The burden of multiple roles is the number one factor preventing higher participation of women in the labour market and their advancement in many fields of political and economic life, said Artemis Toumazi yesterday.
Mrs Toumazi was the main speaker at a conference titled Gender Equality – A Responsibility of Both Sexes, organised by the National Commission for the Promotion of Equality.
She is the president of the Cyprus Federation of Business and Professional Women and president of the European Programmes Committee of the National Machinery for Women’s Rights in Cyprus.
“It is not enough that women strive for equality,” she said. “Men have to get involved – in fact they have a vital role to play.”
Men can contribute by accepting women as equal players in work and taking on a greater share of family and house responsibilities. Once they cooperate they will facilitate the increased participation of women in economic, social and political life, she added.
However, a change of attitude is not enough. There is the need of a necessary legal framework and infrastructure through which women and men will be offered incentives to take on their new roles.
NCPE Executive Director Sina Bugeja said that unless the concept of gender equality is promoted from a young age, “we will not be able to bring about the change we need.”
The conference was part of the framework of the European programme to promote gender equality – in particular the role of men and fathers in the reconciliation of work and private life.
The project is co-funded by the European Commission – Directorate General for Employment and Social Affairs and the Cyprus Ministry for Justice and Public Order. Malta, Italy and Greece are the main partners in the programme.
Mrs Toumazi explained that the present programme is the third European programme in the field of gender equality, which is being realised by the Cyprus Ministry of Justice and Public Order.
Gender equality in all sectors is a fundamental right and “a priority goal of the European Union and the international community,” said Mrs Toumazi.
Although there has been a lot of progress in the European Union, women are still highly under-represented in all “fields of economic, political and public life,” she added.
Women’s participation in work and politics will enable them to tackle issues that concern them in policies and economy, said researcher Dr Josann Cutajar.
Women working in the private and public sector are entitled to 14 weeks of maternity leave – 13 weeks are on full pay and one week is unpaid.
Between 1997 and 2001, only 1.6 per cent of fathers working in the public sector took the year of parental leave available, said Dr Cutajar. Almost all mothers (98 per cent) working in the public sector took a year of parental leave.
However, Dr Cutajar said there is no data available on the utilisation of parental leave by fathers working in the private sector.
“Almost all working female employees in the private sector made use of the 14 weeks of maternity leave,” she added.
Dr Cutajar quoted a study made this year and said that working women feel guilty about not devoting more time to the family and devote more time to their family than men.
However, according to the same study, men who work long hours are not worried about the effect this has on their children. “Men don’t feel guilty because they feel they are conforming to cultural expectations,” she said.
Over 58 per cent of dual working families leave their children with their parents and another 27 per cent of families plan out their work schedule around their children’s timetables. Only 8.5 per cent make use of childcare facilities and 5.4 per cent leave their children with relatives.