Luana Hazan

Drake ID: 100384110

Women’s rights and the social representations of gender equality within the
countries of the European Union

By: Luana Hazan*

I. INTRODUCTION

II. HISTORY AND BACKGROUND OF EUROPEAN FEMINISM

A. The Liberalization of Abortion: Simone Vei and, The Role She Played

B. The Female Political Rising in The European Union and The Unmatched Social and

Economic Progress

III. THE FUTURE

A. Future Goals

B. Recommendation Towards Achieving Gender Equality in Social, Work and Economic

Environments

IV. CONCLUSION 1

1
* Master 2 Droit international et Européen des Droits Fondamentaux, Université de Nantes,
France. Exchange student, Drake University Law School, 2022.
 I. INTRODUCTION

Women and girls are leaders, bringing about change, caring for others and helping to keep the

peace. Despite the massive changes in society, women and girls still need to fight for their rights.

What progress have we made and what remains to be done to continue the fight for equal rights?

1848 marked a real turning point for women's rights with the convention of Seneca Falls, where

women activists began to claim their civil, political and religious rights. In 1893, the New Zealand

address a message to the activities of all other countries. It is possible through advocacy to obtain

equality in voting rights.

At the dawn of the 20th century, women around the world mobilize, in 1911, Austria, Denmark,

Germany and Switzerland celebrate the first international women's day in Europe. In 1927, the "All

India women's conference" meets for the first time to campaign for gender equality.

In Japan in 1911, the writer Raicho hiratsuka challenged traditional female roles2. Women's place

in the workforce was rapidly changing, opening up new possibilities beyond traditional female

roles.

In the United Kingdom in 1951, Rosalind Franklin pioneered the theory of the double helix.

In 1945, the United Nations was created in response to the destructive results of the two world

wars. In 1948, Eleanor Roosevelt oversaw the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human

Rights. Along with other advocates, she emphasized the place of women's rights in the text for the

world to see, thus laying the foundation for rules and standards for women's rights. On an

international scale.

2
She founded, in 1911, the first Japanese women's literary magazine "Bas Bleu", in Japanese
Seitô (青鞜), In the early years of the magazine, she provided answers to women's problems,
including sexuality, chastity and abortion. The journal quickly gains notoriety, but several issues
run into state censorship.
In 1946, the Commission on the Status of Women was created, in 1975, the first World Conference

on Women was held. 1975-1985 marked the United Nations Decade for Women.

The CEDAW: "the international declaration of women's rights” is established in 1979. In 2010, it

is the creation of UN Women3.

In 1960, Sirimavo Bandaranaike became the first woman in the world to be elected Prime Minister

of Sri Lanka. As women gained historic leadership positions in government, local women activists

joined the world order, establishing themselves as a model of feminist resistance.

The year 1960 also marked the advent of the Mirabel sisters' activism that inspired the social justice

movement4. In 1975, more than a tenth of Iceland's population went on strike to demand equal

pay.

In 1992, the Guatemalan Rigorberta Menchu became the first indigenous woman to win the Nobel

Peace Prize.

This new momentum reached its peak in 1995, when the Fourth UN World Conference on Women

and the Beijing Platform for Action brought together more than 189 countries and nearly 17,000

participants. It presented a visionary global plan for the rights of women and girls.

Despite all these advances, as we enter the 21st century, the stigma of patriarchy persists, yet

exemplary leaders emerge to counter it.

3
The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, or simply UN
Women, is an agency of the United Nations (UN). It was created to "promote gender equality and
the empowerment of women worldwide
4
Committed Dominican lawyer, Minerva Mirabal (1926 - 1960) stood up with her sisters María
Teresa and Patria against the dictator Rafael Trujillo. All three paid dearly for their commitment
and became martyrs for freedom
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf became the first woman to be elected head of state in Africa in 2006. With

the rise of the digital age, social media is proving to be a crucial tool for encouraging people to

fight injustice.

Notably, the #BringBackOurGirls movement5 was launched in 2014 to draw attention to the

kidnapped Chibok girls. In 2014, the Pakistani Malala Yousafzai became the youngest recipient of

the Nobel Peace Prize.

The emergence of movements on social networks bear fruit and some battles are even won, in 2017,

in Tunisia, Jordan and Lebanon, laws allowing to marry the one who was raped to avoid going to

prison are repealed.

But where are we today? a quarter of a century after the Beijing declaration, women and men must

still mobilize to overcome the obstacles that remain to gender equality and women's lives.

Gender-based violence is still a reality, access to health care is still a problem, as is wage inequality.

So is equal participation in political life.

In 2020, of the 7.8 billion people on our planet, 3.9 billion are women. That is 49.6 percent of the

world's population that still suffers from gender inequality.

