Gender and Governance:

The Civic and Political Participation of Women in the EU Candidate Countries

General Introduction on the situation in SLOVAKIA

(Work Package 1, January 2003)

Alexandra Wootlliff-Bitusikova

General information:

Official name: Slovak Republic

Form of State: Parliamentary Republic

Population: 5.38 million (of which 51.4% women)

Area: 49,035 km2

Distribution: 56.9% urban, 43.% rural

Ethnic profile: Slovak (85.8%, Hungarian (9.7%), Roma (1.7%, unofficially up to

10%), Czech (0.8%), other (Ruthenian, Ukrainian, German, Polish)

Religion: Roman Catholic (69%), Protestant (10%), Greek-Catholic (4.1%),

Orthodox, Jewish, Atheists and undeclared (15.9%)

Introduction

Gender equality ? equal treatment for women and men has become one of the fundamental principles of the Community law and the Directives of the European Union. The EU has a long-standing commitment to promoting gender equality, which is an integral part of the EU human rights policies. ?Moreover, equal treatment legislation is a firmly established integral part of the acquis communautaire that countries applying for EU membership have to respect? (Towards a Community Strategy on Gender Equality, 2000).

Slovak Republic as a Candidate Country to the European Union is obliged to follow the EU standards, principles, regulations and Directives if is wants to become the Member of the EU. Although the country has been slowly implementing the gender mainstreaming into the legislation and policies, the practical every day life does not show a lot of progress. Women are under-represented in all areas of political, social and economic decision-making, and inequalities, societal stereotypes and cultural prejudices remain strong in the whole society.

From the history?

Historically, Slovak society has never been a very gender sensitive one. Gender stereotypes have resulted from the traditional patriarchal family values that strictly determined gender roles: women were placed in private sphere, responsible for the care of the children, household, family and religious life. They were not supposed to work or be involved in politics. Men were the main (often the only) breadwinners and the ones who were allowed and expected to enter the public sphere - the ?big? world of politics and public affairs.

The history of the country, culture, religion and ethnicities may have a big influence on gender roles, attitudes, norms and values. For almost 1000 years, Slovakia was a part of the multi-ethnic Hungarian Kingdom (since 1867 Austro-Hungarian Monarchy) and it was known as Upper Hungary. It was a rural country with a strong patriarchal family system and values. Religion also had an impact on gender roles. Roman-Catholicism as a dominant religion in the country predetermined women to be submissive and family-oriented, and did not encourage women to aspire for higher education and work.1 The situation was slightly different in Protestant (Lutheran) and Jewish families that often encouraged girls to complete secondary or even university education (especially since the 19th century).

In 1918 Slovakia became a part of Czechoslovakia. Emancipatory movements that started all over Europe in the 18th - 19th centuries, had an impact on Central Eastern European countries, too. First women?s magazines, books and articles written by Slovak women authors appeared in Slovakia in the 19th century. After the World War I women?s de jure political status and women?s suffrage was recognized and introduced in Czechoslovakia (1919). As the only parliamentarian democracy in Central Eastern Europe, the inter-war Czechoslovak Republic opened more opportunities for women than other countries, partly because of the great authority, the first president of Czechoslovakia, Tomas Garrique Masaryk, who was an active promoter of women?s equality and women?s rights (Siklova 1998: 34).

?to Communism?

Under Communism, the equality of women and men was officially proudly proclaimed in the Constitution of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. In reality emancipation of women or even feminism were considered a bourgeois ideology, hostile to Marxism that put gender-less working class above all other groups or interests. Nevertheless, Communist rhetoric needed to justify the declared equality of women and men. In order to prove it, the government adopted the policy of supporting women?s education and professional careers. Quotas for women students were introduced at the universities especially those attracting more men than women (in the fields like maths, physics, engineering etc.). All women were encouraged to work, but this forced equality resulted in unequal working conditions (Regulska ? Roseman 1998:27). Women became a source of cheap labour required by the industrialization and five-year economic plans. By the 1980s, almost 50% of the work force in Czechoslovakia were the women, which means that about 94% of Czech and Slovak women were employed (Siklova 1993: 75) and most of them full-time (in 1980, only 11.6% of women had the opportunity to work part-time; Kozera 1997: 9).

