Subject: Social discrimination against women has increased under the restrictive measures taken to contain the pandemic
The restrictive measures taken to contain the pandemic have accelerated the trend towards a dissolution of family and professional life for working women, with lay-offs, increasing unemployment and the generalisation of flexible work, including teleworking and job rotation. Responsibility for this development lies with the EU, national governments and employers. Working women have had to bear an even greater of the responsibility for caring for children and the elderly, which instead of being a social right is treated as an individual or family matter.
The public health systems are unable to meet fixed or emergency needs due to their underfunding and commercialisation, and this is having additional consequences for women, especially pregnant women, who have had to pay the exorbitant cost of the necessary examinations.
In this climate of generalised fear and insecurity, of the barbarity of an exploitative society, reprehensible and unacceptable attitudes towards women, such as domestic violence, have intensified.
How does the Commission view demands that:
1. Flexible working relationships should be abolished, wage and employment rights secured (especially maternity leave and leave for bringing up children, etc.) for all women employees, regardless of the form of employment, and funding and staffing provided for state-run facilities for pre-school childcare, for the encouragement of child creativity and for care for the elderly and the disabled;
2. The cost of all medical, preventive and diagnostic tests for women, especially pregnant women, should be borne by the State;
3. State funding should be secured for government services and infrastructure to prevent violence against women and support abused women, by recruiting a full complement of specialised staff on permanent and stable work contracts work, without the involvement of NGOs or Social Cooperative Enterprises (KOINSEP)?
Answer given by Ms Dalli on behalf of the European Commission
(7 September 2020)
The Commission monitors the gendered impact of the coronavirus pandemic, and supports Member States in addressing gender aspects of lockdown and recovery measures.
The European Institute for Gender Equality (1) shows women are more likely to hold precarious or flexible jobs (27%) than men (15%). This reinforces the importance of the Commission’s initiatives to increase employment and social protection rights in all employment and maternity care.
Important in that regard is the implementation of the Work Life Balance Directive (2), and the European Pillar of Social Rights (3) provides a further framework for social rights, for instance in the areas of gender equality, long-term care, childcare and support to children.
To address effects of lockdowns, the Commission has invited Member States to ensure protection to victims of domestic violence and to continue implementing their EU obligations, notably the Victims’ Rights Directive (4). The strategy puts strong emphasis on support to victims of gender-based violence in the EU.
It also supports Member States’ efforts on health systems’ capacity to deal effectively with health needs and on access to safe and quality healthcare, under the conditions set by national law.
⋅1∙ Gender, skills and precarious work in the EU: Research note, 2017, available at: http://eige.europa.eu/rdc/eige-publications/gender-skills-and-precarious-work-eu-
research-note. See https://eige.europa.eu/
⋅2∙ Directive 2019/1158 of 20 June 2019 on work-life balance for parents and carers and repealing Council Directive 2010/18/EU, OJ L 188, 12.7.2019, p. 79:
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32019L1158. ⋅3∙ https://ec.europa.eu/commission/priorities/deeper-and-fairer-economic-and-monetary-union/european-pillar-social-rights_en
⋅4∙ https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/en/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32012L0029
| | ) To contain the virus and mitigate its impact, the Commission launched the Coronavirus Response Investment Initiative (CRII) and the Coronavirus Response Investment Initiative Plus (CRII+) (5). The Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme funds activities on preventing and combating all forms of violence against women, youth and children.
Finally, the Commission presented a EUR 750 billion recovery package ‘Next Generation EU’ (6) to ensure a sustainable, inclusive and fair recovery. The actions of the EU Gender Equality Strategy 2020-2025 (7) remain more relevant than ever.
⋅5∙ These measures mobilise cohesion policy tools to flexibly respond to needs in the most exposed sectors, and help the most affected territories and citizens.
⋅6∙ https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:52020DC0456&qid=1596550862961&from=EN
⋅7∙ https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A52020DC0152