Since 1965 and the first presidential elections of the Fifth Republic in France, only 12 women have

run for the highest office of the state, compared to 58 of their male competitors, while many laws,

5
On the night of April 14 to 15, 2014, 276 high school girls, were abducted by Islamist fighters,
known as "Boko Haram", during a raid in the town of Chibok, in Borno State, Nigeria. The girls
are forcibly married to fighters and held for years in the Sambisa forest, the jihadists' sanctuary.
Of the 276 abducted high school girls, 57 managed to escape shortly after the raid, 107 were
released in 2016 and 2017 after negotiations between the Nigerian government and Boko Haram
and 112 are still missing.
such as that of June 6, 2000, impose parity in list elections6. Whether in political parties, in the

National Assembly, or in the Senate7, the higher the positions are, the less women are present.

However, in Europe many countries are led by women. Chancellor Angela Merkel has led Europe's

largest economy, since 2005. She was the first woman to hold this position in Germany and has

been named the "most powerful woman in the world" by Forbes magazine several times.

In Croatia, 51-year-old conservative Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic has been president since 2015, a

largely honorary position8.

In Denmark, Social Democrat leader Mette Frederiksen formed her government in June 2019,

becoming the youngest prime minister9 in the country's history at 41. In Estonia, Kersti Kaljulaid,

a former member of the European Court of Auditors, became Estonia's first female president in

October 2016. finally, in Slovakia, liberal lawyer and anti-corruption activist Zuzana Caputova,

inaugurated on June 15, 2019, is the first woman to win the Slovak presidency. Although a political

novice, in March 2019 she had largely defeated the ruling party's candidate. But, even if many

women have reached political leadership positions, the real impact this has had on women's daily

lives is less. Whether socially or in the workplace, many inequalities remain in place. And the

evolution of morals does not seem to follow the evolution of women's power in politics.

This paper will examine how social and economic gender equality remains elusive for European

women. Part two of this paper will analyze the history of feminism in Europe, from 1974 and the

6
Law no. 2000-493 of June 6, 2000, to promote equal access of women and men to electoral
mandates and elective offices.
7
This despite the text of law, No. 2014-873 of August 4, 2014, for real equality between women
and men, yet in force.
8
She handed over her position on February 18, 2020 to the social democrat Zoran Milanovic, who
defeated her in the second round of the presidential election on January 5, 2020.
9
In Denmark the position of prime minister is the highest political office in the country.
abortion liberalization. Part three will address how political gains have not been matched by social

and economic progress. Part four will examine, what is missing for the gender equality,

recommended by the European Human Rights Declaration and by numerous legal texts

accompanied by multiple jurisprudence, to be effective. In conclusion, I will offer my thoughts on

about the changes to come and more specifically about what needs to happen to bring about the

desired changes.

II. HISTORY AND BACKGROUND OF EUROPEAN FEMINISM

A. The Liberalization of Abortion: Simone Veil and, The Role She Played

In 1974, Simone Veil gave a speech on abortion at the National Assembly: "We can no longer close

our eyes to the three hundred thousand abortions that every year mutilate the women of this

country, that flout our laws and that humiliate or traumatize those who have recourse to them.

[…]. I am not one of those who fear the future. The younger generations sometimes surprise us in

that they differ from us; we ourselves have raised them in a different way than we were raised. But

this youth is courageous, capable of enthusiasm and sacrifice like the others. Let's trust them to

keep life's supreme value. ".

Simone Veil was born in Nice on July 13, 1927. She was 16 years old when she was deported,

because she was Jewish. As a survivor, she always remained vigilant. With the war, her father lost

the right to work. In March 1944, she passed her baccalaureate with false papers, the day after, she

was arrested by the Gestapo. Her father and brother were deported to Lithuania. For her, her mother

and her two sisters, it was Auschwitz. Simone Jacob became “78651”. After her miraculous return,
she studied at the Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris10, then at the Faculty of Law, and became a

magistrate. Attached to the penitentiary administration, her reputation grew when she lent her

talents as a legal reformer to the legislation on child adoption.

She then met Antoine Veil, her husband. Her political career did not really begin until 1974 when

she was appointed Minister of Health by French President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, in order to

resolve the thorny issue of legalizing abortion. She kept this position until 1979. On that date, on

the occasion of the first elections to the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage, Simone

Veil headed the list of the Union for la Démocratie française (UDF)11. She was nominated as the

Liberal group's candidate for the Presidency of the Parliament. On June 17, she was elected

president in the second round by 192 votes. She thus became the first woman to hold this position.

During her term of office, she strongly and energetically defended her supranational conceptions

and developed her action on subjects that were particularly close to her heart. In particular, she

contributed to making the European Parliament known to European public opinion and to

improving its somewhat dull image. Furthermore, it develops contacts with third countries by

engaging the institution in the logic of an enlargement of the European Union. Antoine Veil was

also involved in politics and met Jacques Chirac. In 1975, when J. Chirac became prime minister,

he called her to make her his health minister. Her first battle was with the law on voluntary

interruption of pregnancy, legalizing abortion. A complicated confrontation, first in the street, with

thousands of opponents, even in the lobby of her building.

