Women in politics in Greece and the EU
Exploring the issue of gender equality in politics through open data and public sector information
Introduction
Gender equality is one of the fundamental principles of the European Union and during the recent decades it is generally acknowledged that significant progress has been made in this area. However, the gap between women and men still exists and is particularly evident both in the labour market and in the political and decision-making arena. Furthermore, although attitudes towards equality are evolving, even today's younger generation is not free from stereotypes and gender inequalities. The present story map, created within the context of the D3: Developing Digital Literacy Erasmus+ Project , aims to focus on the issue of gender equality in the political scene of Greece and also the EU and be used as supplementary educational material by teachers in secondary schools. More specifically, this story map addresses teachers of the 3rd grade (Junior High School - Hellenic Gymnasium) who teach History, Social and Civic Education or Modern Greek Literature, as it can be linked to individual, corresponding themes concerning the feminist movement, human rights and social racism.
Learning objectives
- Students to become aware of the exclusion of women from citizenship and political rights for a long time in Greece.
- To get to know the main milestones in the history of women's struggle for political rights in Greece.
- To be able to identify and name examples that prove that gender inequality in terms of women's participation in Greek political life still exists, despite the institutional measures that aim to eliminate it.
- To raise awareness and reflect on the issue of gender discrimination in the political -but also in the wider social- life of Greece and Europe.
- Students to develop critical thinking and improve their skills in searching and collecting data and information, acknowledging that open data and public sector information can contribute to monitoring progress towards substantive gender equality.
The Greek women's right to vote and their presence in the country's political scene
The assertion of women's political, legal and social rights in the Western world began in the mid-19th century. The struggles were long and fierce, encountering great obstacles and resistance. Gradually, in different time-periods for each country, political equality for women with the conquering of voting rights was achieved within a century. "Universal" suffrage (namely the right of all adult citizens to vote in an election) in Greece in 1864 was exclusively for the male population. The granting of political rights to women took place with a long delay, with the full right "to vote" and "to be elected" being established in 1956. Today in Greece, as in other democratic countries, women enjoy full legal and political equality, without institutional barriers to education, professional career, economic independence, participation in political life, personal development and freedom of choice for action in both the private and public spheres. However, both in Greece as in other countries as well, it is not difficult to observe that despite the institutional guarantees, women in practice - especially in the fields of labour and politics - do not have the same dynamic presence as men in terms of number but also in diversity of voices.
Significant milestones
In the context of the activity, students searched the internet for important milestones regarding the "right to vote" for Greek women and explored their presence in the country's political life. The results of their research led to the creation of the timeline below.
The Greek parliament's profile
The Hellenic Parliament , also known as the Parliament of the Hellenes or Greek Parliament, is the unicameral Parliament of Greece, located in the Old Royal Palace, overlooking Syntagma Square in Athens. The Parliament is the supreme democratic institution that represents the citizens through an elected body of Members of Parliament (MPs). It is a unicameral legislature of 300 members, elected for a four-year term. According to the open social data platform Socioscope , in 1476 cases of elected MPs between 1989 and 2019, 84% are men and 16% are women. The parliamentary composition with the lowest number of women is the period 1989a with only 4% women. By contrast, the highest number of women was recorder in the period 2015a (23,2%).
The current parliamentary composition (2002 - 18th Term) resulted from the elections of 7 July 2019. Of the 300 MPs, 114 were first time elected, 42 were newly elected (not elected in the previous session, but in a previous one), while the rest were re-elected.
At the moment (2002), the Greek Parliament has 66 women MPs. The distribution per political party is as follows: New Democracy (25), Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA) (24), Movement for Change (4), Communist Party of Greece (5), Hellenic solution (3), MeRA25 (5) ( List of women MPs in Greek & statistics in Greek ).
According to VouliWatch , over time the average age of women MPs when they were elected for the first time is around 46 years, while 1 in 5 of those elected after 1974 have been the wives, daughters or nieces of well-known men politicians.
Food for thought: Watch a Greek 2014 video campaign by the General Secretariat for Equality (now called General Secretariat for Demography and Family Policy and Gender Equality ) supporting women candidates (the spot is in the Greek language). Think and discuss the video's central message before the two candidates shake hands. How do you think that attitudes have changed over the years? If you are a Greek language speaker, you can also study with your teacher's help, the statistics available here .
