Today is Women’s Day. Today’s edition contains a fair few news items which deal with this particular subject and the effort to bridge the gender inequality gap. It has to be said that the mere fact that we are still talking about this issue – in the year 2010 – shows just how much we have left to do.
It is acknowledged across the board, at a local and European level, that more needs to be done in terms of salary equality, work opportunities, providing mothers with the facilities to go back to work and many more issues.
This was addressed by means of the 2020 goals and the Lisbon Treaty, but so far efforts have fallen short of the mark. At least, the good thing is that the issue stays on the agenda – but talking about it and doing not much else is not going to make us reach our targets.
Of course, one must say that we are beyond the days of women not having a vote, or not being given an education, but there are many issues which still reside below the surface.
Perhaps one of the most pertinent issues is that of getting women to return to the place of work after having given birth. While we have seen the setting up of crèches and childcare centres, they are still too few and far between. It is not enough for the government to simply give a tax holiday – mothers will not return to work if they do not have a viable option to take care of their offspring when they do so, and grandparents are not the answer.
Another area where we really need to buck our ideas up is the sphere of domestic violence. It was not that long ago when parish priests used to tell women that they had to stay with their abusive husbands even if their life was a living hell… Matters have improved greatly, and the police Vice Squad who deal with such offences have made a concerted effort to make women come forward and testify against their partners when taken to court – but again, we must do more.
On the whole, though, if one were to look at Malta a mere decade ago and compare the lot of women to the situation today, one cannot deny that there has been a massive improvement. Evidence to back this claim up can be found in the fact that there are more young women who attend university than men, which shows that the younger generation, at least, have embraced the concept of equality. These same women will go on to find well paid jobs in the professional sector and will continue to be empowered. But, as we have already mentioned, the problems resurface later and they seem to be related to the issue of marriage and raising children. It is useless to empower women by (rightly so) opening all avenues of education up, and not discriminating when engaging employees, to then have women drop out of the workforce to care for their children.
While we have mentioned that part of the problem stems from the fact that there is not enough childcare, the finger must also be pointed firmly at the male species. It seems that Maltese men are content to have their women in a high-powered/paid job – only for the situation to be turned on its head as soon as they start a family. It cannot be a situation of two weights and two measures. A woman cannot be regarded as young, talented and equal to men – but only until she has a baby. It seems to be that a change of mentality is needed before long-term progress can be registered.