10
According to the QS ranking, Sciences Po Paris is ranked second in the world in political
science and international relations in 2020, just after Harvard, ex-aequo with Princeton, and is
thus the leading European university in these fields.
11
The Union for French democracy.
Simone Veil left her mark on the fight for women's rights. On November 26, 1974, while Minister

of Health, she presented her bill on abortion to the deputies. On January 17, 1975, the Veil law

legalizing the voluntary interruption of pregnancy was promulgated. Until then, abortion for a non-

medical reason was a crime, punishable by prison. Here is a look back at the struggle that led to

the adoption of this law.

April 5, 1971, the call of the 343: The battle for the right to abortion began long before Simone

Veil joined the government. The issue divided society. On April 5, 1971, 343 women demanded

the right to abortion in: "One million women have an abortion every year in France... I declare

that I am one of them.” Simone de Beauvoir, Delphine Seyrig, Catherine Deneuve, Françoise

Sagan, or Jeanne Moreau writes. The manifesto accelerated the fight for women's rights, in the

streets but also in court. In October 1972, during the trial in Bobigny, Marie-Claire, 17 years old,

is judged for having had an abortion following a rape.

The mobilization is strong. Defended by Gisèle Halimi12, the young girl was finally acquitted. Her

mother, on the other hand, will be condemned to a fine of 500 francs for complicity in abortion and

the person who performed the abortion, to a one-year suspended prison sentence.

On December 13, 1973, a first attempt is failed, the National Assembly examines a bill of the

Messmer government, carried by the Minister of Health, Michel Poniatowski, authorizing the

interruption of pregnancy "in case of risk for the physical, mental or psychic health of the woman,

12
Gisele Halimi born in July 27, 1927 in La Goulette in Tunisia and died July 28, 2020 in Paris,
is a lawyer, feminist activist and politician Franco-Tunisian. A figure of feminism in France, she
was the only lawyer to sign the manifesto of the 343 in 1971, she founded the movement " choose
the women's cause", alongside Simone de Beauvoir and Jean Rostand.
of a high risk of congenital malformation or of a pregnancy consecutive to an act of violence". The

text is finally rejected by 225 votes against 212.

The 28th of May 1974, Simone Veil joined the government. Until then, she had held the position of

Secretary General of the Superior Council of the Judiciary and was little known to the general

public. As soon as she arrived, she was asked to prepare a new bill on abortion. On November 11,

1974, the text was submitted to the Council of Ministers. The Veil bill authorizes the interruption

of pregnancy before the tenth week on simple request to a doctor. But the text does not foresee that

the act is reimbursed by the Social Security. It would take another ten years. On November 26,

1974, the text was presented to the Assembly. On the first day of the opening of the debates in the

Assembly, Simone Veil gave her speech in a very tense atmosphere: "I would like to share with

you a conviction of women. I apologize for doing so in front of an Assembly made up almost

exclusively of men: no woman resorts to abortion out of the goodness of her heart."

Among the 64 speakers who took the floor during the twenty-five hours of debate, the most virulent

opposition came from the right-wing political party (in power at the time). The left-wing approved

the principle of the project, but several deputies will bitterly discuss its modalities.

The law that still bears her name today is adopted, because all the left-wing opposition voted for

it. Only one third of the right-wing supported it. In 1979, she leaves the government to lead the

right-wing list at the European elections. But the extreme right did not leave her alone and came to

disrupt her meetings constantly, she said to Jean Marie LePen 13"I have survived worse than you,

you are nothing but SS with small feet". In spite of everything, she won this election and became

13
Former deputy of Paris and president of the Front National (the extreme right-wing party)
group in the national assembly during the VIIIth legislature.
the first president of the European parliament. She then returned to French politics as Minister of

Health for Edward Balladur. While supporting the former President of the Republic Nicolas

Sarkozy, she criticized the creation of a Ministry of National Identity. This did not prevent three

residents of the Republic from attending her induction into the French Academy. The liberalization

of abortion will have been one of the biggest fights of Simone Veil but also of all women. Because

abortion is not just a procedure to terminate a pregnancy, it is the resumption of the right to dispose

of one's body as one's own property.

According to Linda Gordon14, four historical phases can be distinguished in the movements for

individual fertility control in the United-States. The first occurs in the second half of the nineteenth

century, and more particularly in the 1870s; the slogan that sums up the movement is that of

“voluntary motherhood”, and the dominant paradigm at that time, which is criticized but constitutes

the inescapable reference, is Malthusianism.

A second surge took place in the years 1910-1920, with reference to two dominant paradigms,

eugenics and socialism, and with the slogan of “birth control”. The third phase, from the 1940s

onwards, was carried out under the auspices of “family planning”, the dominant paradigm being

population control. The final phase begins in the late 1960s, with the slogans of “reproductive

rights” or, more broadly, “reproductive freedom” and control over one's own body15.

