European Women’s Forum of the Left adopts centenary resolution
[Brussels, 28 September 2011] Following the European Women’s Forum of the Left, which took place in Warsaw, Poland on 26-27 August, delegates adopted a Resolution laying out their demands and recommendations addressed to European Parliament, the Polish Government, political
parties and other political, national governments and academic institutions and
civic organisations.
Preamble
After 100 years of constant struggle for gender equality, the necessity
to redefine women’s political rights appears. Participatory democracy demands
women’s activity and conscious participation in all areas of public life.
The enhancement of civil rights has always been an important issue for the
leftist organizations. New possibilities for women’s participation in public
sphere, gained due to the socio-political transformation, form a base for
alignment of existential opportunities and enable women to access top
positions, beforehand occupied by men exclusively.
Recalling rules proclaimed in the Polish Constitution, which recognize the
inherent dignity, worth and equal and unassignable rights of all members
of the humanity as the foundation of freedom, justice and recognizing the full
equality of rights between men and women in all spheres of life as an essential
element of democratic development:
We declare:
Discrimination is a shame of democracy. Moreover, women’s absence in
the public area in many ways: historically, socially, politically, philosophically
is the evidence of political omission.
These are facts which preclude democratic participation over half of European
community.
We therefore invoke: European Parliament, the Polish Government, political
parties and other political, national governments and academic institutions and
civic organizations for a coordinated, mutual support and cooperation in order
to increase women’s participation in decision-making areas, both politically
and economically.
We point out the most important problems of poverty and the feminization
of poverty, violence against women, rights of women restrictions and their
civic participation, making the left-wing groups, and other responsible for
solving these problems through their political agendas and social control.
Women are disproportionately affected by the results of transition and economic
crisis, and their disability and marginalization in this area exacerbate the
phenomenon of the feminization of poverty, the consequence is exclusion: social,
political and civil;
Download the full text of the Resolution here.
