Europe at Present [Spring 2003]

Moominworld

Moominworld is a fairytale you can step into. In Moominworld you can really meet the Moomin family and everyone else who lives in Moomin Homevalley.

In fact, there are many kinds of creatures running round the island, from Hattifatteners to Stinky. You’ll also find Summer Theatre Emma in Moominworld with shows all through the day⁶²²

Santapark

Santa's Cave, SantaPark is located inside small mountain. Cave offers nice Christmas experiences with Santa Claus and his elfs. Santa's Cave on the Arctic Circle in Finnish Lapland, home of Santa Claus, will be caught up in joyful Christmas spirit even in the summertime. Santa's Cave is situated 2 km from Santa Claus Village and Rovaniemi airport, and 5 km from the center of Rovaniemi. A visit to the family in Santa's Cave, deep inside Syväsenvaara Fell, is one you will never forget. SantaPark is packed with fun things to see and do. The plaza and the hall are filled with attractions and rides, each more exciting than the last.⁶²³

In conclusion, this paper has given the overview of the latest data concerning tourism in Europe and about four European countries- Italy, France, Germany and Finland, coutries are one of the main tourist destinations. However, their economic results would not be achieved without their specific, unique character.
Magdalena Myśliwiec, Mariola Sobiczewska

WOMEN IN EUROPE

1. INTRODUCTION

Women movements are still very active, they try to obtain the equality. Some results are visible, the situation has improved. Let’s see how it looks like now and how much it has changed in three major fields of life activity: education, labour market and politics. The last problem concerns violence against women in order to show that women have managed to enter the areas unavailable for them before but their basic rights are still violated.

Nowadays formal education reaches ever more women. Even in spite of unequal opportunities, women begin to construct their own history. But about two hundred years ago the situation didn’t look like that. Here is a brief look into the history.

In the eighteenth century education was available only for "exceptions", it was a privilege for unusual women, the princess, the noblewoman, aristocracy. Even though some women were educated, politics and business remained spaces reserved for men. The nineteenth century brought changes. Obligatory primary education for girls became more widespread. Opening of the doors to education became a very important change in the status of women. However, the problem of differences in content as well as quantity of education remained. From the earliest years in school, girls in all countries tended to be directed toward subjects that are of more use in the kitchen and living room than in the outside world. They were encouraged to study art, literature, domestic science, and dressmaking, whereas boys were studying engineering, mathematics, physics, and mechanics. The twentieth century is a century of professional opportunities for women as a result of winning the vote and having control over one’s own body, etc. Nevertheless, in spite of unequal scholarly opportunities and the segregated nature of employment, it is true that women’s improved education has, among other things, allowed them a greater professional, cultural and political presence. This has led to the evolution of personal rights and to changes in domestic life and motherhood; these have in their turn facilitated greater female participation in the public sphere. However the daily life of the majority of women changed very little. No one disagreed with the ideal domestic woman image, in spite of the fact that so many women were working outside the home.⁶²⁴

Throughout the region of the Central and South – Eastern Europe the practice of the last decades was to pay much attention to education both, boys and girls, but the countries are quite different in this respect. In the developed countries there are about equal numbers of males and females at school at all levels. In the developing countries, schools males still outnumber females, but the gap is narrowing.

In Estonia the right to education has always been considered as a basic human right and is highly valued and accessible. The higher level of education of Estonian women is an evident when comparing the share of females in total number of students and the average level of education among the employed population. The share of females is above 50% (e.g. 56,6 % in Higher education, 57,9 % in Masters courses in 1998). Girls have dominated in secondary schools for many years and the long-term tendency for boys not to continue with secondary education created a threat of feminization to university education. The result is that the educational levels reached by Estonian women have been rising more rapidly than the levels reached by men.⁶²⁵

At present, Lithuanian girls and women make great efforts to acquire as high education as possible: an analysis of statistical data enables the conclusion that the higher the level of education, the fewer the number of boys. According to the data provided by the Department of Statistics, in the 1998/99 academic year, women comprised 50.7% of the total student population in all educational institutions - 50% in secondary schools, 39.2% in secondary vocational training schools, 65.2% in colleges and 57.8% in universities.

