European Parliament to consider Resolution on ‘Eliminating Gender Stereotypes in the EU’
[Brussels, 05 July 2012] The European Parliament Committee on Women’s Rights & Gender Equality will on 10 July consider a draft report/motion for a Resoltution on eliminating gender stereotypes in the EU.
According to the newsletter of the so-called FEMM Committee: ‘In order to achieve gender equality, the issue of stereotypes needs to be addressed, and the Committee therefore decided to draft a report on the issue. The Rapporteur [Kartika Tamara Liotard, MEP] looks at gender stereotypes in media and education, in the labour market, and in decisionmaking, and gives suggestions for EU actions. The long term aim is to reduce the prevalence of negative gender stereotypes which affect women and men and constrain their opportunities and choices.’
The draft report calls for action from the EU on 18 points:
- Notes that there is a severe lack of progress on honouring the commitments made as part
of the Beijing Platform for Action and stresses the need for new indicators in the area of
gender stereotypes and for analytical reports at EU level, and invites the European
Institute for Gender Equality to address this issue; - Notes that, despite the EU’s commitment to equality between men and women, there is
still a gap in legislation providing for non-discrimination against women and gender
equality in the areas of social security, education and the media, emphasises the need for
new legislation in these areas and calls on the Commission to take the issue of gender
equality into account in all policy fields; - Calls on the Commission and the Member States to use the European Social Fund (ESF)
to combat gender stereotypes in different professions through positive action, life-long
learning and encouragement for girls to undertake studies in fields which are not
traditionally seen as ‘feminine’;
Education and media
- Stresses the need for special career guidance courses in primary and secondary schools
and higher education institutions, in order to inform young people about the negative
consequences of gender stereotypes and encourage them to study for and embark on
careers that have in the past been considered as typically ‘masculine’ or ‘feminine’; asks
that support be provided for any action aimed at reducing the prevalence of gender
stereotypes among young children; - Draws attention to the fact that gender stereotypes in advertising during children’s
television programmes are a particular problem, as they have a potential impact on gender
socialisation and, subsequently, children’s views of themselves, their family members and
the outside world, and stresses the importance of reducing children’s exposure to gender
stereotypes from the earliest possible age; - Stresses the need to run special courses on gender stereotypes in the media for national
advertising standards committees and self-regulatory bodies so as to raise awareness of
the negative influence of gender-discriminatory images on television and in marketing and
advertising campaigns;
Labour market
- Draws attention to the growing concern about the negative influence of gender stereotypes
on the gender pay gap of 16.4 % and calls on the Commission and the Member States to
consider this concern when developing new policies; - Stresses the need for awareness-raising activities in order to inform employers and
employees of the link between gender stereotypes and the gender pay gap, to inform other
stakeholders in society of the fact that gender stereotypes reduce women’s opportunities
both on the labour market and in their private lives, and to encourage transparency in
public and private companies and agencies; - Calls on the Commission to promote quotas in occupations that are traditionally
considered as ‘male’, since stereotypes also come from the scarcity of women in certain
positions; notes that the presence of more women in traditionally ‘male’ occupations will
therefore weaken the prevalence of such stereotypes; - Reminds the Commission that elderly women are particularly affected by the gender pay
gap, as it increases the risk of extreme and persistent poverty once women have reached
retirement age; - Notes that the likelihood of elderly women ending up in poverty when they reach
retirement age will increase as a result of the new EU pension rules; stresses, therefore,
the importance of not supporting any amendments in the White Paper that increase the
pension gap between men and women;
Economic and political decision-making
- Draws attention to the fact that the representation of women in national governments
stood at 23 % in 2009 and welcomes the idea of introducing quotas in order to increase the
number of women in national governments and parliaments, as well as in the EU
institutions;
Other actions
- Calls on the Member States to reflect on their underlying assumptions about women and
men in the labour market, as stereotypes can increase occupational segregation and the
gender pay gap; - Calls on the Commission and the national governments of the Member States to
encourage more research on gender stereotyping and to collect further data on gender
stereotypes by developing more indicators for gender stereotyping; - Calls on the Commission to urge the Member States to honour the commitments made in
the European Pact for Gender Equality; - Encourages the European Institute for Gender Equality and different national gender
equality institutes to promote further research on the root causes of gender stereotypes and
the impact of stereotypes on gender equality, and stresses the importance of exchanging
new ideas and research on best practices with a view to eliminating gender stereotypes in
the Member States and the EU institutions; - Reminds the Commission of Parliament’s resolution of 3 September 2008 on how
marketing and advertising affect equality between women and men, and calls on it to
implement the recommendations put forward in that resolution; - Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission and the
governments and parliaments of the Member States.
Direct Link to Full 10-Page Draft Report:
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/meetdocs/2009_2014/documents/femm/pr/904/904066/904066en.pdf
