NGOs criticise Czech PM's statements on women

Representatives of 27 NGOs and academic institutions today sharply criticised the words of Czech PM Mirek Topolanek (Civic Democrats, ODS) on equal opportunities for men and women in their protest note released to CTK.

Topolanek said at the opening of the European Year of Equal Opportunities on Monday that women are not a disadvantaged group and that minorities should assimilate in society.

The authors of the protest note call on the government to explain its stance on equal opportunities since, they say, Topolanek’s statements are at variance with the values the Czech Republic pledged to pursue on entering the EU.

Topolanek said that maternity and pregnancy are a privilege of women that distinctively differs them from men and logically puts them into a different position on the labour market.

Women have the right to decide freely whether they want to have children or career, Topolanek said. He added that he, on the contrary, considers rigid protective measures a problem since they disadvantage women and employers then prefer employing men to women.

Activists disagree with Topolanek. They point to statistical data proving that women receive lower pay for the same work, that lower salaries are mainly in the fields where women predominate, such as the school system and health care, and that women have generally lower chances to advance to higher managerial positions.

The Gender Studies association has offered Topolanek free consultations about discrimination of women on the labour market as his statements show he is not sufficiently informed on the problem.

Czech EU Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities Vladimir Spidla also reacted to Topolanek’s words on Monday.

Spidla noted that opponents of the equal opportunities idea are "by coincidence" almost always men with above-average salaries, belonging to the majority population.

Minister Dzamila Stehlikova (Greens) in charge of minorities has also a different view on the issue than Topolanek.

On behalf of the Czech women’s lobby, the protest note has been supported by the Association of Businesswomen and Female Managers, the Czech Helsinki Committee, the Czech Women’s Association, the Movement for Active Motherhood, the Word 21 – Women’s Romany Group Manushe and the Union of Catholic Women. The Gender Information Centre NORA, the Gender Centre at Brno’s Masaryk University and the gitA gender information and press agency have also signed the note.