Committee on Women's Rights & Equal Opportunities	Brussels, 21.2.2002
Speech by Mrs Anna Karamanou MEP, Chairperson of the Committee

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a great honour and pleasure to speak before you today, in order to give you an idea of the main initiatives of the European Parliament’s Committee on Women’s Rights in order to promote equal opportunities for women and men, not only in Europe but also in other parts of the world.

I had the privilege to be elected Chairperson of this Committee for the second half of this parliamentary term, which will continue until 2004. This parliamentary term has started in 1999, with a European campaign to fight violence against women in Europe. This initiative, which was proposed by our Committee, led to a new Community Programme – called “DAPHNE” – against all forms of violence towards children, adolescents and women, which will last until 2003, and which was introduced jointly by the European Parliament and the Council. Some of the main issues introduced by the Parliament was the importance to sensibilise the public opinion and to give a reference in media to actions against violence against women. The gender blindness which still reigns must be stopped.

Another form of violence against women which has been of growing concern to the Committee is trafficking in women. 500 000 victims of trafficking enter Western Europe annually, and the number of victims is on the increase. Flows from Central and Eastern European countries have dramatically increased, in addition to the already existing flows from Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean and Asia. Our Committee has drawn attention to the globalisation process, which implies rising levels of migration in Europe as well as an increasing prevalence of abusive and irregular situations for thousands of women, among them trafficking, which often implies prostitution of women and girls. For a better understanding of the underlying causes of these phenomena, we invited a young woman from Bulgaria, who had been a victim of trafficking, to tell us about her experience, in a public hearing. We analysed the connection between trafficking, which often implies prostitution of women and girls, and the migration and asylum policies in Europe. In a report on the subject, we pointed out that trafficking in women is an intolerable violation of fundamental rights, and that fighting this “new form of slavery in modern society” should become the first priority in Community action.

Against this same background, we proposed tough measures against female genital mutilation and denounced the brutality of this so-called “traditional practice” which should be considered an offence against the integrity and dignity of women and, therefore, punished. In the framework of the European asylum law, women arriving from third countries should be informed about their rights. Consulates of European countries should, when issuing visas, provide information on the consequences of practising genital mutilation, an information that should also be provided on arrival in the host country. Health professionals, social workers and teachers should also be instructed to provide such information and to play a role for the protection of victims of these acts.

Our fight for a better information to women has covered most areas of the European Parliament action. For instance, before the Euro was launched, we insisted in specific information campaigns to women considering that, in our societies, they are still the ones to deal with daily shopping. We also want gender equality to be a part of every Community policy, and that is why we have been trying to apply and control the principle of gender mainstreaming in all areas of our parliamentary action, a principle that I would like to see turned into reality in the daily work of our committee. Through the opinions that we give on all sorts of subjects, we can mainstream our ideas and goals into all areas of parliamentary action. In this context, we intend to analyse how and if our opinions and proposals are followed and applied by other committees of the European Parliament and turned into reality.

The introduction of a framework strategy for equality in the year 2000 has the aim to gradually change the roles of both women and men in our society. The Committeee welcomed theis initiative by the Commission and it gave its contributions to the elaboration of the fifth action programme on gender equality, which was introduced by the Commission, with the main aim to facilitate the implementation of the framework strategy.

In recent years, our Committee, which includes 40 Members, has drawn up reports on issues like a better representation of women on all stages of decision-making, a field where women still have a long way to go, trying to achieve a better balance between women and men in all spheres of political and professional life. As an illustration, let me mention the weak representation of women in the recently created Convention which will prepare the future of Europe. I find this unbalanced composition a very worrying symbol, as equality of women and men is a prerequiste for the building of a democratic Europe. I have addressed my concern in a letter to Mr. Giscard d´Estaing, President of the Convention.

The Committee insists in equal pay for women and men for work of equal value. An astounding request, I would say, in this beginning of the 21^st century, if we consider that women are still paid less than men are for the same jobs, in spite of all the European laws. In order to change the situation of women in the labour market, we asked for the causes of these inequalities to be studied and for better statistics, taking account of atypical work, which is more widespread among women than men. We also supported the European Commission’s plan to carry out, this year, a campaign on equal pay, which was one of the priorities of the Belgian Presidency of the European Union last automn.

We have been working with the Council on a Commission proposal to update a directive from 1976 on Equal Treatment for Women and Men as regards access to employment, vocational training and promotion. I hope that we can reach an agrement very soon. I hope that the Council will accept the Parliament´s fifteen amendments adopted in our second reading. They include issues such as preventive measures against harassment, as well as protection of persons supporting the victims of harassment, precision of definitions of direct and indirect discrimination, harassment and sexual harassment, no prior exclusion or restriction of access of representatives of one sex to a profession, safeguards to prevent discrimination against parents using their maternity and paternity rights, just to mention some of the amendments by the Parliament.

The new directive will give a wider scope in order to give an impact on all aspects of women´s professional life. Full equality may not be achieved unless there is a better conciliation of professional and private life. Therefore, we insisted, from the beginning, that not only women but also men should not be discriminated against in case they take a parental leave, and that they have the right to return to the same job, and to work in the same conditions as before the leave. Also, Member-States should create specific bodies for Equality in order to protect and assist the victims of discrimination.

