably tied to economic progress, social cohesion, and the advancement of democracy, demonstrating its significance and value. As a result of law, the absorption of a gender perspective into other policies, and the development of particular measures for women’s development, the European Union has made substantial progress in gender equality during the last decades. As the European Union is a global leader in the promotion of gender equality, particularly in the countries aspiring to join the full-fledged membership status, to Serbia as one of the candidate countries the achieving of the gender equality is high on the priority list. Discrimination of women is present in many spheres, especially in the labour market in Serbia. In the labour market it is reflected in a very disadvantaged position for women, especially young women and those 45+. On one side, their participation in the labour market is low, while on the other side, various forms of discrimination at the workplace, gender roles in family and difficulties in balancing private and professional life have been particularly recognised as reasons for that. This Policy Brief will point out the problems that women face in the labour market, present the main causes of the unemployment of young women and women 45+ and also offer some policy recommendations for overcoming them in the future.
“The role of gender as an independent determinant of entrepreneurship (evidence from Poland)”
Dorota Jegorow, Judyta Przyłuska-Schmitt, Tamás Szigetvári, Jaroslava Bučková
The issue of gender in analyses concerning entrepreneurship is part of numerous items, most of which focus on showing the worse situation of women, often equated with discrimination. Qualitative analyzes are often directly linked to a clear predominance of men in the population of entrepreneurs. This study is of a theoretical-cognitive nature. By emphasizing the prevailing gender discrimination, structural inequalities, and lack of consensus within the scientific community, the article contributes to the ongoing discussion on women’s entrepreneurship and the challenges they face. The quantitative nature of the study aims to determine the ratio of women to men engaged in entrepreneurial activities during the social, economic, and political changes that have taken place in Poland over the past three decades. The research problem was embedded in the conception of natural differences between the number of women and men as entrepreneurs wherein the criteria of sustainable development, with convergent entrepreneurial intentions of both sexes.
