Saturday, January 12, 2013

Gender Equality in the European Union


Gender equality, is one of the social terms which attracts me as a feminist, and I try to explore it in every field and every nation. Right now it is the time to explore it for the first time in the EU institutions. Before planning to do this article, I had two main questions. Does the European Institution take any measures to improve Gender equality in the level of the institutions and the member states? Is there a bottom up action to promote Gender mainstreaming in the level of EU citizens? Is the Gender Equality principle strong enough to face the current economic crisis in EU? In spite of the efforts of the EU institutions to integrate gender equality in their policies and legislation, as a resident in Warsaw, Poland I observe on the reality that there is still inequality between men and women in the sphere of society especially when it comes to decision-making positions at the work place, so I see the majority in those highly prestigious positions are men.
The Treaty of Amsterdam and later the Lisbon Treaty have entrenched “gender equality as one of the central missions and activities of the Union, and the Treaty on European Union formalized the EU's positive obligation to not only achieve but also to promote gender equality. Article 2 TEU includes equality as one of the values on which the Union is founded. Article 3 TEU provided that gender equality and the combat of discrimination constitute aims of the EU.  

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Street sexual harassment: breaking the silence in Yemen

First time published OpenDemocracy

I was nine years old the first time I was subjected to sexual harassment on the streets of Yemen. On the way back to my home in Sana’a, the capital, we caught a public bus. On the bus, while I was dreaming that when I become older and have a job I will buy lots of chocolate and dolls, suddenly I felt something touching me down my back. I was sure that it would be a cockroach or an insect, so I didn’t move or scream. I didn’t want to show my father my fear; I loved to show him my bravery, even when I was scared. I was uncomfortable with the tickle down my back, which continued for approximately ten minutes. When we got off the bus I discovered what the tickling actually was and it made me experience a type of fear that I had never experienced before. The tickling came from the fingers of a man in his thirties who was sitting behind me. Once we got off the bus, I saw his face through the window, sending me kisses and dirty looks. I was too scared and drowned in silence and shock. I couldn’t tell my father; I didn’t tell anyone. I lived in fear for five days, hating every man in the universe except my father.