Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-03-01-Speech-3-091"
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"en.20000301.6.3-091"2
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"Mr President, at the Second International Conference of Socialist Women held in Copenhagen in 1910, it was decided that the main demand of the time, that of a woman’s right to vote, should be linked to the women’s question as a whole and that (as also stated in the relevant resolution) Women’s Day must be accorded an international dimension and be thoroughly prepared for. It is also worth noting that International Women’s Day has since been banned in all those countries in which fascism and racism came to power during and between the war years. In 1910, a woman’s right to vote was on the agenda. Today, we are focusing upon the ways in which more women might be able to participate in the decision-making process.
Women are no homogenous collective. Women belong to different social classes. Women have different individual needs and interests. Irrespective of where we are and notwithstanding our class, race or religion and whether we stay at home or go out to work, it is nonetheless a fact that, in all areas of society, the structures are such that we are thoroughly subordinate to men (albeit with a few individual exceptions, it is perhaps best to add).
In my own country, Sweden, a number of political parties have, in recent years, voluntarily introduced quota allocation by gender as a feature governing the ways in which political assemblies are constituted and run. This has led to an increase in the number of women involved in political decision making which, in turn, has provided opportunities for further research. What happens when more women take an active and equal part in political decision making? What has so far emerged is that the agenda has changed – and when the agenda changes, so too of course do the types of decisions made.
When the talk turns to quota allocation by gender, the word “qualifications”
also crops up. What is interesting is that the qualifications demanded are rarely defined. It often looks as if men today, as in the past, always have the least defined qualifications. Being a man therefore seems, in itself, to be synonymous with maximum competence. This way of seeing things I consider to be proof of spectacular incompetence on the part of many of today’s decision makers.
Earlier this year, we requested, here in this Chamber, that 8 March be made into an international holiday. In anticipation of this request being met, I now want to take the opportunity of wishing all socialist women success with the “Women’s World Marches” which are to begin this spring on International Women’s Day. This is a world-wide activity which will focus upon violence against women and female poverty throughout the world.
Finally, I want to say, as Commissioner Patten said when he drew the previous debate to a close, that the ideal police officer would be a black grandmother. We do not have any such officers, but black grandmothers are in fact to be found."@en1
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