The Law of Gender Equality in European Countries - Essay Example

The Law of Gender Equality in European Countries The existing laws guarantee the rights of gender equality for women in all European Union countriessince 1957. But there are reports that the implementation of these laws has not been fully operational in many establishments in EU. Several studies points to the gap in equality of pay that needs to be reviewed in this topic. This study will look into reports of inequalities, reasons, and depth of implementation of the laws. The importance of women’s rights on equality of pay and opportunities is an economic as well as political issue, that findings from this research will be useful information for policy makers. 1. Introduction. The law on gender equality is being imposed by the 21 members of the European Union since the Treaty was signed in 1957, and has since then become a vital segment of the EU Law. However, according to Professor Bruno de Witte (2006), the European Court of Justice found out that the EC Treaty did not specify a “general equality clause” and has implemented the law according to the “common legal traditions of the member states”. This lack of definite equality clause required a written amendment to the existing provisions of the EC Treaty. Written provisions were later incorporated in the EC Treaty of Amsterdam which has become the legal basis for implementation of gender equality and discrimination in all European member countries. (Witte, Bruno, 2006) The developments of equality law and its implementations in European Union will be discussed in this part of study. . 2. Development of the law What is the law? Article 13 took effect in 2000 and has been incorporated in the EC Treaty. Article 13 has defined the framework of equality and anti-discrimination acts in European Union. The law gives equal rights to men and women irrespective of “racial or ethnic origin, religion and belief, disability, sexual orientation and age, covering the workplace, education, healthcare and access to goods and services. (European Commission) From 1970 to 2006 nine important Acts and 11 regulations have been passed as legislations in the Parliament that pertains to equality of people. (Equality and Human Rights Commission) These Acts are Equal Pay Act 1970 Sex Discrimination Act 1975 Race Relations Act 1976 Disability Discrimination Act 1995 Human Rights Act 1998 Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 Civil Partnership Act 2004 Disability Discrimination Act 2005 Equality Act 2006 The law defines discrimination as “classifying people into groups and treating them differently and becomes unlawful where it is practiced against a particular group that is protected by law.” (Equality and Human Rights Commission) The law has classified the following acts as discrimination, such as: direct and indirect discrimination, victimization, harassment, not making reasonable adjustments, instructions and pressure to discriminate and segregation. There is a direct discrimination when for example an employer requires applicant to have a particular color of the skin. An indirect discrimination example in employment is requiring that applicants must have height requirements of over six feet tall, which most likely disqualify women. Another example that could be given is in victimization, when an employee, after complaining to the employer, is denied of opportunities for promotion. Sexual harassment, threats on someone’s job security, and a deliberate blocking of someone’s opportunity for promotion are some examples of harassment. Segregation is also considered a form of discrimination. It is the act of physically separating someone from others because of their gender, ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, disability, belief or religion. 3. Implementation Several steps were taken by the EU to support the implementation of the Equality Law. First, is the information drive wherein EU funded research projects and information drive to inform the people of their rights and obligations on EU law on equality. The drive “For Diversity against discrimination was launched to inform the public about the law and its benefits to the labor force in the workplace and to the society. Second, EU supported the civil society organizations representing people with discrimination problems in Europe. Third, training of people took place. People who were placed in charge of the implementation of the EU directives participated in the “Progress Program” about anti-discrimination, a series program which ended in 2000. 3 4. Evaluation After all the programs were set in place, EU made an evaluation of its impact to the people. Presented in capsule form are the actions done by EU to promote campaign against discrimination and for equality. Declared 2007 as the European year against discrimination and for equality 430 national actions and over 600 events were organized to spread the message and have reached an estimated 400,000 people More Europeans have been made aware of their equality rights and anti-discrimination practices thru various debates done Articles about equality issues were accessed by about 328 million citizen in publications, newspapers and magazines 900,000 people visited the EU websites EU survey showed that up to 37% of Europeans are now aware of their equal opportunities. Source: European Commission Body of network. Coordinated effort established thru a network composed of member EU states was created in 2006 to take charge of promoting, analyzing, and monitoring of implementation of the law between countries (European Commission) 4. Impact of the EU law. 4.1. Membership of women in union leads to better incentives and pay. On the part of labor unions, ITUC Global Gender Report said that membership of women in union membership leads to better incentives and better pay. This report also concludes that women with higher education tend to have higher than male counterparts, and that pay gap increases with age. (ITUC-CSI-IGB)) 4.2 Gender pay gaps still exist in EU Several reports have disclosed that despite efforts done for the effective implementation of the equality law, gender gaps still exists in many member EU states. For instance, Svetla Dimitrova, a reporter for Southeast European Times, disclosed the disparities in employment opportunities, wages and political representation for women in nine Central and European Countries. The incidence gap, report noted, appears to be biggest in