14
American feminist and historian. She won the Marfield Prize for Dorothea Lange: A Life
Beyond Limits, and the Antonovych Prize for Cossack Rebellions: Social Turmoil in the
Sixteenth-Century Ukraine.

15
L. Gordon, 1990, On the latter phase.
It is important to specify that the Veil law decriminalizes abortion only for therapeutic reasons or

when the woman concerned is in a situation of “distress”. And the woman concerned is therefore

the only one who can assess this distress, which makes the restriction rather formal. The

Constitutional Council declared the law to be in conformity with the Constitution with a rather

formalistic reasoning implying implicitly that the fetus is not protected by the Constitution since it

does not mention it explicitly 16. Against the advice of the deputies who had referred the matter to

the Councill it refused to rule on the compatibility of the law with article 2 of the European

Convention on Human Rights, which states that “the right of every person to life is protected by

law”.

The European Commission and the European Court of Human Rights adopted a half-hearted

reasoning. They specified that the fetus could not be recognized as having an absolute right to life,

which would apply even when the mother's life is in danger: therapeutic abortions are thus justified,

but without specifying whether a limited right to life is granted to the fetus or whether Article 2 of

the Convention does not concern it.

At the same time, the Strasbourg Court has so far rejected appeals seeking to invalidate legislation

penalizing or restricting abortion17. The European courts have interpreted Article 2 of the

Convention in different ways: to mention only these examples, the Austrian Constitutional Court

16
(Decision 74.54 of 15/01/1975).
17
Brüggemann and Scheuten v. Federal Republic of Germany, admissibility decision of the
Commission of 16 May 1976, Report of the Commission of 12 July 1977, Resolution 32 of the
Committee of Ministers of 17 March 1978; X v. United Kingdom, R. 8416/79, 13 May 1980;
Open Door and Dublin Well Women v. Ireland of 29 October 1992, A246/66.
held in 1974 that the fetus is not concerned, whereas the Constitutional Court of the Federal

Republic of Germany came to the opposite conclusion the following year.

However, the European Convention on Human Rights explicitly recognizes in Article 8 that

“Everyone has the right to respect for his or her private and family life”, and the European Court

of Human Rights has so far rejected attempts to justify the right to abortion on this basis on various

grounds18. As a consequence, some countries of the European Union still prohibit abortion like

Malta19 or Poland20.

This is why Simone Veil's success in her fight for abortion is a major step forward because ten

years later, she also made it free and accessible to everyone through the social security system.

This advance, although phenomenal with regard to women's rights, remains however very

contrasted with the economic and social advances which mark a great distortion between the power

of women on the political scene, their role in society and their place towards men.

B. The Female Political Rising in The European Union and The Unmatched Social and

Economic Progress

18
Open Door and Dublin Well Women v. Ireland; Brüg- gemann and Scheuten v. Federal
Republic of Germany.
19
In Malta, abortion is totally prohibited, regardless of the situation. Offenders, women who have
had an abortion or doctors who have performed an abortion, risk up to 3 years in prison.
20
In Poland, abortion is only allowed in cases of rape, incest or danger to the life of the mother
since January 2021. After attempting to ban it completely in 2016, the government restricted it by
removing the possibility of abortion in cases of severe fetal malformation, which concerned 90%
of abortions in the country.
The under-representation of women in politics in senior positions is a global issue. Nevertheless,

the desire for greater parity is prevalent in many European Union governments. Even today, soon

in 2022, many western countries are still behind on women's rights and although women are more

and more present on the political scene, this advancement does not seem to correspond to what is

actually happening in social and rural areas.

As pointed out in the introduction, many women have leadership positions in Europe. But parity is

still far from being respected at all levels. The World Economic Forum's annual report21, published

in 2021, examines the representation of women in politics across countries by three criteria. First,

the percentage of women holding seats in parliament. In cases where there are two houses, only

the lower house is considered. Second, the percentage of women who hold ministerial positions.

And finally, the number of years that a woman has been the head of the country in the last 50 years.

In terms of legislative power-sharing, no European country can boast complete parity, although the

Scandinavian countries come close with 43.6% of women in parliament in Sweden and 42% in

Finland. Spain and France are next, with 39.1% and 39% respectively.

Ireland is the only European country to have had a woman at the head of the country for more than

20 years in the last 50 years. France is only 14th in the ranking, with Edith Cresson, the only woman

to have become head of government in 1991 and still for less than a year, 10 of the 28 member

states have never had a woman head of state or government.

21
Global Gender Gap Report march 2021
In 2021, the report states that in the United States, women will occupy only 42% of executive and

management positions; in France, 34.6% and in Italy 27%. Italy is therefore the big loser with this

extremely alarming score. This suggests even greater inequalities in rural areas or in the workplace.

If in governmental and parliamentary assemblies, symbol of justice and equality, such figures are

real, what about equality in social areas?