A similar situation is to be found in other countries as well.⁶²⁶

It should be noted that although women attain a higher level of education than men, men have better prospects in the labor market. This could be accounted for by the fact that in vocational and higher schools there is a distinction between “male” and “female” professions, i.e. in vocational schools the majority of young men enter production - related professions, whereas women tend to choose professions connected with office work. For example, in the 1998/999 academic year, in vocational training schools the largest number of women studied craft and manufacture related professions, household management (61.4%), trade and business (78.4 %), teacher’s training (91.9%), health care and treatment (91.8%). Young women were least represented in engineering, transport and communications.⁶²⁷

At the same time, in some countries there is an evident discrimination between boys and girls attending particularly higher education, determined either by religious influences or simply by poverty. In Albania in fact more girls than boys complete the educational cycle, but the problem is that education is not seen as a way to secure a better life. Children are expected to support their families from an early age. In rural areas there are problems with providing teaching staff. As far as girls are concerned, they face further difficulties since the school often is far away and transportation is not provided. Other factors that prevent girls from attending school relate to the strong patriarchal mentality, many parents do not allow girls to continue their schooling due to a fear of kidnapping. Girls are also particularly vulnerable to sexual exploitation and are not allowed to leave the house unless accompanied by a male adult. Many parents, especially in rural areas, want their daughters to get married at an early age, and keep them home for this reason, covering their faces with a veil. Another difficulty - Islamic schools in Albania do not allow girls to enroll.⁶²⁸

Women in Turkey are subjected to discrimination and inequality. Firstly, although the female population is larger than the male, female participation in educational establishments at every level is much lower than males’ and the illiteracy rate is much higher for females (28.03% of the female population over the age of six is still illiterate, and in the southeast it is more than 48%). In Turkey girls are more likely to drop out than boys and this is mainly determined by either the economic level of the household or the number of children in the family. The main reasons given for girls dropping out of school are: disinterest in school (24.7%), high school expenses (17.2%), lack of family permission (14.0%), obligation to help parent in housework (11.3%). Religion requires girls to cover their head with a scarf, and it creates obstacles because wearing a “turban" is forbidden in public institutions, including schools ⁶²⁹.

These were some examples of countries in the South- Eastern Europe. The situation seems to be different in the West, especially in the European Union. Let’s see how it really looks like.

In Spain the percentage of illiterate women was 4.4%, whereas for men, the percentage was 2.1% in 2001. The gross rates of women and men in compulsory education are equal: between the ages of 6 and 15 years old, all the boys and girls were attending school in 1998/99. More girls complete compulsory education (42.6%) than boys do (33.4%, data refer to 1998/99). More girls participate in higher secondary education (55.8%) than boys do (49.1%) in 1998/99. The number of women in university education is higher (34.5%) than the number of men (29%) in 1999/00.⁶³⁰

In United Kingdom women’s participation in higher education dominates.

In 1999/2000 54% of full-time undergraduates were women, rising from 50% in 1994/95. The number of women undertaking post-graduate study also increased over recent years and they accounted for half of all post-graduate students in 1999/2000. Across all age groups, men still have higher levels of qualification than women, as older women are less likely to have any qualifications. In 2000, 18% of women of working age had no qualifications, compared with 14% of men; this gap has narrowed from 26% and 19% respectively in 1993.⁶³¹

Summing up, the situation of women in West European countries is still better than in the South – East.

3. WOMEN AND EMPLOYMENT

There are certain features, concerning employment, which are common to all women in Europe, e.g. a steady increase in women's employment rates, a concentration of women's employment in certain sectors, a lack of access to more senior positions, high levels unemployment, under-employment and job insecurity.

Despite an overall increase in women’s employment rates in Europe, important differences between EU counties remain. While men’s activity rates vary from 62% in Finland to 80.5% in Portugal, the differences in the women’s employment rates are clearly greater: from 32.3% in Spain to 76.1% in Sweden. It is worth noting that these levels are still lower than those found in other industrialised countries in the world such as the United States.

The patterns of women’s economic activity have changed over time. Women were initially employed in rural and agrarian production, trade and crafts. They were excluded for several decades from the most prestigious positions in the labor market, under the pretext of their natural inferiority and due to the “male breadwinner model”. During the second half of the 20th century, the introduction of salaried employment outside the home has totally transformed the domestic and professional reality of women across Europe.

In all European countries, highly qualified women are increasingly gaining access to professions which were previously dominated by men, especially in the areas of management, intellectual professions and administration.