Alternatively, if you are an English language speaker you can watch the webinar "Women in Politics" jointly organised in 2021 by the IIEA (Institute of International and European Affairs) and the French Embassy in Ireland.
Women in Europe's political scene
More than 1/2 of European voters are women. However, across the European Union, women are still, more or less, not so much involved in decision-making positions. Though, it should be noted that the proportion of women in the European Parliament is greater than the average for national parliaments.
Food for thought: Each month, the IPU publishes rankings of the percentage of women in national parliaments. Look up Greece's (or your country's) rank in the list.
Over the years, the percentage of women elected to the European Parliament has increased as shown in the relevant graph. In 1979, when MPs were directly elected for the first time, 69 of the 410 seats - i.e. 16.8% - were filled by women. The proportion rose to 29.8% in 1999 and even reached 31% in 2003, following various changes of tenure during the parliamentary term. But this is still too low, so in 2001 the European Parliament proposed that at least 40% of each sex should be represented in all policy fields and all committees at EU, national and international level.
The way ahead
Gender equality is at the heart of democracy, peace and sustainable development, while equal participation of men and women in the political arena is a prerequisite of good governance. According to the European Institute for Gender Equality :
Τhe participation of more women in political decision‑making apart from strengthening and enhancing the democratic system, has many positive effects on society. Benefits include more equitable societies and inclusive governance, higher standards of living, positive development in education, health and infrastructure, and a decrease in political corruption.
However, the maintenance of gender stereotypes, sexism and the perpetuation of a mentality in many political parties that follows the model of the "predominantly male leadership" continue to put obstacles in the way of equal representation. According to a report by the World Forum of Women in Parliaments and the World Bank, the barriers for women who want to start a political career are unfortunately too high, as they tend to receive smaller amounts of funding for their campaigns. The report also showed that women candidates face greater social pressure - and often public criticism - about how to cope with their role as wives or mothers.
Food for thought: What do you know about sexism? Can you recognize it, name it and stop it? Read more on the website of the Council of Europe and watch the relevant video.
Identifying and measuring the progress by the EU
Acknowledging and identifying the problem is the first step in the process of addressing it with Eurostat providing information on the EU as a whole, as well as on its Member States. Once information is gathered, bodies such as the European Institute for Gender Equality can begin to advocate for equal opportunities for men and women through the creation of better policies. It publishes a Gender Equality Index that measures the complex concept of gender equality and assists in monitoring progress of gender equality across the EU over time. The Mutual Learning Programme between EU Member States has reinforced to share actions against the gender gap. The EU also works closely with national gender equality bodies and civil society organisations such as the European Women’s Lobby .
Good practices to increase women’s role in political decision‑making
EIGE has identified a range of initiatives and good practices in order to equip and empower more women with the relevant skills needed to pursue a political career, in an environment that is more diverse and representative
Among these initiatives and good practices are the following:
- Targeted measures and initiatives: Binding legal or voluntary measures implemented by political parties are found to increase women’s participation in decision‑making. A wider array of targeted incentives, such as public debate, awareness raising and more transparent recruitment and career development practices are also important for progress.
- Regular monitoring: It’s important to keep track of developments and assess what initiatives are successful or not. EIGE’s Gender Statistics Database can help with monitoring as it provides access to sex‑disaggregated data that can be compared across all EU Member States.
- Engage young women: Unless more young women are attracted to political life, the underrepresentation of women in elective office will continue. Mentoring, training courses, public campaigns and professional networking can play an important role in encouraging more women to stand for office and prepare them for a political career.
If women’s representation in national parliaments continues to improve at the current rate, we will have gender balance by 2032 .
Useful links for further reading:
- EU Gender Equality Strategy Factsheet
- EU policies in the field of gender equality
- Council of Europe Gender Equality Strategy
- International Women's Day, 8 March
- International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, 25 November
- Equal Pay Day, 4 November
- European Platform of Women Scientists
- EIGE's Gender Equality Glossary and thesaurus
- UN Women, Facts and figures: Women’s leadership and political participation
- Women in parliaments (Feb. 2020): Infographic by the European Parliament