We will focus on France and Italy to report on these disparities. Of just under 62 million Italians,

about 51 million live in urban areas, while 10.7 million live in rural areas, about 17% of the total.

In France, 49.4% of the female population lives in the countryside22.

In France as in Italy, two types of women stand out. The first, those living in the city and working,

The second, those living in the suburbs and/or in the countryside and taking care of the house. In

France, the sociologist Yaëlle Amsellem-Mainguy has studied women who come from rural areas.

thanks to her study, she can affirm the strong will of these young girls and women to achieve

economic independence23. She also describes the strong will to leave the rural environment in order

not to be locked in and stereotyped. Indeed, girls from the countryside are not like girls from the

city. From their youngest age, the girls are put at contribution, they help their parents with the work,

often farmers, dressmakers, bakers, or any other manual trade.

This heritage, most often, they want to get rid of it, go to the city to study and become independent.

But this has a cost. The first is financial, it takes money to move to the city and study at the

22
INSEE, 2018.
23
The local girls,Yaëlle Amsellem-Mainguy, Presses of Science Po, 2021
university. Although the public university is almost free in France24, housing is expensive and so

is the cost of living in the city. The second cost is the one that weighs on the parents, they lose the

help that these girls brought. Moreover, the villages are most often formed in communities, which

means that when the girls leave, we lose the babysitters, the animators, the little hands that help

with all the daily tasks. Finally, for those who have made the trip to the city, another problem arises.

After the studies, the access to the job market is restricted. And for good reason, many families in

the metropolis have relations, acquaintances who facilitate their children to find work.

In 2008, the United Nations created the International Day of Rural Women to promote and

strengthen their political and socio-economic autonomy. Celebrated on October 15, this day has

little impact in France, even though inequalities between women and men are greater in rural areas

than in urban areas.

The UN and the FAO emphasize the importance of women in rural development, food production

and poverty eradication: they represent 43% of rural workers worldwide. In France, rural women

own a quarter of the farms and represent 32% of agricultural workers. However, the High Council

for Equality between Women and Men, in a 2014 report, highlights a more unfavorable situation

for women in rural areas than in urban areas, more precarious jobs, difficult access to

entrepreneurship, lack of information about the rights of farmers' spouses and more complex access

to health and mobility.

24
170 euros for a year in the Bachelor's program; 243 euros for a year in the Master's program;
601 euros for a year in the engineering program; 380 euros for a year in the Doctorate program.
These are derisory sums when compared to the price of a year of study in the United States.
In 2019, the report Femmes et ruralité (Women and rurality) by the Centre Hubertine Haubert25

agrees with this and highlights the intertwining of gender and territorial inequalities. Thus, the lack

of childcare facilities is to be correlated with part-time jobs, mobility issues can force

underemployment and if women are more educated in rural areas than nationally, they experience

a lower employment rate due to lack of opportunities or social determinism.

To improve the condition of women in rural areas, it is therefore necessary to respond to issues of

territorial equality in terms of access to rights and services, by focusing on the needs of women.

More broadly, these inequalities could have their source in the information and training offered, as

the guidance and education offer are more limited and less mixed in rural areas than in urban areas.

The progress of gender equality in our rural territories depends in particular on facilitating the

access of women to management positions. However, even today, parity is not an obligation for

municipalities of less than 1,000 inhabitants, which results in an under-representation of women in

inter-communal decision-making bodies. Of the 18 regions in France, only four have a woman as

president. In this context, one of the ways to respond to this low representation in local politics is

through elective standards.

Another lever for action exists, the role model of local elected women to encourage the political

participation of their peers in their territory. The support and promotion of networks of elected

women and business leaders can reinforce the visibility of women who act in their territory and

facilitate their participation in school or association events, aimed at broadening current

representations.

25
French center for woman and men equality. Fun fact, the center is located rue Simone Veil in
Paris.
Women continue to benefit less than men from rural employment and face new challenges related

to the current economic and food crises, according to a new United Nations inter-agency report on

the gender dimension of agricultural work. The report "Gender Dimensions of Agricultural and

Rural Employment: Differentiated Pathways out of Poverty," tells us that while gender inequality

varies considerably across regions and sectors, overall it appears that women benefit less from rural

employment than men, whether in self-employment or wage employment.

In addition, beyond other challenges related to gender disparities in rural employment, the recent

food and financial crises have slowed the progress made in increasing gender equality and

achieving decent work for women in the agricultural and rural sectors in recent years.

As a result of job losses and reduced public spending on social infrastructure and services, women's

domestic burdens and unpaid work intensify, and their financial contribution to household food

security is likely to decrease, the report says. This situation is particularly dramatic when women

are heads of household.

Published jointly by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the

International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the International Labor Organization

(ILO), the report identifies factors that put women at an economic disadvantage, including

employment (occupation and tasks), segmentation (over-representation in low-quality jobs),

gender income inequality, and fewer paid hours for a heavier overall workload.

