March 8: A day for women

To celebrate the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day, European Women’s Lobby experts will be online on Facebook today from 10:00 to 12:00 and from 16.00 to 18.00 to discuss questions related to women’s rights and gender equality in Europe. It is a great opportunity to share ideas, ask questions and engage in a dynamic and transnational discussion.

The European Women’s Lobby is the largest umbrella organisation of women’s associations in the European Union, working to promote women’s rights and equality between women and men. It represents more than 2500 organisations across Europe.

The International Women’s Day was commemorated for the first time on 19 March 1911 in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland, following its establishment during the Socialist International meeting the previous year. ?In 1975, during the International Women’s Year, the United Nations began celebrating 8 March as International Women’s Day. Two years later, in December 1977, the General Assembly adopted a resolution proclaiming a United Nations Day for Women’s Rights and International Peace to be observed by member States.

The International Women’s Day celebrates the economic, political and social achievement of women. Recent decades witnessed a significant change in society’s attitude towards women in Europe. Still there are many inequalities between men and women: for example, women are still under-represented in decision-making. Only 35% of Members of the European Parliamentare women, up from 30% in 2004 and only 16% in 1979. Only 3% of the presidents of the 100 largest publicly quoted European companies are women. As for women’s economic independence, the average hourly pay gap between women and men in the EU is 17.5%. In the scientific research area, it stands in average at 25% in the EU. The EU average employment rate is around 75% for men but 62.5% for women (between 20 and 64 years).

In the field of violence against women, one in five women has been a victim of domestic violence in her life. Finally, 60 % of new university graduates are women in the EU but women represent only 18% of the professors in public universities (data provided by the EWL).

www.womenlobby.org