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 OVERVIEW OF GENDER EQUALITY ISSUES
IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC
Prepared by Association for Education and Development of Women, ATHENA
INTRODUCTION Gender equality is one of the priorities of Czech
governmental policy. The most important
issues concerning equal opportunities between men and women are as
follows:
- Ageism and sexism. These are the most frequent causes of
discrimination faced by people
seeking employment or those already in work.
- Renumeration. The pay gap between women and men is 25 %.
- Under representation of women within decision making positions.
- Under representation of women in the public and political sectors.
- Discrimination against employees (both men and women) on the grounds of
child-care
or care of a senior relative still exists.
The basic document which guarantees the principle of equality is the
Constitution of the Czech
Republic that came into force in 1993. It includes the Charter of Fundamental
Rights and Freedoms
which declares that all people are free and equal in their dignity and in their
rights. It also ensures
for employees the right to appropriate remuneration for their work.
In 1982 the international Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against
Women came into force.
The amendment to the Law on the Employment (1999) explicitly prohibited
discrimination on
grounds of gender while asserting the right to employment.
The Labour Code prohibits discrimination as well as humiliation of human dignity
in the workplace,
e.g. undesirable behaviour of sexual nature. Moreover, equal right to parental
leave is guaranteed
to both, women and men.
The Law on Salary foresees a duty to pay equal salaries to women and men, if
they do the same
work or the work of the equal value for the same employer.
In 1998 the Government adopted the Action Plan entitled the Government
Priorities and Procedures
for the Enforcement of the Equality of Men and Women. This Plan contains about
40 concrete
measures the implementation of which are evaluated every year in an annual
report.
A proposal of a law on legal means of protection against discrimination
(anti-discrimination
law) is being discussed. The issue has also been raised whether consultancy centres dealing with
discrimination should be established.
GENDER EQUALITY MACHINERY
The gender equality structure (limiting it to the institutions, which are
specifically dealing with
gender issues) is provided in Picture 3.
In the Czech Parliament, there is the Commission for Family and Equal
Opportunities, consisting
of 11 members. One of its tasks is to propose amendments to the laws dealing
with equal
opportunities of men and women and human rights.
Victims of gender discrimination have several possibilities to obtain help. In
2000 the Office of
Public Defender of Human Rights (the official title, the unofficial name is
Ombudsman) in the Czech
Republic was established. The head was appointed by the president on the basis
of a parliamentary
proposal. The main task of this office is to defend persons in relation to the
actions of official bodies
and other institutions listed in this Law, should such actions be inconsistent
with the law, in contradiction
to the principles of a democratic legal state and good administration, and also
in the event of
inaction by these Offices. The Ombudsman is not specialised to defend gender
equality.
At governmental level there are two councils: Council for Equal Opportunities of
Women and
Men and Council for Human Rights.
The most important body concerning equal opportunities is the Governmental
Council for
Equal Opportunities of Women and Men which was established in October 2001 and
started its
activity at the end of the year 2002. The Council prepares proposals promoting
equal opportunities for
women and men. The main activities and tasks of this Council are:
- Negotiating and advising on the basic conceptual directives of the Government
in promoting
equal opportunities for women and men.
- Determining the sphere of priorities for the projects of departments aimed at
supporting the
implementation of equal opportunities.
- Identifying the actual problems in society concerning equal opportunities.
- To evaluate to what extent the principles of equal opportunities for women
and men are
adopted in practice.
The Council has 23 members. The chair of the Council is usually the deputy of
the Prime
Minister. Government appoints the chair and he/she appoints the members of the
Council. Most of
them are deputies of different ministers. Five of them are the representatives
of the non-governmental
organisations focused on equal opportunities. One of the members is the head of
the Czech Statistical
Office, one is the representative of the Employers Union, one is the
representative of the Confederation
of Trade Unions and the last one is a specialist in the field. The Council may
establish committees and
temporary working groups if necessary. The Chair of the Council may request
cooperation from public
officials or independent external experts. The costs of running of this Council
are covered from the
budget of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs.
Governmental Council for Human Rights is an advisory body to the Czech
Government on
issues of protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms, which was
established by the
Government in December 1998. It has 20 members, a chairman and a vice-chairman.