As an example, the report notes that in developed and developing countries, the gender wage gap

is not explained 90% of the time. In other words, the gap is attributed to gender discrimination.
Their rise in agricultural activity, now rapid because of the increase in their own numbers and the

decline of men, has not, however, brought equality, either in terms of income or recognition.

Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, who recently took over the reins of Italy, has promised to

work hard to catch up on gender inequality. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and

Development has calculated that only one in two Italian women is in the workforce.

This is about 20% less than the average for European countries. This is only slightly better than

Turkey and Mexico. And the problem has become more acute with the pandemic. Some 312,000

women lost their jobs in 2020, according to official Italian statistics26. This is more than double the

number of men who lost their jobs (132,000). As elsewhere, Italian women have borne the brunt

of health restrictions. Many had to leave their jobs to care for children who were no longer in

school, and many others lost their jobs. But Italian women face an additional handicap: entrenched

mores that dictate the primary function of women. "It's not that woman shouldn't work, but they

shouldn't neglect the home," sociologist Chiara Saraceno told the Associated Press in an interview

about working women during the pandemic. A habit that Prime Minister Draghi seems to want to

shake up. In the name of gender equality and economic recovery.

Italy will receive $325 billion from Europe to support a post-COVID economic recovery. The

Prime Minister promises to use some of those billions to improve women's chances in the labor

market.

26
ISTAT (Italian Statistical Institute)
This includes building day care centers and nursery schools. These facilities are only half as

common in Italy as elsewhere in Europe, says Antonella Inverno27. With these funds, we hope to

approach the European average. The researcher is also calling for longer paternity leave and

mechanisms to target discrimination in hiring women or future mothers. Even today, it is not

uncommon for a job applicant to be asked about her maternity plans.

In France, wage inequality is such that this Wednesday, November 3, at 9:22 a.m., women began

"working for free" until the end of the year, due to persistent wage inequality, according to the

feminist newsletter "Les Glorieuses," which is calling on the presidential candidates to close this

gap. This symbolic date and time were calculated, as every year since 2015, from European

statistics28 on the wage gap between women and men in France.

According to the Ministry of Labor survey of 40,000 French companies with more than 50

employees, only 6% of companies pay equal wages to their employees. For companies with 1,000

employees, only 1% of them are exemplary.

These wage gaps reflect the differentiated distribution of men and women in employment29.

In the light of these statistics, we can then ask ourselves whether the emergence of female political

leaders is not in reality an illusion. Moreover, it is thanks to the charter of fundamental rights of

the European union that European women can claim compensation from their countries for non-

compliance with laws against gender inequality to the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the

European Union.

27
Head of Childhood and Adolescence Policy at Save the Children Italy
28
Eurostat
29
Women are less often managers than men and more often occupy low-skilled positions
Article 23 states that: "Equality between women and men must be ensured in all areas, including

employment, work and pay. The principle of equality shall not prevent the maintenance or adoption

of measures providing for specific advantages in favor of the under-represented sex".30 The first

paragraph of this article was based on Articles 2 and 3(2) of the EC Treaty, now replaced by Article

3 of the Treaty on European Union and Article 8 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European

Union, which require the Union to promote equality between men and women, and on Article

157(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.

It is inspired by Article 20 of the revised European Social Charter of May 3, 1996 and point 16 of

the Community Charter of Workers' Rights.

It is also based on Article 157(3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and on

Article 2(4) of Council Directive 76/207/EEC on the implementation of the principle of equal

treatment for men and women as regards access to employment, vocational training and promotion,

and working conditions.

The second paragraph takes up, in a shorter form, Article 157(4) of the Treaty on the Functioning

of the European Union, according to which the principle of equal treatment shall not prevent the

maintenance or adoption of measures providing for specific advantages in order to make it easier

for the under-represented sex to pursue a vocational activity or to prevent or compensate for

disadvantages in professional careers31.

According to the council of Europe, equality between women and men is essential for the protection

of human rights, the functioning of democracy, respect for the rule of law and social well-being.

30
Official Journal of the European Union C 303/17 - 14.12.2007.
31
In accordance with Article 52(2), the second subparagraph does not amend Article 157(4).
Also, the work of the council of Europe32 in the areas of human rights and gender equality has led

to the adoption of a comprehensive set of legal standards has led to the adoption of a comprehensive

set of legal standards and policy guidelines for the advancement and empowerment of women and

for the achievement of substantive equality between women and men in the member states of the

organization and beyond.

One concern, however, is that under international law, member states cannot be forced to support

this strategy, or the treaties related to it unless they are parties to each of the treaties. That is, even

as a member state of the European Union, not all of the Council of Europe’s action plans will be

formally imposed on them unless those policies are based on treaties to which the states are parties.

