Download Romanian women`s campaign for change

Romanian Women’s
Campaign for Change
Georgeta Ghebrea
Democratisation Movements
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Opponents
Civic activists
Bureaucrats
Columnists
Femocrats
Scholars
Political leaders
Social activists
Women’s Most Important
Contributions to
Democratisation Are:
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Opposition to the communist regime
Founding civic and social movements
Founding political parties
Raising the social awareness regarding
the gender topics
Local development
Improving women’s social status (health,
education, standard of life, economic
activity)
The Main Instruments for
Achieving These Aims Were:
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Protest letters
Dissemination using a diversity of
channels ,training courses mass-media,
internet, seminars, conferences,
campaigns)
Voluntary work for community
Doing research and feminist studies
Teaching
Lobbying
Street march and meetings
Public administration
Women’s Movement
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Weak, fragmented, almost absent from
the public scene and under-funded
60 NGOs for women (the database of
AnA centre)
Quasi absence in the rural areas
Only few organisations clearly define
themselves in terms of promoting gender
issues
The others’ focus is delivering social
services to deprived groups
Issues
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Violence against women, in the
family and at work
Social services for the benefit of
women, and community service in
general
Gender studies
Civic education
Co-operation
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Collaboration between the women’s
organisations is sporadic
The European Union:legislation and funding of
gender policies
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European NGOs:know-how and courage
The Government: insufficient support for women’s
NGOs
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Women politicians:weak and formal relationships
Local and regional NGOs: alliance for charity
actions
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Trade unions: priority to the employees’ interests over
the women’s cause
Outcome
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As compared to the beginning of
90s, women’s political participation
improved in Romania.
Law against domestic violence
Gender studies at academic level
Education in schools including
gender perspective
Several NGOs have developed
solid training curricula on different
women’s issues
Conclusion
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General:
 women’s
marginalisation
 the communist legacy
 lack of solidarity
 low political participation
 enlargement as an opportunity
Romania’s specificity:
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Women are present in the Romanian
public life more as individual characters,
less as an organised movement
The women’s organisations try to help
women, not to emancipate them
Most of women’s organisation are
oriented toward other deprived groups
Elitism, academicism