Implementation Gender Mainstreaming in Estonia Anu Laas, Katri Lamesoo Unit of Gender Studies, UT...

Implementation Gender Mainstreaming in Estonia

Anu Laas, Katri Lamesoo

Unit of Gender Studies, UT

Masarykova Kolej, Prague

June 20, 2005

20.06.2005 Enlargement, Gender and Governance (EGG) 2

IntroductionContext: Promotion of gender equality • Equality machinery• Implementation • Knowledge and awareness raisingSurvey data• Civil servants: knowledge, interest, attitude• Interviews: three groups (local leader, national elitist,

executive)• Understanding of gender equality and GM in these three

groups


Key wordsRapidly changing societyNew terms, conceptsPost-communist, post-socialist, post-Soviet, former

state socialist, new democracyOld and new member states• Gender equality • Gender mainstreaming


Equality machinery

• Laws, institution

• Sex segregated data (will be a new regulation)

• Gender studies in two universities (teaching on BA level, research)

• Applied gender research (international projects)

• NGOs (Estonian Women’s Roundtable is a member of the EWL since 2004)


Gender Equality Act• In force since May 2004• Defines indirect and direct discrimination (also

men with family obligation can apply if…)• Defines sexual harassment• Applies on for relations at work • Evidence should be presented by complainant• One case was discussed in the Labour Inspectorate• No one case has brought to court


Implementation

• Maladministration (possible to complain to Chancellor of Justice)

• Lack of regulations in connection with Gender Equality Act

• Gender Equality Commissioner’s position opened in April 2005 (after one year of the act)


Gender Equality Commissioner• monitors compliance…• accepts applications…• provides opinions…• analyses the effect of…• makes proposals to the Gov…• advises and informs the Gov…• takes measures to promote gender equality


Government programmes

• Funded from international agencies and organisations 1994-2003

• Twinning project (Saxon-Anhalt and Estonia)Development of Administrative Capacity of National

Authorities in the Field of Gender Mainstreaming (2004-2005, Phare Twinning Project ES/03/IB/S(O/02

• Survey, ToT, training of 300 civil servants

Survey data


Public opinion about gender equality in Estonia, in 2002, %

25

10

9

34

23

19

25

23

28

8

26

30

8

19

14

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

It is important toassure a genderequality in law

I have metinequal treatment

of men andwomen

Equality betweenmen and womenis an important

problem inEstonia

Strongly agree Agree Hard to say Disagree Strongly disagree


Survey on GM awareness in 2004,n=1012 civil servants, 28% men

• civil servants have prejudices, quite stereotypical views • 75% argues that ‘there is something to do in the field of

gender equality’ • 92% has never participated in ‘a gender equality course’• 72% says that ‘gender is not an issue’ in their work• 60% says that ‘this topic is uninteresting for me’• only 16% is ready to participate in a special ‘gender course’,

the most of them expects a brief training ‘in a frame of other courses’


Perception of words (positive)• Justice – 89%

• Partnership - 81%

• Equality – 72%

• Equal rights – 71%

• Equality between women and men – 51%

• Female politician – 36%

• Feminism – 5%

• Quotas – 3%


Women in science

Professors

Professor extraordinaria

Associate professors Senior researchers Researcher

Teachers Senior teachers


Members of Academy of Science, in 2002


Typical local leader• Gender inequality is not a serious problem • Gender equality affects with sameness (women are not any

more women and men are not men)• Gender equality policy results with loosing politeness

(women are not any more let to enter the first etc)• GM is unknown• Status of legal framework poorly followed• To wait for a ‘natural’ and ‘spontaneous’ change


Typical national elitist• Gender equality policy requirement is imported (abroad,

UN, EU, Nordic Countries)• Gender inequality is not a problem (in Estonia, not serious

problem)• ‘I was never discriminated against’• ‘/---/ but there was …’ (discrimination)• ‘If a person really wants to do career, it is not a problem’• ‘I want to be a woman and I do not like effeminate men’


• GM mostly known as defined by the EU

• GM term is not the best in Estonian

• There is not good suggestion for better one

• A lot of things have been done

• It is important to be careful, and to be patient

• Not to displease opinion leaders, lobbying

Typical executive


Attitudes about gender roles (Estonian Social Survey data 2004, n=1987)

• Factor 1: Committed to family (15% out of all sample). There are no remarkable gender differences, among 15-24 old many supporters.

• Factor 2: Conservatives - Children to women and men to work (14% out of all sample). Among supporters more men than women, people among 26-55, 65+ are very much against this model.

• How old are decision-makers today? Conservative values and rigid render roles are supported


Rotated Factor Matrixa

.385

.641

.624

.359

.561

Woman should beprepared to cut downon paid work for sakeof family

Men should take asmuch responsibilityas women for homeand children

Men should havemore right to job thanwomen when jobs arescarce

Children in home,parents should staytogether even if don'tget along

A person's familyshould be mainpriority in life

1 2

Factor

Extraction Method: Principal Axis Factoring. Rotation Method: Varimax with Kaiser Normalization.

Rotation converged in 3 iterations.a.


Conclusion

• Commitment needed

• Tolerance needed

• Value change needed

• Shared values needed


Unit of Gender Studies

Faculty of Social Sciences

Centre of Behavioural and Health Sciences

University of Tartu

78, Tiigi St.,

50410 TARTU

ESTONIA

e-mail: [email protected] [email protected]

www.zone.ee/sociology/est

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