When women are treated equally, society as a whole benefits. When they are not, we all lose. According to a report by the European Institute for Gender Equality parity between men and women is a fundamental factor allowing economies and societies to thrive.
Europe already leads the world on this key measure of social progress. In the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Index, which ranks 144 countries based on how close they are to achieving gender equality, six out of the top 10 countries are in Europe.
The pursuit of gender equality has formed part of the European project since the 1957 Treaty of Rome, which established the fundamental principle of equal pay for equal work.
However, progress has been slow and is now in reverse gear. Globally, the gap has widened this year for the first time since the World Economic Forum annual report began in 2006. The average remaining distance to gender parity is now 32%, up from 31.7% last year.
At the coming elections, European institutions will have to give clear signs that they are capable of renewing the struggle for gender equality in the wake of the #MeToo movement. This is particularly pressing given the release by French parliamentary assistant Jeanne Ponte of a notebook which detailed 80 instances of “rampant but invisible” harassment within the European Parliament itself. Efforts by women’s groups to shape an agenda within the Parliament were held back in turn by a group of conservative German MEPs, who claimed new anti-harrassment obligations proposed in the wake of the scandal infringed on their parliamentary privileges.
On the streets of Europe too, there is an ongoing battle to defend women’s rights. In Spain far-right party Vox are currently campaigning against “Feminazis” and want to roll-back equalities legislation. Against this febrile backdrop, the role of women in society, and their ability to be full participants in European democracy itself, will play a crucial role in shaping the future of the EU. Not least because it is estimated that achieving gender equality by 2050 would lead to an increase in the EU’s GDP per capita by 6.1 to 9.6%, or from €1.95 to €3.15 trillion. But achieving full equality is, as the European Women’s Lobby manifesto for the 2019 election frames it, about putting in place a new kind of leadership, and a new kind of politics, for the 21st century.
The Wake Up Europe Festival shines a light on this vital debate by including two powerful films in its “selection for reflection”: Female Pleasure and The Reformist – A Female Imam. They tackle the deep roots of the patriarchal system which holds back women with invisible and visible cultural and religious structures. Female Pleasure takes fiercely on taboos about equality in sexuality around the world. The Reformist boldly address the struggle to recognise equality when it comes to spiritual leadership. A struggle that has also profound consequences on Europe’s ability to improve harmony between different religions and cultures and achieve its fundamental goal of “unity in diversity”.
There is a long way to go.
This year, the World Economic Forum estimated that it will take 100 years to close the overall gender gap, compared to 83 years last year. This highlights the backward steps the world has taken over the past 12 months.
The economic gap between men and women is even more stark: it won’t be closed for another 217 years. That is another 217 years in which our societies as a whole, not only women, will be held back. Time to wake up and smell the coffee.