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Resolution 1825 (2011)
More women in economic and social decision-making bodies
1. Although women in Europe represent
a high and growing share of the labour market they remain considerably
under-represented in top management. There are still too few women
on the governing and supervisory boards of major companies, both
in the private and the public sector, as well as in the governing structures
of trade unions, professional and trade associations and other administrative
bodies.
2. The Parliamentary Assembly considers that a balanced representation
of women and men at all hierarchical levels, including top management,
is a matter of justice, respect for human rights and good governance.
Furthermore, it notes from recognised studies that the companies
in which equal opportunities are both taken into account and implemented
not only provide women with better career and personal development prospects,
but also achieve better productivity and business profitability.
3. Women’s limited access to top management and decision-making
posts is the result of multiple forms of discrimination to which
they are exposed throughout their lives. In order to redress this
state of affairs, radical changes in society should be promoted,
in order to eradicate the tendency to conceive stereotyped gender roles,
which confine women to subordinate posts and preclude them from
accessing sectors which are erroneously considered as men’s strongholds.
4. To achieve equal opportunities and treatment between women
and men in employment, it is necessary not only to set up and effectively
implement far-reaching and comprehensive anti-discrimination policies,
but also to introduce progressive measures to enable women to reconcile
family and professional responsibilities without having to choose
between them. In addition, positive measures should be envisaged
to help women break through the glass ceiling which holds them back
in a world of work that is highly competitive.
5. The Assembly has on several occasions advocated the adoption
of positive measures, including quotas geared to promoting access
for women in the political arena, for example in its Resolution
1706 (2010) and Recommendation 1899 (2010) on increasing women’s
representation in politics through the electoral system and its
Resolution 1641 (2008) and Recommendation 1853 (2008) on involving
men in achieving gender equality. In the Assembly’s view, gender
quotas are a transitional but necessary exception to allow positive discrimination
with a view to bringing about a change in attitudes and achieving de jure and de
facto gender equality.
6. The Assembly believes that the experience of quotas could
be advantageously transposed to the private sector and socio-economic
domain. In this context, it notes that a number of Council of Europe
member states have already introduced, or are considering introducing,
quotas to improve the representation of women on the governing boards
of major firms. In some cases, large companies have taken similar
initiatives without the legal obligation.
7. In the light of these considerations, the Assembly calls on
member states of the Council of Europe to:
7.1. take strong and resolute action to combat gender discrimination
in education and employment;
7.2. introduce progressive measures to ensure reconciliation
of private and working life, in particular as regards parental leave,
balanced participation of women and men in family life, flexible
work arrangements, leave for family reasons, protection of workers
who have recently given birth or are breastfeeding, reintegration
in the labour market for women who interrupted their career to take
care of family members, including the obligation for the employer
to retrain the person concerned, and availability of childcare for
working parents;
7.3. take prompt action to offer incentives to tackle the gender
salary gap, as recommended in Assembly Resolution 1715 (2010) on
the wage gap between women and men;
7.4. encourage action against gender stereotypes in education,
at all levels, and at work, and promote training on gender equality
in schools and public administrations;
7.5. support the preparation and implementation of training
programmes and databases geared to supporting women in their professional
careers and in access to top management and decision-making posts
in the public and private sectors;
7.6. encourage women’s networking initiatives and exchanges
of good practice in this field;
7.7. ensure that the gender dimension is included in all calls
for public tender;
7.8. award “Equality Labels” to those encouraging recruitment
of women and establishing support programmes for women’s careers;
7.9. promote the feminisation of job titles;
7.10. set an example by adopting action plans aimed at improving
the representation of women in decision-making bodies in all branches
of administration, at local, regional and central levels, as well
as in state-owned companies;
7.11. adopt legislation requiring that public and private institutions
achieve a minimum 40% representation of women in management and
decision-making positions within a clearly defined time frame, and
put in place the necessary mechanisms for monitoring the implementation
of such legislation;
7.12. introduce the obligation for state-owned and large private
companies to guarantee a minimum 40% representation of women on
their governing and management boards;
7.13. implement the Action Plan “Taking up the Challenge of
the Achievement of de jure and de facto Gender Equality” adopted
by the Ministers responsible for Equality between Women and Men
at the 7th Council of Europe Ministerial Conference (Baku, 24 and
25 May 2010).
8. The Assembly calls on Council of Europe member states to encourage
companies, firms and associations operating in the private and voluntary
sectors to:
8.1. promote successful
female role models at the different hierarchical levels and decision-making structures;
8.2. promote career plans for women;
8.3. establish far-reaching equal opportunities policies and
organise annual gender-equality audits;
8.4. set up effective measures to combat sexual harassment
at work;
8.5. introduce rules aimed at ensuring balanced representation
of women and men in top management and decision-making bodies, guaranteeing
a minimum 40% representation of women on governing and supervisory
boards.