Will the rise of women in politics eventually lead to a shift in women's power in the workplace, to

greater equality in wages and working conditions? In order to do so, many objectives remain to be

reached, starting with the legislative side.

III. THE FUTURE

A. Future Goals

In France, all companies with 50 or more employees must be covered by an agreement on gender

equality in the workplace, or at least by an action plan, in order to avoid a financial penalty of up

to 1% of the payroll33. Companies that are not covered may not bid on public contracts. Since the

32
The Resolution and Action Plan adopted at the 7th Council of Europe Conference of Ministers
responsible for Equality between Women and Men, "Bridging the gap between de jure and de
facto equality to achieve genuine equality between women and men" (25 May 2010, Baku,
Azerbaijan) and the Declaration of the Committee of Ministers "Making gender equality a reality
between women and men", adopted in Madrid, Spain, on 12 May 2009.
33
French Labor Code Article L. 2242-8
Rebsamen law of August 17, 2015, this mandatory annual negotiation must also cover the quality

of life at work. In the absence of a company agreement on professional equality, the mandatory

annual negotiation on actual salaries must also address the programming of measures to eliminate

pay gaps and differences in career development between women and men34. The UDES35

agreement of 27/11/2015 recalls in its article 10 the preference of the social partners to sign an

agreement rather than the establishment of an action plan. In October 2019, a woman from Nantes

(France), who felt she had been paid less than a man throughout her career, managed to have her

former employer convicted by the Prud'hommes36 of Nantes (Loire-Atlantique).

This woman who worked for 41 years at Generali Vie, an insurance company, as an operator, has

thus obtained the sum of 161,000 euros in damages for discrimination because of her sex and her

two maternities.

At that time, she was earning 2384 euros gross per month. A colleague hired a year after her, in the

same position, with the same classification, earned 2770 euros. And throughout her career, the

employee received very few individual raises despite very good evaluations from her superiors.

Generali contests any discrimination and has decided to appeal this decision considering that the

amount of damages awarded is “unusual and disproportionate”.

Since the "Ponsolle" case law of October 29, 199637, the employer is obliged to ensure equal pay

for all employees of either sex, provided that the employees in question are placed in an identical

34
French Labor Code Article L. 2242-3
35
Union of employers of the social and solidarity economy
36
The French labor courts
37
Cass. Soc, 29 October 1996, n°92-43.680
situation. The Labor Code governs the manner in which work of equal value is to be assessed38. It

is necessary to rely on a comparable body of professional knowledge.

In this case, the judgment does not use the expression “equal pay for equal work”. However, the

judges rely on this procedure and leave no doubt as to their intention to apply this principle.

It should be added that this comparison must be made through the prism of duties actually

performed and that belonging to the same professional category as provided for in the collective

agreement "is not sufficient in itself"39.

In order to do so, and with regard to article L.1134-1 of the Labor Code cited by the CPH40, “the

employee must present factual elements suggesting the existence of discrimination41”. This allows

for an in concreto assessment by the trial judges. The employer must also prove that his decision

is justified by objective elements unrelated to any form of discrimination. This is a reversal of the

burden of proof.

In this case, the employee considered herself to be the victim of triple discrimination. She relied in

particular on factual elements by comparing her salary and classification with her colleagues hired

at the same time. The whole thing diverges. The employer defended itself by pointing out that the

statute of limitations had expired42.

38
French Labor Code Article L. 3221-4
39
Cass. Soc, March 6, 2007, n°04-42.080
40
The French labor courts
41
Cass. Soc, July 6, 2010, n°09-40.021
42
French Labor Code Article L. 1134-5
The judges then considered that the employer had not provided "exhaustive elements of

comparison" nor "elements justifying that there was no discrimination" while giving "erroneous

elements". They declared the employee a victim of discrimination and rejected the employer's

argument regarding the statute of limitations. The statute of limitations only runs from the time of

"knowledge of the reality and extent of the damage"43. In this case, at the time of the delivery by

the employer of the elements of comparison ordered by the CPH in summary proceedings.

The fight against discrimination is a matter of public policy. Nevertheless, this fight seems difficult

given the importance of proof and the isolation of victims in this type of litigation.

Employees have the means to take action. The production of pay slips, for example, has already

been ruled not to be a violation of privacy or business secrecy if there is a legitimate reason and it

is necessary to protect the rights of the party who requested it.

This case highlights a fact that is far from isolated, the discriminatory treatment of women in the

workplace. The employer's failure to comply with this principle may have serious consequences.

Indeed, damages in more than one respect may be awarded, and even the termination of the

employment contract may be at the employer's fault.

First of all, damages for discrimination may be awarded to the victim. Their amount is calculated

by the judges based on the "CLERC" calculation method. This method allows for the evaluation of

the prejudice suffered by the employee according to the so-called triangulation method, which

consists of multiplying the annual salary difference by the number of years of discrimination that

have elapsed and dividing the whole by two to take into account the progressive nature of the

43
Cass. soc, 19 December 2012, n°10-20.526 10-20.528
effects of the discrimination44. Secondly, damages to compensate for moral prejudice may be

claimed. In this case, based on the Labor Code45, the judges ordered the payment of €5,000 in

damages even though the employee's professional recognition had never been explicitly

questioned. This must be the consequences of the pay gap.