Actions of our Committee is not confined to European boundaries. On a more international level, we dealt with the situation of women in armed conflicts an their role in peace and security world-wide. There is a growing international consensus that women should play an essential role in ending conflicts. The old view that women merely are victims or caretakers of soldiers is no longer valid. In a report, we condemn all forms of violence against women during warfare, and addresses rape and other forms of torture against women as war crimes. Assistance and adequate funds should be provided to the victims of rape and assault in a war context. Besides, the gender dimension should be taken into account in the planning of refugee camps. The report was adopted by the Parliament in November 2000. When implemented, it will substantially reduce the barriers and constraints women currently face during and after armed conflicts. Politicians can no longer say that they lack the tools for placing equality at the center of conflict.

A Greek Member of our Committee focused the situation of women around the Mediterranean in a recent report. The report calls for a greater emphasis on the role of women in the Euro-Mediterranean partnership, along with the respect for the principles of political, social and economic equality between the sexes. We believe that the Euro-Mediterranean co-operation policies must enable the situation of women to be addressed in a way that is not conditioned by gender or religious stereotypes, by analysing and studying the presence and role of women in the world today.

The lack of equal opportunities for women and men in Central and Eastern European Countries has also been a matter of concern for our Committee all along the enlargement process of the European Union. Even though some applicant countries have made progress in accepting the current European laws on equal opportunities, much remains to be done. Therefore, adoption of the “acquis communautaire” with regard to equality between women and men must be a sina que non for adherence to the Community. We have also insisted that these countries should be allowed to take part in Community programmes, that women should be better informed about their rights, and that measures should be taken to prevent domestic violence and sex discrimination. Finally, these countries should take action to eliminate all forms of trafficking in women, a problem that has serious repercussions for all European countries, as I said before.

Educate a woman and you educate a family, says an old Mexican slogan. From our point of view, the development co-operation of the European Union towards the so-called Third World countries should take into account the situation of women, as they play a central role in family life and in agriculture in traditional economies. That is why, over the years, we have urged the European Union to focus the situation of women when assisting those countries. As a matter of fact, we believe that funds that reach women’s hands make a difference in the lives of local communities and can play an important role in local progress. Therefore, the improvement of women’s skills and education, in all parts of the world, is one of our priorities.

The Committee is preparing a report on the Commission´s five-year plan of action (2000-2006) aiming at analysing and integrating gender in Community priority development policy fields (economic policy and poverty reduction; implementation of social development programmes in health and eduction; food security and sustainable development; transport; institutional capacity building, good governance and the rule of law; trade and development; regional integration and cooperation), mainstreaming gender in regional an national projects and programmes, and strengthening the Commission´s internal gender capacity. We welcome the programme, which aim is to reduce poverty with a view to finally eradicating it, however, we would like the Commission to submit a formal proposal and a detailed work programme setting out specific operational arrangements, deadlines and financial requirements, as well as qualitativae and quantiative indicators by which to measure achievement. The report will be voted in our Committee next week.

Our Committee was represented at the United Nations in New York, in June 2000, where the follow-up of the Beijing Platform for Action was evaluated. On that occasion, the European Parliament adopted a resolution where the global situation of women was addressed. We noted that many countries have made substantial progress in the implementation process of the BPA, in areas such as human rights of women, violence against women, poverty, reconciliation of work and economic life, education and training, health, role of men, gender mainstreaming etc. However, the Parliament regretted that in some countries women remained oppressed and still lack fundamental human rights, and we expressed concern that total agreement could not be achieved on certain key issues, in particular sexual rights and discrimination based on gender such as mentioned in Article 13 of the Treaty.

Several international events have led us to act, showing our solidarity towards women victims of warfare or world conflicts. For instance, when Afghanistan was under Taliban rule, we invited three veiled Afghan women to tell us about their intolerable situation in the country. We then celebrated the International Women’s Day with the slogan A Flower for the Women of Kabul. The European Union has had the obligation to ensure that the Afghan women are not, yet again, victims. Shifts from deep-rooted conflicts offer a singular opportunity to form the basis for a democratic and equal society, but if the views of 50 per cent of the population are ignored, key ingredients necessary for building a sustainable peace are omitted or overlooked. We insisted in the participation of women in the negotiations for a new government in Afghanistan.

Years ago, we invited women journalists from Algeria to describe us the situation of human and women’s rights in their country. At that stage and on different occasions, Algerian women were the main victims of massive, bloody killings, and serious offences against press freedom and fundamental rights were taking place.

In my first meeting as Chair of the Committee, I put forward my deep concern because of the fact that the rights of women in some Nigerian regions are routinely violated and that current state laws prove to be inadequate and/or not applied. My concern was deeply shared by the Committee, and by the Parliament as a whole. In a letter by Mr Pat Cox, President of the Parliament, addressed to the President of Nigeria, an appeal was presented for the respect of human rights and the rejection of lapidation as a method of punishment which is contrary to all international standards of human rights.

These and other world events led us to look into the situation of Muslim women, in other parts of the world as well as in Europe. As I said before, we addressed the problem of female genital mutilation. But we also analysed the consequences of Islamic law for the lives of women. We tried to find ways of articulating, for instance, Islamic marriage laws with European legislation. Our Committee is aware of the complex situations arising from contradictory laws and cultures in Europe, mostly in the case of women belonging to different population groups. In case of divorce, for instance, or when deciding on children custody, women and families are often confronted with unclear laws, as not all European countries face, for instance, “repudiation” the same way. Therefore, we require common and coherent measures to allow for a better integration of women belonging to minority groups in our societies, in the respect of their fundamental rights.

Thank you very much for your attention.