The European Experience in Gender Mainstreaming

Kristiina OjulandMember of the European Parliament

March 12, 2011Moscow

"The Civil Service must always have the right to appoint the best man for the job, regardless of sex."☺

Sir Humphrey Appleby

Yes Minister (BBC series)

A. MethodologyA. Methodology

- Survey conducted in face-to-face at respondents’ house

- Fieldwork: 09 February – 06 March 2011

- Population: representative sample of population 15+

- Coverage: European Union 27 Member States

- Number of interviews: 26.724

Special Eurobarometer

A. Methodology

B. B. AgendaAgenda

B. Agenda

II.II. Inequalities between men and womenInequalities between men and women

I.I. Women and decision making positionsWomen and decision making positions

III.III. Violence against womenViolence against women

I. Women and decision making positionsI. Women and decision making positions

Given equal qualifications and skills, do you think that the obstacles facing women in reaching positions of responsibility are significant in each of the

following areas?

(ONE ANSWER ONLY PER ITEM)

1. The obstacles facing women in reaching decision making positions

Community organisations

SMEs

Political parties

Senior levels of public administration

Big companies

Which of the following measures do you think would be most effective in ensuring women’s access to positions of responsibility in enterprises

and high levels of public administration?

(ONE ANSWER ONLY)

2. Measures to ensure women’s access to decision making positions

Which of the following do you think are the reasons why women are under-represented in politics? Firstly? And secondly?

(MULTIPLE ANSWERS POSSIBLE)

3. Under-representation of women in politics

According to you, which of the following would be the most effective measure to encourage better political representation of women?

(ONE ANSWER ONLY)

4. Measures for a better political representation of women

What are the main reasons which would discourage you from voting at next […] elections?

(MULTIPLE ANSWERS POSSIBLE)

5. Reasons for not participating at the next elections

NB: There is no significant difference between men and women

II. Inequalities between men and womenII. Inequalities between men and women

1. Context

Nowadays in the EU, 17% of women are in a precarious situation*:

73% of men are employed compared to 59% of women*; 8% of men have a part time job compared to 31% of

women*; 8% of men live in a household where nobody is working

compared to 10% of women*.

On average, in the EU, women earn 17% less than men**;

In the EU, 45% of people in the labour market are women***.

* Source Eurostat 2008

** This figure was the one at the time of the survey design - November 2010 (Eurostat 2008)

*** Source Eurostat 2009

2. Main reasons for women’s precarious situation

According to you, which of the following are the main reasons for the insecurity which women experience in the

EU?

(MAX. 2 ANSWERS)

3. Measures to reducing the gender pay gap According to you, which of the following measures would contribute most to

reducing the pay gap between women and men in (OUR COUNTRY)?

(ONE ANSWER ONLY)

4. Measures to reconcile Europeans’ private and professional lives

According to you, which of the following measures would be the most effective for enabling Europeans to reconcile their private and working lives

better?

(ONE ANSWER ONLY)

III. Violence against womenIII. Violence against women

1. Context

Currently, when a restraining order - a court decision which prevents someone who is guilty of violence from approaching their victim - is pronounced in one Member State, it is not valid in the other Member States of the European Union…

2. Restraining order in the EU27 Member States

To what extent are you personally in favour or opposed the proposal that a restraining order pronounced in one Member State should be

valid in all EU Member States?

(ONE ANSWER ONLY)

Men

EU27

Women

88%

7%5%

Total 'In favour' Total 'Opposed' DK

89%

7%4%

Total 'In favour' Total 'Opposed' DK

88%

8%4%

Total 'In favour' Total 'Opposed' DK

90%

6%4%

Total 'In favour' Total 'Opposed' DK

Which of the following measures do you think needs to be a priority in a European strategy to eliminate violence against

women?

(ONE ANSWER ONLY)

3. Measures to eliminate violence against women

The European Parliament - % of women Members

• 1952 – 1,3%• 1958 – 3,5%• 1964 – 3,6%• 1975 – 4,9%• 1979 – 16,6%• 1984 – 17,7%• 1989 – 19,3%• 1994 – 25,9%• 1999 – 30,3%• 2004 – 30,2%• 2011 – 34,8%

The European Parliament – Representation of women by Member State

1. Finland 62% (in national parliament 42%)2. Sweden 56% (in national parliament 47%)3. Estonia 50% (in national parliament 21%)…25. Czech Republic 18% (in national

parliament 16%)26. Luxembourg 17% (in national parliament

20%27. Malta 0% (in national parliament 9%)

The European Parliament – Gender distribution in the Political Groups

• Group of the European Peoples Party (Christian Democrats) 34%

• Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats 40%

• Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe 44%

• Group of the Greens/ European Free Alliance 53%• European Conservatives and Reformists 13%• European United Left – Nordic Green Left 28%• Europe of Freedom and Democracy Group 13%• Non-attached Members 18%

Conclusions• This survey shows that, concerning all questions related to

gender equality, men and women tend to react the same way. We can wonder whether this 100th anniversary of the International Women's Day should not be considered a real social step forward that contributes to tackle or reduce effectively the gender gap.

• It confirms that the European trends must be completed by an analysis of national results that can sometimes turn out to be different. Unlike other surveys and common stereotypes relating to gender equality, we don't find regional or logical trends except in Nordic countries.

• It reveals that, among all measures to be taken to achieve equality between men and women, the Europeans favour encouraging measures rather than coercion:

• 30 to 44% of the answers are in favour of encouraging measures ("code of good practice" in the enterprises, fight against stereotypes, measures to encourage women to take part in political life, etc.).  

• Coercion, whether for boards of directors in big enterprises or for the constitution of electoral lists, reaches 19% in both cases.

Thank you!

kristiina.ojuland@europarl.europa.eu