According to the data, leading occupations of employed women in 2001 were: secretaries, receptionists, bookkeepers and accounting clerks, hairdressers and cosmetologists, nurses, general office clerks, elementary school teachers, cashiers, waitresses, administrative support. Women accounted for 75% and more of total employed in these occupations.⁶³²

Women are proportionally more represented than their male counterparts in the scientific, technical and liberal professions. Education constitutes one of the biggest employers of well educated women across Europe. The number of women teachers varies enormously from country to country. Thus more than 60% of the women are teachers in Portugal, while less than 20% of women are teachers in Denmark. However one still finds that men clearly predominate in university education, while women are mainly concentrated in primary and secondary education. Women are less likely than their male counterparts to be discouraged from a career in teaching, even when the wage levels of this sector are particularly low. ⁶³³

Most of women work in the service sector, there are some reasons explaining the situation. Firstly, throughout the 1980's and 1990's, the majority of new jobs were created in the service sector and that corresponded to the massive arrival of women on the labor market. Secondly, as access to public sector management jobs in most European countries depends on relatively objective criteria, i.e. holding a university degree, or passing recruitment exams, women are less likely to experience the same degree of direct sexual discrimination in access to high level public sector jobs as they may encounter in the private sector, where recruitment procedures are less formal. Thirdly, working conditions in the public sector offer a number of advantages to women who wish to combine a professional career with domestic and family responsibilities, e.g. more flexible working hours, more paid holiday and child-care leave. The proportion of women in the tertiary sector varies from country to country, ranging from 55.6% in Denmark to 36.7% in Greece, but it is always higher than the proportion of women in the labor market as a whole.⁶³⁴

This analysis of the small minority of women managers and professionals should not overshadow the reality of the vast majority of women who usually work at the bottom of the social and professional hierarchy, as low grade administrative work, sales and direct services. In all countries, with the exception of Spain and Luxembourg, women occupy over half of the low paid administrative jobs, secretaries, office staff, etc. In Denmark, France and the UK, women occupy more than 70% of these positions

Although unemployment rates vary widely from country to country, from 3.5% in Luxembourg to 24% in Spain, women’s unemployment rate is higher than men’s everywhere in the E.U., with the exception of Sweden and the United Kingdom. This situation persists despite the fact that women tend to work in the tertiary sector, which has been less affected by the massive redundancies of recent years than the male dominated industrial sector.

There is not a single country where women are not discriminated, despite many constitutional and other legal guarantees. Here are some examples.

In Belarus there are reports that during job interviews women are asked ”special questions” about their marital status, family obligations, and plans with respect to children. Sometimes, especially in the case of state institutions, not having a child is one of the prerequisites for employment. In Lithuania, job advertisements targeted at women contain requirements as to age and appearance. In Bosnia, employers require giving an additional document from a gynecologist to discover whether a woman is pregnant before hiring her. Sometimes in order to get the job women are required to sign a blank resignation in case they would become pregnant. The list of examples could continue with any other country. Women are constantly discriminated not only in terms of access to jobs. Even when they work in the same areas as men, their earnings represent between 60 to 85% of their male colleagues. Furthermore, employers give priority to men in promotions and increases in remuneration particularly because they are seen as the main ”breadwinners” of the family.⁶³⁵

In Romania private employers avoid paying for maternity and other leave simply by hiring women without a contract. This is obviously illegal and prejudicial, and deprives women of their social security, health care, and record of employment for pensions, unemployment, and other benefits. Women perform the majority of unpaid work like household, child and elder care. Even when they work for wages, they are more likely to be employed in low-paid occupations. Women's average wage is only 75% of the average wage earned by men.⁶³⁶

Before 1989 women in Central Europe had access to education on a par with the more advanced countries of Western Europe, and greater access to employment than women in the latter. However, recent critics agree that despite this emancipation, women did not have as much power as might be thought at first sight : women earned on average 30% less than men, their jobs were concentrated in the lowest-paid and least-respected sectors, they were maintained as a reserve labor supply and their working conditions depended on the need for extra workers other than men, they had no representatives on decision-making bodies, they were overworked because of their triple roles as mothers, housewives and full-time workers, and they had no control over the importance attributed to their various roles as women, mothers and workers.⁶³⁷

The governmental report on the situation of Polish families admits that women are discriminated against in the labor market and that this is manifested in lower pay for equal work, difficulties in being promoted, the greater number of women among the unemployed and the fact that women are more likely to loose their jobs. The report notes a number of positive trends though, such as the growing number of women in managerial positions in the public and private sectors and the growing number of women entrepreneurs.⁶³⁸

