WUNRN
European Women’s Lobby VOICE – 2015
file:///C:/Users/Lois%20Herman/Downloads/euopean_women_s_voice_2015%20(1).pdf
This comprehensive and insightful article was written before the most recent economic, political, and social crises in Greece. The article that follows gives a unique gender lens, often not covered in media of Greece and international. Greek women’s strength and spirit persevere!
Greece - Women’s Challenges in Times of Greek Austerity, Political & Social Crises
Author: Joanna Manganara has had an academic career and has worked with Human Rights at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and as a representative of Greece for the UN and the Council of Europe – primarily working on development and social rights. Since 1980 she is very active with the women’s movement in Greece, engaging in development and women’s rights. Joanna Manganara has also published books on sexual harassment and undertaken research throughout her working life. Since 2004 Joanna Manganara is a member of the Board of the International Alliance of Women for Greece, and since 2013 is the President of the organisation.
EU vs. Greece: The crises, austerity measures and gender equality policy. Joanna Manganara has been part of the women’s rights movement in Greece since the 80’s and the list of her achievements is long; she has, among other things, represented Greece in several international contexts and undertaken research in the sociological field. The picture that Joanna Manganara is painting of the situation in Greece is to some extent very similar to the overall picture in the European Union but has some very interesting unique features.
In Greece, similar to other EU Member States, men were initially hit the hardest by the crisis as it affected the private sector and the construction business, where men are overrepresented. By the time the austerity measures were implemented, concerning the public sector the most, women were affected to a larger extent. Austerity measures absolutely impact on women’s life The austerity policies that have taken place in most European countries have also had huge effects on public spending in Greece, causing drops in employment and wage cuts in the public sector, in the health and care sectors. This has affected women twofold.
Firstly, the public sector has traditionally employed a lot of women, and secondly, because of the increase in unpaid care work – which women are socially obliged to do - because of the cuts to public services. Austerity measures have also made the labour market more flexible for the employer(making it easier to sack workers), brought cutbacks in unemployment insurance, labour market reforms (in particular the abandonment of collective agreements), successive cuts to pensions, increases in retirement age, and tax reforms, raising personal income and sales taxes, while lowering corporate taxes.
The result has been a sharp rise in women’s unemployment. In 2013, this was 31.9%, the highest in Europe, while men’s was less at 24.6%. Young women experience massive unemployment. In 2013 the young female unemployment rate was 50.2%, while their male counterparts did a little bit better, but still strikingly high at 43.5%. The crisis has also intensified exploitation in the labour market (longer work hours and more workdays per week), sexual harassment as well as pregnancy and maternity discrimination and the lowering of working conditions in general.
Similarly to the overall EU picture women’s work in Greece is increasingly devalued even when women can get work and the precariousness of work for those still in employment adds to the stress of the extended working week. Women do not have the same opportunities or access to the labour market to the same extent as men; the labour market is clearly segregated due to gender stereotypes. Greece is no exception when it comes to gender income gaps. The result has been that nowadays women in Greece face catastrophic poverty rates: 45% of women live below the poverty threshold. Women who despite segregated labour markets enter male dominated sectors do not have the same access to highly qualified jobs nor to the same promotions – all this despite the fact that the level of education for girls is higher than for boys, Joanna Manganara notes. This is a picture we are familiar with – the same can be said about most labour markets in the EU and globally. The cuts in childcare facilities and other health and care facilities and social benefits put a large burden on women.
Even in the cases where the main breadwinner is the woman, she still carries the burden of care giving and unpaid household work – having devastating consequences for the wellbeing of women. A study showed that women’s heart attacks rose by 39.2%. Maternity care has also suffered in pregnancy and birth. The stillbirth rate continues to rise because an increasing number of pregnant women are unemployed and without insurance and thereby excluded from the Greek national healthcare system’s obstetric care. The birth rate in Greece has also dropped. At the beginning of the crisis, the cuts in public spending also affected women’s shelters and had some impact on policies that prevent violence against women. This is a story that isn’t unique for Greece; it can be told in many EU member states. A somewhat different angle that Joanna Manganara brings is that due to the low living standards women are experiencing, as a result of austerity, the crisis has come to a political tipping point for women’s rights and gender equality policy.
The issue of women’s rights, in particular violence against women, has been raised and put onto the political agenda. According to the General Secretariat for Gender Equality in Greece, rapes rose by 53.9% in 2011 and 22.2% in 2012. The situation for women has reached a critical point where it can no longer be ignored by politicians. This has resulted in locally driven initiatives: crisis centres for women experiencing trafficking, rape, or harassment; facilities with free legal advice; psychological support; SOS-lines, shelters among other kinds of support have been put in place by municipalities with the help of the General Secretariat of Gender Equality in Greece.
According to Joanna Manganara, Greek citizens are undergoing severe identity crises – Citizens are asking themselves how to change the society at its core for the better – finding their way back to values such as solidarity, collective and social responsibility. A lot of local initiatives are taking place as a result - initiatives that have to do with standards of living in run-down neighborhoods and local communities. It is clear that people want to be part of the change that has to take place in Greece. Joanna underlines the importance of the local initiatives and that the politicians have to empower, acknowledge and take them into account. Looking forward, the role of the women’s rights movement and of the government
The women’s movement should monitor the impact of austerity measures on women and lobby for measures to improve their situation – regardless of situation; for those who are unemployed as well as of female workers, youth, girls or pensioners. “We (the women’s movement) need to be more dynamic, forward-looking and demands accountability. There are a number of existing tools to be used; just like the CEDAW – the women’s rights movement should submit shadow reports and monitor how it is followed up by those in power, what are they doing? Make sure the recommendations of the CEDAW Committee are implemented. The Beijing Platform for Action is another useful tool – especially as the 20th anniversary is in 2015. United Nations Security Council resolution 1325 about women in conflict and peacemaking should also be used - making sure national action plans are in place and implemented.” Joanna Manganara
For the future of Greece, Joanna Manganara argues that “decent work”, an economic policy underpinned by human rights and political accountability are crucial. Economic policies have to be designed and implemented according to the principles of human rights and a social model. The labour standards need to be decent. The government has to be held accountable for decisions and taxation management. “Accountability is an educational process, both for those who ask for it and for those who are held accountable.” Joanna Manganara
However, the main problem nowadays in Greece is that very little of the bailout money has gone to ordinary people who have carried the burden of the crisis - in particular workers and pensioners many of whom endure poverty. With steep cuts in government spending, austerity policies have been contracting the economy when it needs to be expanded. So what is badly needed is money that will fund social welfare spending, in particular care services, create employment and boost demand. This kind of bailout should go to the people that are suffering without conditionality. Joanna ends the interview by noting that the austerity measures put in place, with the notion to be the only way within the neoliberal economic and ideological framework, but certainly not the best way for women. “ T h e re h a s b e e n a l a c k of u n d e r s t a n d i n g of t h e consequences of the austerity measures; there might be better ways to cope with crises in the future. It is also important not to see women as vulnerable subjects in managing the crises, but rather as actors of change in political decision-making”, Joanna Manganara.