Bulgaria, Estonia and Slovakia where women are paid 25 percent to 30 percent less than the men. The laws and regulations in the country, report said, is not a guarantee that women will be given equal opportunities for employment in accordance with the EU standards and norms. (Dimitrova, S. 2005) The report concluded that the laws covering equal opportunities for women have been implemented in the region, but “the level of implementation of legislature measures remains very low”. Inequalities in employment, political representation and wages were found to be present in the working status of women. One of the respondents in this study said “that the laws are alright, but it is not implemented in their daily lives.” The study done for the National commission for the Promotion of Equality (NCPE) reported that there is a gender pay gap in Malta of about 23.25%. This figure is relatively higher with pay gap of 3.6% set by the National statistics Office. The reason ascribed to this gap, according to the NCPE is no longer the scope of the laws, but rather on the women’s domestic and childcare responsibilities. In addition, the gap also comes from the occupational segregation and discrimination. This study, which is done by Anna Borg, Center for Labour Studies, concluded that women should not remain burdened with the conflict of family responsibilities and conditions of work to be able to participate in equality of labor market. Report said that these things matters as it bears relations on the career prospects of women and subsequent earnings.(Borg, Anna. 2008) In Denmark, Guardian Co. UK, reported pay discrepancy rising from 11% in 1994 to 15% in 2001. According to this report, the European Commissioner for Employment, Vladimir Spidla, noted an absurd situation that must be changed. This observation is based on the fact that girls do better at school, but are not given equal opportunities for work. He puts the blame on pay gap on domestic issues such as the need of women to take care of household and family, and discrimination. An EU survey showed that “77^ of Europeans believed more women are needed in senior management positions, while 72% want to have more female members in the national parliaments.” (Guardian Co.UK). In Germany, reports said that based on EU statistics, Germany is one of the countries having the largest gender wage gaps in Europe. Report said that wages paid to German women are 23 percent less than men. This figure is above the 17.4 percent average level of wage inequality in the 27 member countries. (Phalnikar, Sonia, 2009) Trade Unions The International Trade Union Confederation, reported on March 8, 2009, coinciding with the International Women’s day, that pay inequality worldwide may be much higher than official figures of government. It has estimated a pay gap of up to 22% rather than the 16.55 official figures of government. This estimate was based on survey results of some 300,000 women and men in 20 countries. (ITUC, 2009) The 79th ITUC women’s conference in Scarborough calls for the need of a mandatory pay audit in the private and public sector to find out the depth of implementation of the law. Louise Nousratpou who reported on the outcome of this conference, said that women unionists believed ,voluntary pay audit is not effective, and that government should not exempt private sectors doing contracts with the government. (Louise Nousratpour. 2009)) Comment and discussion. The widening gap of gender pay remains to be an issue in spite of efforts in minimizing the incidences of non compliance among European member countries. Assurances of the law is not enough since reported cases in the Tribunal Courts grow in number and unresolved cases stay in the courts for many years. In the meantime, women are aggrieved in their place of employment. Suggestion coming from the Trade Union of pay audit implementation among the private sector to make it mandatory instead of voluntary may be considered as this is one way of evaluation. Higher education has been suggested for women to avail of opportunities for employment and increasing their income. This is also one way of eliminating discrimination because women will be equipped with necessary qualification for the job. The laws are alright, but observations gathered are that they are lacking in implementation and this is one aspect that needs immediate reform. References Borg, Anna. (2008, Dec.) Study reveals significantly higher gender pay. Centre for Labor Studies. Retrieved March 30, 2009 from gaphttp://www.eurofound.europa.eu/ewco/2008/12/MT0812019I.htm De Witte, Bruno. European Equality Law. Retrieved April 3, 2009 from http://www.iue.it/LAW/ResearchTeaching/Seminars20062007-II/European%20EqualityLaw. Dimitrova, S. (2005, May 16) Report Highlights Gender Equality Problems in Eastern Europe. Retrieved March 30, 2009 from http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/features/setimes/articles/2005/05/16/reportage-01 Equality and Human Rights Commission. Effect of European Law on Equal Pay. Retrieved March 30, 2009 from http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/foradvisers/eoclaw/eoclawsco/equalpay/isthereanequalpayclaim/pages/effectofeuropeanlawonequalpay.aspx European Commission. National Equality Bodies. Retrieved April 3, 2009 from http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=642&langId=en - - - 2007 European Year of Equal Opportunities for All . Retrieved April 3, 2009 from http://ec.europa.eu/employment_social/eyeq/index.cfm?page_id=18 Equality and Human Rights Commission. What the law says. Retrieved April 03, 2009 from  guardian.co.uk, (18 July 2007) No change in Europes gender pay gap. Retrieved March 31, 2009 from http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2007/jul/18/pay.business ITUC-CSI-IGB – International Trade Union Confederation. New Report Shows Global Gender Pay Gap Bigger Than Previously Thought Retrieved March 30, 2009 from http://www.ituc-csi.org/spip.php?article2799 http://www.ituc-csi.org/spip.php?article2799 Nousratpour, Louise. (2009, March 11) Women vow to fight gender pay inequality Retrieved March 30, 2009 from http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/index.php/news/britain/women_vow_to_fight_gender_pay_inequality Phalnikar, Sonia. (2009 Feb. 23) German Gender Wage Gap Among EUs Largest, Figures Show. D.W. World. De- Deutsche- Welle Retrieved March 30, 2009 from http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,4050865,00.html Read More