Women under Communism often considered their job as a necessity, not as a way of self-satisfaction or their personal fulfillment. They were given double burden on their shoulders: they had to manage two full-time jobs ? at work and at home. Behind the proclaimed equality and emancipation from above there was hidden discrimination ? glass ceiling that did not allow women to reach leadership positions. Most of well-paid and attractive positions were open only for men. Positions for women leaders were usually politically related and chosen by the Communist Party. Only a few women managed to reach higher positions thanks to their abilities and skills. However, this hidden discrimination had become broadly tolerated and accepted. A false belief about gender equality in the society aroused among both men and majority of women.

Like in other communist countries, women?s political participation in Slovakia (Czechoslovakia) was very high, but only because it was subordinated by the Communist Party. Quotas for women in all political institutions, celebrated by the Party as a real proof of equality of women and men, were considered by the silent majority as a mere farce, and a few women in top political positions, representing the Association of Czechoslovak Women, became more a target of jokes (treasonable jokes called ?golden bars jokes?, spoken only in private) than of respect. The quota system has been totally discredited during communism. The memory of the unwanted and obligatory quotas given to women ?from above? has remained alive in the society and has negatively influenced public opinions in the later development.

?and to Democracy Building

After the ?Velvet Revolution? in 1989 and the?Velvet Divorce? from the Czechs, in January 1993 the country started to write a new chapter of its history as an independent Slovak Republic. The democratisation process and building the ?nation state? (in the country without an experience of statehood) showed to be more painful and troublesome than expected at the times of the euphoria from the fall of communism. Despite all difficulties and disappointments, set of the last two parliamentary and municipal elections (1998, 2002) proved that Slovakia is a democratic country with democratic institutions and values.

Slovakia applied for the EU membership in 1995. The negotiations started in 1999 and were concluded in December 2002. The latest Regular Report on Slovakia?s Progress towards Accessions (2002) indicates that continuous progress in adopting acquis in most areas has been made. The GDP growth rate shows a slow rise (3.9 per cent in 2002). Per capita income in purchasing power (GDP per head) is 11,100 that is 48% of the EU average (with wide regional differences varying from 39% in Eastern Slovakia to a very high 95% in the Bratislava region).

During the transition period, several legislative steps have been taken to promote gender equality, but implementation and enforcement have been far too slow and insufficient. The gender awareness in the society has risen thanks to a number of non-governmental women?s organizations and journals. After 1989, about 70 women?s initiatives and associations were established, some of them attached to political parties, social movements, ethnic or religious groups or international organisations (Butorova et al. 1999: 303). Majority of them have been based on totally different concepts than the ones women in Western Europe have developed. Women in Eastern Europe did not have to fight for their rights because they gained them during Communism without any struggle. Therefore, most of women and women?s organisations have not found Western feminist theories and intellectual gender perspectives inspiring and interesting, on the contrary, they considered them hostile towards women?s real needs (especially the need of being a good mother and wife). Activities of these organizations have been focused on issues like family, children, education, cooking, needle-work, cosmetics, fashion etc. This direction has been followed not only by small women?s interest groups, but also by the Union of Women of Slovakia that was close to the controversial Meciar?s government (1994-98).

Only a small number of women?s organisations have been trying to change the gender stereotypes in the society and to promote gender equality in all areas of civil and political life: Aspect, Alliance of Women in Slovakia, Pro Choice Initiative, Fenestra, Pro Familia, Professional Women, Association of Women Judges, Feminist Philosophers Club, Women?s Forum 2000, etc. The Centre for Gender Studies has been founded at the Comenius University in Bratislava. Several national campaigns for equal opportunities have been introduced (some of them controversially welcome, e.g. the campaign ?We can do it?). The feminist magazine Aspect (Aspekt) has been providing a discourse on various feminist topics and encouraging an interdisciplinary debate. The specialized feminist portal www.feminet.sk has been bringing structured information on wide range of gender issues. Its ?discussion cafe? attracts hundreds of Internet users, mainly from NGOs, every day and has become a valuable source of information for the public, journalists and politicians.