Also, damages for breach of a company agreement (CA) can be claimed when a CA on professional

equality between men and women exists. In this case, the CPH ruled that the employment contract

had not been performed in good faith by the employer46 and required the payment of €5,000 in

damages for this.

Finally, in case of breach of contract by the employer, the employee may request the judicial

termination of his employment contract. This termination of the contract will result in the effects

of a dismissal without real and serious cause, namely the granting of various indemnities. In this

case, a CA modifying the working hours was concluded on June 1, 2018. The employee refused its

application. The Company should have taken into account the employee's refusal. For the CPH,

this is a serious breach preventing the continuation of the employment contract.

This case is part of the current situation regarding the pay gap between men and women introduced

by the Law on the Freedom to Choose one's Professional Future47.

Indeed, in view of the still unjustified wage gap percentage, all companies since March 1, 2020

have to calculate an index based on several criteria, including "the gender pay gap". If a certain

threshold of 75% is not reached, corrective measures will have to be put in place. If not, penalties

44
Cass. soc, March 23, 2016, n°14-23.753
45
French Labor Code Article L. 1152-1
46
French Labor Code Article L. 1122-1
47
Law n°2018-771 of September 5, 2018, for the freedom to choose one's professional future
will be imposed48. This is a statement of an obligation to achieve results which should make

companies think about working towards equal pay for men and women. This decision is one more

step towards equal pay and therefore the power of women at work.

B. Recommendation Towards Achieving Gender Equality in Social, Work and Economic

Environments

Discrimination against women limits both their economic productivity and their personal

development. Women need access to education, training, credit, markets, technical assistance and

job protection. They need equal and guaranteed access to land and other assets. And they need

"social capital," including the opportunity to be on an equal footing with men in farmers'

organizations.

The report, "Gender Dimensions of Agricultural and Rural Employment: Differentiated Pathways

out of Poverty," provides insights into areas that could be improved.

First, the enormous economic contribution of unpaid work must be recognized and measures taken

to reduce and redistribute the burden of domestic work. The question of a domestic allowance or

wage can be discussed to re-evaluate the status of women in the home.

Public works programs can promote gender equality in rural employment, especially when the

beneficiaries are truly involved in their design, so it is important to involve more and more women

48
"Index of professional equality: calculation and Questions/Answers" (French Ministry of
Labor)
in the design of public works. To do this, only the legislative aspect can make it possible by creating

a law of parity in the public works sector.

Promoting quality female education in rural areas and reducing gender disparities in primary and

secondary education will improve women's access to decent work. The quality of education and

guidance needs to be improved in rural areas, and many educational changes need to be considered

to promote opportunities for rural women to pursue longer education and careers. Also,

agribusiness jobs are not to be overlooked, but their understanding of women's inclusion requires

some modification.

Non-traditional agricultural exports can create quality jobs for rural men and women, but women

in particular are vulnerable to lax enforcement of labor standards. Again, new legislation could

provide a better framework for women's working conditions in rural areas.

A complementary set of policy measures is needed to address these many gender disparities in rural

employment. Measures must include legal reforms that promote: gender equality; social protection

schemes; support for farmers', women's and youth support organizations; childcare programs;

education; and improved access to information and the labor market.

The United Nations has proposed a Decent Work Agenda, which emphasizes the creation of better

jobs, social protection, universal application of labor standards and the promotion of equitable rural

institutions.
 IV. CONCLUSION

In the 21st century, many women are now in positions of power in Europe. Women are leaders in

Europe, prime ministers, governors, chancellors and presidents. The positions they hold have long

been those of men and their arrival in political power shows the way to an exceptional evolution

and progress. However, many disparities are to be noticed in Europe and more particularly in

France and Italy. As we have been able to demonstrate, these two countries are still under the

influence of traditionalist and sexist values that prevent de facto egality. This is why many

inequalities still persist, salary, social, and economic. Many rural women are under-valued, and

underpaid. Although this could be explained by mentalities and discriminations, it seems obvious

that many changes are to be made.

As we have seen, Europe is active in this field, through the European commission, the European

court of human rights, and the European convention on human rights.

It is thanks to the European Union Charter of Fundamental Rights that European women can claim

compensation from their countries for non-compliance with the laws against gender inequality in

the European Union Charter of Fundamental Rights. But morals are hard to change, and if we

cannot change mentalities, we can change the laws, provide the legislature with more gender

equality, parity at work and in high responsibility positions in companies and in governments. A

new legislative framework could allow women from all walks of life, rural and urban, to increase

their chances of reaching positions of power like European women in the political arena.