Discriminatory practices in the area of job-hunting, work performance and leaving employment can also be observed. The unequal treatment of women and men seeking work manifests itself amongst others in job offers and the construction of questions during job interviews. Such questions are related to marital status, potential pregnancy, family situation or the number of children. Women receive lower pay for work of equal value and they are less often delegated to training facilitating further promotion. The reality shows that discrimination against women begins already in lay-offs. Despite their higher qualifications women are more often than men threatened with job loss. Discrimination concerns also the phase of launching a job search, as job offers are more often addressed to men than to women (without any explanations). There is also a large gender difference in economic activity and employment rates. According to the labor force survey, in 2001, 64% of men were economically active and only 50% of women. Meanwhile, it is worth indicating that women are on average better educated than men - the proportion of people who completed their education at a level not lower than secondary level is higher among women than among men. The majority of workingwomen has at least secondary education. Nevertheless, women held managerial positions significantly less often than men did. Women constitute 32% of the total number of the employed among managers and only 30% of the employers. However, women predominate among employees and in a group of contributing family members. The most feminised occupational group is office clerks - there are 289 employed women per 100 men. The fewest number of women are employed as operators and assemblers of machines and devices – only 13 women per 100 men. Women are most often employed in healthcare and social work (511 women per 100 men), education (320 women per 100 men) and financial intermediation (237 women per 100 men). The largest difference between women and men’s salary appears at the managerial level, while the lowest difference can be observed in the most feminised group of office clerks. The dominant group among the unemployed is women. They lose their jobs and stay long-term unemployed (over 12 months) more often than men. ⁶³⁹

The situation of women in Western European countries seems to be more optimistic, but the data indicate, that it is not truth in each country. Despite various legislative measures in favour of equal pay in all the European countries, gender based inequalities continue to exist. The size of these discrepancies varies from country to country and according to employment status, i.e. manual or non-manual employment. The situation in the European Union looks as follows. Female manual workers receive between 67% in the UK and 84% in Denmark of the average male manual worker's income. The difference between salaries for non-manual workers is even more pronounced. Non-manual women workers only receive two thirds of the average male salary in four countries, Germany, Greece, France and Portugal and this falls to around 60% in Ireland and the UK.⁶⁴⁰

Here are some data about the situation of women in Spain. Women represent approximately 39.2% of the active population in 2001. In 2001 the female unemployment rate was 15.2% whereas the male one was 7.5%, 80.9% of the employed women worked in the service sector, 16.8% of the employed women worked part time, whereas only 2.7% of the men did so. Women’s earnings are in general 30.7% less than men’s earnings (data refer to October 1995). Women are increasingly entering the labor market but this does not occur to the neglect of domestic responsibilities. Rather, it has forced women to take on a "double working day" at the expense of personal commitments to the home, cultural and leisure activities.⁶⁴¹

In Great Britain women’s economic activity rates accounted for 72% (84% for men) in 2000, 56% of women in employment worked full-time (91% of men). Women are more likely to work in public administration, education and health which account for 41% of women employment (and only 16% of men’s) and in distribution, hotels and catering, which account for another 22% (and 17% of men’s employment).

8% of women worked in managerial/professional occupations in 2001, compared with 18% of men. Over the 1990s, these occupations have been growing and this growth has been experienced by both men and women.. The gender gap in hourly earnings reduced from women earning just 63% of men’s hourly earnings in 1970 to 82% in 2000.⁶⁴²

„If women are to have say in the lives they lead thy must enter politics” – Fernanda Nissen (1862-1920), Norwegian feminist and politician

Women around the world at every socio-political level find themselves under-represented in parliament and far removed from decision-making levels. While the political playing-field in each country has its own particular characteristics, one feature remains common to all: it is uneven and not conducive to women's participation. Women who want to enter politics find that the political, public, cultural and social environment, are often unfriendly or even hostile to them. Even a quick glance at the current composition of political decision-makers in any region provides evidence that women still face numerous obstacles in articulating and shaping their own interests.⁶⁴³

Women effectively constitute half the world’s population, and half of each and every single population. Women’s studies repeatedly have pointed out that women are not and should not be considered as minority. It is no longer credible in today’s world to conceptualize issues and develop policies which will affect directly or indirectly, citizens’ lives without taking into account the situations, perspectives and realities of all those who will be affected.⁶⁴⁴

