Feminist News: The Good, the Bad and Poland 

24 October 2022

Welcome to the Feminist News, a bi-weekly newsletter brought to you by the European Women's Lobby. For more regular updates about our work and the topics of women's rights and gender equality, follow us on Twitter!

Seat at the table

A long time coming. On Monday 17 October, after ten years of deadlock, the EU Council adopted the first reading position on the directive on a better gender balance among non-executive directors of listed companies in the EU, also known as the Women on Boards directive. This is a historic achievement which ensued after years of advocacy and negotiations.

What's new? By 2026, all listed companies will need to ensure that at least 40% of non-executive board positions or 33% of executive and non-executive board positions are held by the under-represented sex. While there are still calls to extend the reach of the Directive to include the unlisted companies and SMEs, this is nonetheless a huge step forward for women’s rights and one of the main achievements of the Czech Presidency in terms of gender equality.

Feminisation of Poverty

Bills, bills, bills. As the cost of living and inflation keep soaring, women’s poverty is yet again on the rise across Europe. For the International Day of the Eradication of Poverty on 17 October, Mary Collins wrote about why it is urgent to address the structural gendered causes of poverty and social exclusion. Read the article here.

A gendered issue. Poverty and social exclusion are intrinsically gendered. According to Eurostat, there are currently 64,6 million women and 57,6 million men living in poverty in the EU. The pervasive nature of gender inequalities and the uncontested disadvantage of women’s position render them more vulnerable to poverty than men.

Calls from Brussels. The European Parliament recently approved a resolution on women’s poverty in Europe, calling for the EU and the Member States to mainstream gender into all policies and establish adequate measures to guarantee women’s participation in the labour market. The European Commission also released a proposal to Member States to address poverty and promote active inclusion through modernised minimum income schemes.

"No woman, no kraj"

Yet again, Poland. The Human Rights Watch (HRW) issued a report concluding that the Polish government is targeting women’s rights activists and organisations and putting their rights and safety at risk. This news doesn’t come as surprise as the ruling Law and Justice party had been making headlines due to their backlash on women’s rights and extreme conservative views.

Seven years and counting. The report titled "The Breath of the Government on My Back: Attacks on Women’s Rights in Poland,” documents the Polish government’s actions against women’s rights groups and activists ever since their rise to power in 2015. The report outlines the tools and methods used to intimidate, threaten, defund and punish activists and organisations working on women’s rights and gender equality.

Where's the EU? As the affairs in Poland are not showing signs of stopping, the HRW calls the European Union and Members States to hold Poland to account for failing to implement EU policy on equality, women’s rights and violence against women, including the Victims’ Rights Directive.

Black March in support of abortion rights in Łódź, Poland on 2 October 2016. The sign uses the slogan "No Women, No Kraj" meaning “No Woman, No Country.”

Coming up

  • This week, the European Parliament is holding its third European Gender Equality Week. Among other issues, the MEPs will discuss the potential changes to the EU’s founding documents to promote gender equality, in the aftermath of the Conference on the Future of Europe.
  • On 24 and 25 October, the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) is hosting the the first-ever Gender Equality Forum. Watch the second day of the forum live here, and explore this year's Gender Equality Index on the EIGE website.
  • An exhibition titled “Art Herstory: Female perspectives in the European Parliament’s Contemporary Art Collection” will be displayed between 24 October 2022 until 8 March 2023 at the Parlamentarium in Brussels. 
  • The 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) will be held from 6 to 18 November 2022 in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. Learn more about the sessions here.

Beyond words

Author: Marta Dell'Angelo | @martadellangelo

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