Men reacting badly

Hypocrites, liars and you cannot trust them", ran a prominent headline in last Sunday's It-Torca. The right-hand page 5 of the magazine carries Fr Colin Apap's "Do you have a problem?" and the title was referring to women.

Half the page was made up of a rant against women with such choice quotes as: "Remember woman also bamboozles the devil". And: "It is no wonder that here in Malta we say the women possess the serpents' venom." Apparently we got the Garden of Eden story all wrong.

The writer was trying to enlighten the agony priest against being 'bamboozled' by women, and wanted to teach him "the realities of life". However, this sexist diatribe should never have been published and this is the kind of thing that the Commission for Equality could be taking issue with if they had enough resources.

Obviously, the writer does have a problem because there was some confusion of his lying as a child that his father had abused him. But surely these are problems which should be dealt with privately, and not as a means of creating tabloid sensation.

Imagine the uproar had a woman directed similar abuse towards men. Actually, none of the editors, being male, would publish it. This is just one recent example of how the male-led media treat women.

It was therefore with some interest that I read the report, released on the previous Tuesday, on the 656th Meeting of the United Nations Committee on Elimination of Discrimination against Women, often referred to as an "international bill of rights for women". The report gave its findings and recommendations on Malta's report on convention compliance.

Malta ratified the Convention in 1991 and was reporting to the Committee for the first time.

Not surprisingly women's participation in decision-making and the labour market were among issues raised.

Expert members of the Women's Anti-Discrimination Committee, concerned that Malta focused mainly on European human rights instruments, urged the country to incorporate the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women into its domestic law.

International treaties do not automatically become part of Maltese law, and the Convention could not be invoked before the Maltese courts. At present women can only invoke the European Convention on Human Rights in Maltese courts, along with the right to petition the European Court of Human Rights.

Experts stressed that the Government should consider the Convention when interpreting domestic law, submit it to Parliament, and accede to the Convention's optional protocol, which would allow private individuals to submit communications to the Committee.

European Union legislation and acts, one expert pointed out, were of more limited scope than the Convention, and could not as easily focus on new developments.

For those of us concerned with women's issues the UN report just confirmed what we have been saying locally for years. How many times have we complained that women's participation in decision-making bodies was weak, particularly in the national and now the European Parliaments?

How much effort did the political parties use to ensure women made it to the European Parliament? The Labour Party did not even have a candidate and although the Nationalist Party had two women, the party machinery pushed the men, as they always do, and then some lamented when David Casa won over Joanna Drake, when she so obviously was the better candidate.

The expert from Portugal on the committee lamented that Maltese women failed to assume political representation and suggested that the country adopt special temporary measures, such as targets for women's participation or minimum percentages for both sexes in political candidate lists.

I find it galling that we have to have foreign experts telling us what we not only already know, but what some of us have been struggling to achieve for years, while being shot down by, ironically, even some of the few women who now hold decision-making jobs.

The amateurish Malta Independent editorial on Thursday encapsulates why we remain in a stagnant position. The opening sentence set the tone "A United Nations Committee last week thought it fit to remark about the 'weak' participation of women at decision-making levels..." The editorial then lists The Malta Independent's "reservations".

"Of course we must admit that the presence of women at decision-making levels is low... Still, positive discrimination is not the way that women should be encouraged to take up important posts..."

The editorial does not offer an alternative 'way'.

First of all, certain capable women do not need encouragement to take up important posts. They are just passed over and the posts are given to men with less talent and experience, or if the talent and experience are equal, the man, more often than not, gets the post.

The editorial continues "... If anything this system is more discriminatory, as it would mean that women are given jobs, placed on public bodies or elected to Parliament because they are women, and not because they are capable of occupying such positions."

It is crass that men who have not one iota of knowledge in the field of gender discrimination are still touting this old chestnut. First of all there are men who occupy positions of power and control, who are at best mediocre, simply because they have the contacts within the men's network, be it within the political arena, the professions or commercial organisations. Is not that system discriminatory, or does it only become so when it is applied to women?