In spite of these important attempts and achievements, public opinions remain almost unchanged. Childcare, family and housework are still viewed as women?s priority and responsibility. After the fall of communism a number of public figures have welcome the new democratisation and liberalisation as a great opportunity for women to stop working, ?return home? and devote their lives to children and family. As Emilia Kovacova, the wife of the first President of Slovakia Michal Kovac, stated: ?In our society the woman plays two roles: she is mother and at the same time she is the working person ? breadwinner. If the couple has better income and sufficient family allowances, I believe that it would not be necessary for women to work and they could devote their time to their primary vocation ? childrearing. Only this can guarantee the happy future for our country and for the following generations? (Interview in Smena, 21.7.1994, cited by Chorvat 1994). The expected ?return home? did not happen. The family and maternity remain a very important aspect of women?s identities in Slovakia, but it does not stop them working. The opinion that women should stay at home and give up a career to care for the family is strong mainly among older generation, less educated people and residents of smaller municipalities (Butorova et al. 1999: 280).

The economic activity of women remains high, although it has been slowly decreasing since the 1990s. In 1997, women in labour force made up 41.6% of the total labour force in the Slovak economy, compared to 45.5% in the 1980s (Butorova et al. 1999: 290). Though the percentage of women with university education is higher that that of men, in 2000 Slovak women were earning 25% less than men (Bancansky 2002). The decrease in women?s employment and lower incomes has had several reasons. Unemployment as a new phenomenon in the transition country arose to 19% (2002), and the first to lose the jobs are the women as many of them hold less qualified and less paid positions, and they are also considered more ?problem ones? (due to the family duties and childcare). The lack of infrastructure also has an impact on women?s employment. Collapse or high prices of social services (nurseries, kindergartens, cleaning, ironing etc.) force some women to leave their jobs and look after the families.

When looking at the civic and political participation of women in Slovakia, marginalisation of women is deep and obvious. Public opinions prove that participation of women in public and political life is not generally approved and accepted. There is still a wide-spread belief that women should devote themselves to their children and families and they should not ?poke their noses into politics?. This statement is stronger among men and women with lower education, older and rural inhabitants (Butorova et al. 1999: 301).

Women in Slovakia are less interested and less informed on domestic and foreign policy than men. They are not visible in debates on the EU enlargement that results also in the lower women?s support for the integration of Slovakia in the EU (and NATO). According to opinion polls 59% of women support the integration compared to 66% of men (1999). Women with higher education, younger ones, and residents of bigger cities are more supportive of the integration as well as more interested in politics (Butorova et al 1999: 298). It is, however, important to stress that public debate on democratisation and the EU integration has been very limited and inconvincible in Slovakia, and gender perspective has not been taken into account.

Although women represent 51.4% of the Slovak population, their participation in legislative and executive power is still low. The ratio of women to men on the political parties candidates? lists has been increasing with every parliamentary elections (in 1994 it was 15% to 85%, in 1998 17% to 83% and in 2002 23% to 71%), but their position on the lists has usually been low with small chances to be elected (the position indicates the hierarchical order for the parliamentary seats). Compared with 29% of women in the Parliament in 1985-90, the numbers in the 1990s dropped significantly. The percentage of women MPs in the 1990-92 term was 12%, 1992-94 15.3%, 1994-98 14,7%, 1998-2002 14% and in the 2002 elections 22 women (!14,7%) have been elected of 150 MPs, but after some changes (several MPs were appointed to the Government), 29 women (19,3%) are represented in the present Slovak Parliament (2002-2006). NGO Prospecta analysed the role and position of women in the 2002 election campaign. The results showed that political parties presented women politicians at their billboards as equal parters of male leaders, but in fact it was mainly a tool of ?the emotional and intellectual manipulation of the voter? (The Slovak Spectator, 24.09.2002). Several political parties used only the images of a mother with children, old grandmother, woman teacher in a class with Roma children etc. in the campaign. No political party mentioned the problem of under-representation of women in politics. Paradoxically, even the Slovak National Party that is the only political party led by a woman, placed their second woman?s candidate on the ineligible 52th position.

