Videoconference PROGRAMME

Topic: State of women in Slovakia and Italy

1. Introduction

2. State of women in  Slovakia

3. State of women in Italy

4. Discussion

5. Gender interractive games

6. Conclusion

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Basic info from the videoconference:

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In 1993, Czechoslovakia separated into Slovakia (or the Slovak Republic) and the Czech Republic. Slovakia is now a multi-party parliamentary democracy. The government of Slovakia has recognized violence against women as “the most extreme violation of women’s human rights.” However, the government has also acknowledged that Slovakia lacks a coordinated national approach to violence prevention or victim protection and assistance.[vii] While the government is taking preliminary steps to address these gaps through the adoption of a comprehensive plan for the elimination and prevention of violence against women (2014-2019), Slovakia has yet to ratify the Council of Europe’s Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul Convention). The Istanbul Convention entered into force on August 1, 2014 - the one we students have asked for in our petition.

Gender Equality

Article 12 of the Constitution of the Slovak Republic declares that "basic rights and liberties on the territory of the Slovak Republic are guaranteed to everyone regardless of sex.” Slovakia has also enacted several laws to promote gender equality and prevent discrimination on the basis of sex. In 2008, the Slovakian government passed the amended Act No. 365/2004 Coll. on Equal Treatment in Certain Areas and Protection against Discrimination (Anti-discrimination Act). The Anti-discrimination Act prohibits direct or indirect discrimination based on sex, harassment, sexual harassment, or victimization of a person based on sex in the provision of social security, healthcare, goods and services including housing, education, and employment. Victims of discrimination may seek civil judicial relief including injunctive relief, equitable remedies, and monetary damages.

The Anti-discrimination Act gives the Slovakian National Centre for Human Rights responsibility for monitoring compliance, collecting discrimination data, providing legal aid to victims, and developing educational programs. The Slovakian Labour Code contains a provision prohibiting employment discrimination, and refers directly to definitions of discrimination in the Anti-Discrimination Act. In 2012, the Slovakian parliament amended the definition of indirect discrimination in the Anti-discrimination Act to include “threats” of discrimination, in compliance with EU requirements. The Anti-Discrimination Act was last amended in 2013 to allow the Slovakian government to pursue gender-based affirmative actions.

The Government Council is responsible for advising on and coordinating human rights efforts through various committees, including the Committee on Gender Equality, which is overseen by the Department of Gender Equality and Equal Opportunities. The Committee on Gender Equality has working groups on the promotion of women’s interests in the economy and labor market, education, and healthcare, as well as a specific group on eliminating violence against women.

Slovakia developed a National Strategy for Gender Equality for the Years 2009 – 2013, in which it describes weaknesses in Slovakia’s implementation of anti-discrimination measures and proposes coordinated solutions. A new National Strategy for 2014 – 2019 has reportedly been developed.

Despite these various government initiatives and legal protections, gender discrimination remains a problem in Slovakia. Many women report being fired from their jobs upon getting pregnant, and the pay gap between men and women remains at 25 percent. Slovakian non-governmental organizations

Italy is ranked amongst the countries in the EU with the lowest gender equality, according to the European Gender Equality Index. Its performance is above the EU average in one area only, namely health, thanks to Italian women’s long life-expectancy. In any other respect the situation is far from being satisfactory. Policies to re-address the gender unbalance have been cautious, while progress in the legal framework has been promoted mainly by Directives coming from the UE or by pressures of the civil society. Italy lacks of a proper gender infrastructure at central level to promote, coordinate and monitor gender-equality initiatives.

Italy:

The gender pay gap is one of the lowest in the EU due the prevalence of highly educated women in the female labour force and a strong system of collective bargaining. A huge gender gap exists in terms of income between retired men and women and no provision is envisaged for re-balancing it. The percentage of women in top decision-making position was dramatically low until recently, both in the public and in the private sector. Improvement is underway thanks to the introduction of mandatory quotas in the boards of companies listed in the Stock Exchange, established in 2011, and in companies owned by the public administration, established in 2013. There are no mandatory gender quotas in the Italian parliament, but there are quotas for local governments where both sexes must be represented. Sexual violence was acknowledged as a 'crime against the person' only in 1996. In 2009, a law introduced stalking as a type of punishable offence.