Secondly, and this again shows ignorance on the part of the editorial writer, when targets are set, it does not mean that there are no criteria, or that things are 'made easier' to accommodate women. (If anything, many women need a handicap to allow the men to catch up.) It means that barriers, which currently exist to keep capable women out, are dismantled.

As Ms Tavares Da Silva, one of the committee experts from Portugal, who also raised the issue of women's participation in political life, said: "In other countries, sometimes the directors of political parties found excuses for not having women in high-level positions".

We are no different here, and it is not just the directors of political parties who constantly find excuses to stop women making it to the top.

Of course the few women in Parliament and on public bodies are capable. But the point is that more capable women exist and the numbers don't reflect this. That is our country's 'weakness'.

The editorial agrees with the committee "on one matter - that more women need to work in Malta, both part time and full time... the government needs to make everything possible to encourage the participation of women in the labour market."

We get the message. we are not showing "more discrimination" by encouraging women to take up work, but we are if that work involves decision-making or control.

But back to the report. The committee raised several important issues the Commission for the Promotion of Equality of Men and Women should follow up.

But before I go further, I must comment on the silly title of the Commission. Men do not need "the promotion of equality". I would have thought that a poorly resourced commission would need to direct its energies to where it is sorely needed - ensuring womens rights are upheld.

It is no wonder that Hanna Beate Schopp-Schilling, expert from Germany, was confused about the new Commission for the Promotion of Equality of Men and Women, "which was taking on some gender mainstreaming responsibilities. Was it truly independent?" She asked.

She asked for clarification on Malta's reservation to the Convention. Regarding article 13: "What were the specific circumstances that made benefits payable to the head of the household? It seemed to be discriminatory to both women and men that the social security office decided who was head of household.

"What had kept Malta from withdrawing its reservation to article 15 when it had taken so many legal reforms? And the reservation to article 16 was unnecessary, as neither the Convention nor the Committee made the case for abortion. Reservations were a threat to the Convention's universality, and serious consideration should be given to their withdrawal," said Ms Schopp-Schilling.

While the Convention did not imply abortion, it did imply affordable and available means of contraception. She was also concerned about the high rate of depression among women.

Research showed that doctors tended to diagnose depression in women more easily than in men. She wanted to know about the gender health management system and whether stereotypes might have crept into the medical curriculum.

On article 13, the Maltese Government reserved the right to continue to apply its tax legislation, which in certain cases deemed the income of a married woman to be the income of her husband and taxable as such.

I question how we can on the one hand claim that women have the right to their independence and on the other grade the income of a wife as her husband's income for tax purposes.

The Government has also "reserved the right to continue to apply its social security legislation, which could make certain benefits payable to the head of the household, who was presumed to be the husband."

Although Malta's breadwinners are still predominantly male, provisions should be made that the benefits are paid to the woman when she is the breadwinner.

Although the Maltese Commission reported that decision-making was another priority area, with special initiatives undertaken to increase the presence of women in politics and public service. It does not seem that the UN committee was impressed, with Ms Simonvic, expert from Croatia, saying that considering the percentage of women in the Parliament in the past 40 years reflected persistent, long-term under-representation of women in government, the issue did not seem to be a priority for the Government.

She asked whether the Government have plans to take temporary special measures to increase the number women in the Parliament, Government and local government?

I for one would like to know about the "special initiatives undertaken".

According to Malta's report The Employment and Industrial Relations Act provides for equality of treatment in the workplace.

But Ms Patten, expert from Mauritius, asked whether the Government had attempted to remedy the country's current salary gap between men and women. A question I would dearly liked answered.

She also asked what efforts the Government had made to eliminate the country's deep-rooted stereotypes on the roles of men and women?

All she needs to do is read or listen to the reactions of the report on our local media to know the answer to that question.

I have lost a pair of spectacles in a red-topped Revlon case and an empty black Versace spectacle case. If anyone has stumbled on them, I would be very grateful to have the spectacles returned; they are of no use to anyone else.

phansen@timesofmalta.com