Before the parliamentary elections in 2002, Home Secretary I. Simko introduced a proposal of the Interior Ministry to amend the election law that would secure every third position on the candidates? lists for a person of another gender. This proposal attracted a wide attention of politicians, media and public. Head of Office of the Ministry of Justice and Vice-Chairman of the Christian Democratic Party D. Lipsic critisised the proposal as anti-constitutional and discriminatory because ?it supported stereotypes claiming that certain groups of population are not able to reach success without a legal protection? (SME 12.2.2002). His argument was supported by a number of politicians and journalists. Some male MPs in the parliamentary discussions argued that the proposal was ?discriminatory against men? or ?there are enough women in the Parliament? or ? we let women in politics and some of them even proved us their competence? (E. Rusnakova, SME 2.11.2001). The 3:1proposal was supported by more than 50 women?s organizations in Slovakia as well as by the ?Gremium tretieho sektora? (The Third Sector Association ? an umbrella association of non-governmental organisations), but in the end it was not accepted by the Parliament. In spite of this fact, it opened a parliamentary and public discourse and raised the awareness of this issue.

The representation of women in governments as cabinet members remains very low, ranging from zero to four (1990-91 ? 0, 1991-92 - 2, 1992-94 ? 3, 1994-98 - 4, 1998-2002 ? 2, 2002 ? 0).

The situation is slightly different in municipal politics. The percentage of women mayors in municipalities has been slowly increasing (15,2% in 1994, 17,5% in 1998 and 19,4% in 2002). Women are mainly mayors of small villages, there are only a few women mayors of bigger district cities, and no woman has ever been elected as a mayor of one of eight largest regional cities. The data show that women can identify themselves easier with municipal politics where they feel more familiar with the problems of the community and more useful in finding direct concrete solutions. The fact that as municipal politicians women can stay with the family and harmonise the family duties with the work, is one of the important factors in their decisions.

Generally, the low representation of women in legislative and executive power results from 1. cultural factors (gender roles and stereotypes that place women into private sphere), 2. religion (regions as well as countries with dominant Catholic religion have lower women?s representations than Protestant regions and countries), 3. socio-economic factors (the worse economic conditions are, the bigger the double burden ? work and family ? becomes), 4. political and electoral system in the country (quotas ? non-quotas; proportional representation with larger constituencies; www. feminet.sk, 2.5.2002).

Women seem to participate actively in non-governmental organisations. They prefer their better working atmosphere and space for creativity and flexibility (Butorova et al. 1999: 302). They are significantly present and active in various charities and foundations. According to a survey made by S.P.A.C.E. foundation, 46% of women and 45% of men participated in some voluntary activity in 1997, and 46% of women and 39% of men declared the will to volunteer more (Butorova et al. 1999: 302).

Government policy: Following the recommendations of the 4th UN World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995, National Action Plan for Women in Slovakia was accepted by the Government Decision in September 1997. It identifies the main objectives and actions towards the equality of women and men.

In 1996, the Coordinating Committee for Women?s Issues (KVPZ) was established as an advisory body of the Slovak cabinet. It prepared the Slovak Initial Report on the Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women ? CEDAW (Butorova et al. 1999: 306). In 1997, the National Centre for the Equality of Women and Men was founded as an initiative of the UN Development Programme. Its aim was to established networks and create contacts with international organizations. Both of these organizations failed to meet public and women?s expectations because they served the Meciar?s cabinet as a proof of the interest in gender issues (Butorova et al. 1999: 306, Cvikova-Juranova 1999).

In 1999, the new cabinet of Mikulas Dzurinda established a Department of Equal Opportunities at the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Family. Its objective has been initiating legislative changes and monitoring implementation of regulations and laws (Butorova et al 1999: 307). In 2001 the official cabinet document ?Conception of Equal Opportunities for Men and Women? has been adopted by the Slovak Parliament that has focused on gender mainstreaming approach, encouraging institutions and public organisations to involve more women in public life, affairs and management. The Parliamentary Committee for Human Rights, Minorities and Women has been dealing mainly with proposed legislation on wide range of topics concerning human rights.

It is obvious that ?de jure? gender equality has been improved since 1989, but ?de facto? one is still far behind. The most positive sign of the recent development has not been only new legislation, but also raising public awareness of various gender issues (mainly violence, trafficking, women in labour market and women in public life). The promotion of equality and equal opportunities of women and men becomes more and more a significant and widely accepted phenomenon of strengthening democracy in the Slovak Republic, but there is still a long way to go.

Footnotes

1 According to the census in 2001, 84% of Slovaks consider themselves religious, mainly Roman-Catholic denomination (69%), Protestant - Lutheran and other denominations (15%), Greek-Catholic, Orthodox and Jewish. The number of religious people has increased in 11% since the census in 1991 (73%). During Communism before 1989 religion was not mentioned in censuses.

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