The chairman
of this Council is the authorised representative of the Government for human
rights (the official title).
The Council monitors the observance of the Constitution of the Czech Republic,
of the Charter of
Fundamental Rights and Freedoms and of the other legislative norms. It further
monitors the national
fulfilment of international commitments in the field of human rights and
fundamental freedoms arising
from several international conventions, among others - the Convention on the
Elimination of all forms
of Discrimination against Women. The Council has established the Committee for
Elimination of all
Forms of Discrimination of Women.
At governmental level the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs is responsible
for gender
equality matters. The Ministry has a separate body – the Department for Equality
of Women and Men
which works under the Section for European Integration and International
Relations of the Ministry.
The Governmental Council for Equal Opportunities of Women and Men works under
this Ministry.
Within each ministry there are authorised officials who work on issues of gender
equality.
Each ministry is obliged to work out the programme document called “Priorities
and Progresses in
Promoting of equality of men and women” on an annual basis.
There is no specialised body in the Czech Republic to which individuals may file
complaints on
gender discrimination. Currently discriminated persons should appeal to the
Courts. Help for victims
of discrimination is also provided by NGOs.
Women’s non-governmental organisations. There are two big foundations in the
Czech Republic
which support human rights initiatives including equal opportunities for women
and men –
Open Society Fund (OSF) and National Training Fund (NVF). There is still a lack
of governmental
funding for the activities of women’s NGOs.
Women’s NGOs and a number of non-governmental organisations are active partners
in promoting
gender equality in the Czech Republic. There are several organisations and
associations set
up to promote women’s interests in particular.
The non-governmental organisation Czech Helsinki Committee has implemented a
project
“Advocacy for persons discriminated against on the Labour Market” to offer legal
aid in court
disputes for the victims of discrimination on the Labour Market on grounds of
sex, race, ethnic origin,
health handicap, age or sexual orientation. Other projects include: “Equal – the
Conditions for Harmonisation
of Professional and Family Life – the Partnership in Family”, “Supporting the
policy of Equal
Opportunities on the Labour Market”, “Towards Equal Opportunities”.
The Czech Union of Women is an important organisation participating in many
projects focused
on equal opportunities. The representative of this association is a member of
the Council of Government
for Equal Opportunities of Women and Men. The Czech Union of Women regularly
issues
publications “Methodological Guide for Women”, and “Bulletin” which are focused
on some concrete
issue each time. The Czech Union of Women creates also the website
www.rovnesance.cz on which
a lot of useful pieces of information can be found.
The Czech-Moravian Confederation of Trade Unions (ÈMKOS) has a specialised
Committee for
Equality, which is a permanent advisory body of the Council of ÈMKOS. Its role
is to support the Trade
Unions united in ÈMKOS in all activities and actions promoting equal
opportunities, including those for
women and men. The representative of this Committee is also a member of the
Governmental Council
for Equal Opportunities of Women and Men.
There are around 40 smaller organisations working on gender equality. ATHENA -
Association
for Education and Development of Women – arranges regular advisory meetings for
women and is
also involved in several European projects on gender issues.
No organisation coordinates the activities of NGOs working on gender equality
issues. The
representatives of bigger organisations, such as the Confederation of Trade
Unions or the Czech Union
of Women are lobbying on gender issues by participating in governmental bodies.
Women’s nongovernmental
organisations often work together on different projects.
Gender statistics. Czech Statistical Office collects and processes data on
gender statistics. No specialised publications on gender issues have been published in Czech Republic
yet. All results of
surveys are available on the website of the Office (www.czso.cz). Gender
segregated statistics on
issues concerning women’s employment and occupations, number of children, etc.
are collected.
CHALLENGES TO EQUALITY
There is no specialised gender equality legislation in the Czech Republic. Close
collaboration
between NGOs and governmental institutions may bring some positive changes in
this sphere. It
was impossible to receive financial resources from the European Social Fund
until April 2004, but
ministries have been preparing methodologies to enable initiatives and projects
with a focus on the
issues of gender equality.
Picture 3. Gender equality machinery of Czech Republic
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