The European Network of Experts "Women in Decision-making" lists five reasons for including women in political decision-making. First, even though the concept of equality between women and men has been generally accepted, it will not be reality unless women and men participate also in decision-making on equal terms. Second, democracy has been accepted as a fundamental principle of the European Union, but again, what kind of democracy is it, if only half of the population is adequately represented. Thirdly, the non-participation of women means the loss of the effective use of talent of both women and men. Furthermore, women form an important social group that needs to represented. Not all women have the same interests, but as a group women can have some common experiences related i.e. to issues of motherhood, abortion and violence against women, that do not concern men to the same extent. Additionally, the network of experts also argues that including women to the field of politics may also result in a new political culture, which can lead to better government.⁶⁴⁵

Women understood long time ago that the only way to decide on their lives is to take part in politics, in decision-making. However, they have had to fight for that really hard. For ages they didn’t have any political rights. Nowadays it is nothing extraordinary that women can take both active and passive part in political life but a century ago in any European country women could neither vote nor take part in elections. The first country that granted the rights to women both to vote and to stand for election was Finland ( see: Tabel 1). However, it wasn’t the first country in the world-before were the United States, New Zealand ( just to vote) and Australia ( with some restriction).

Women have still been discriminated and there is no country when this phenomenon doesn’t exist. Although some serious efforts have been made and many countries have some constitutional and other legislative guarantees, women still are the minority as far as politics are concerned.

Although the Treaty of Rome (1957) includes, as one of its founding principles, the concept of equality between women and men, women are still under-represented in political decision-making both at the national and the European level. However some positive changes can be observed. On average 15.4% of the members of parliament in the EU countries and 27.6% of the members of the European parliament were women in 1995. In the governments of the EU countries the proportion of women was on average 16% and in the EU Commission 25% in 1995.⁶⁴⁶ Current figures show some small progress in the situation of women in politics: the members of parliament in the EU countries- 20.6%, the members of the European parliament – 31%, the members of the governments of the EU countries – 24.7% and in the EU Commission without changes – 25%.⁶⁴⁷

The participation of women in national politics varies a lot among the European countries. It is very high especially in the case of Nordic countries, where women have long traditions of extensive participation in local and national politics.

Women in Norway are present in the formal political institutions to the extend that is still quite unusual in the rest of the world. Women as actors in the political power elite in Norway is nowadays a phenomenon that the Norwegians regard as a normal practice and to them, as the Equal Status Council puts it, "a Government Cabinet where much less than half of the members were women would look strange and undemocratic". Usually favorable contextual factors (proportional representation and multi-party competition), political activism and receptive political culture have been stressed when explaining women's position in Norwegian politics. However, the position Norwegian women today have in politics, is not only the result of these favorable contextual factors, but to a great extent also the accomplishment of a strong new women's movement which emerged in Norway in the late 1960s. It regarded the recruitment of women into politics as an important goal and as a result women's representation both at the national and the local levels increased. The third important factor in Norwegian politics is that gender has been accepted as politically relevant category. This can be called receptive political culture which has on its part helped women in arguing for representation in the political field. Support for the argument that women can only be represented by women has been easier to obtain than in many other western countries. A perspective that emphasized gender-structured interests in politics brought with it the idea of difference. Difference between sexes began to be viewed as relevant and increasingly important feature also in political representation. Women representing women was regarded necessary because of women's complementary resources and conflicting interests compared to those of men's.⁶⁴⁸

Swedish women are far better represented in politics than most countries outside the Nordic Area. The reasons are seen in the high educational level. (The "Education Act "and "Higher Education Act" contain provisions on equality). Progress towards equality was made possible by substantial demand for labor in the 1960s and 70s. It was mainly due to the expansion of the public sector, and by consistent reforms in economic, social and family policy. Important aims of Swedish family law are to put women and men on the equal footing in marriage and to protect the financially weaker party in the event of divorce or death. The legal entitlement to parental leave such as "Code of Parenthood", the "Parental Leave Act" and certain provisions of the "National Insurance Act" have combined with the existence of municipal child and elder care systems. This combination lays the conditions of shared responsibilities for the home and children equally on women and men. In recent years a consequent trend toward a better balance has been discernible. The number of women in the Parliament has almost tripled since 1971. Conditions in the municipal (41 per cent) and county councils (48 per cent) are similar to those prevailing in the Parliament. Among all political parties is a firm conviction about the need to increase the number of women candidates. Women are most represented on committees dealing with foreign affairs, justice, law and social insurance. The speaker of Parliament is also a woman.

Not until the 1960s did Swedes begin to address the issue of the disadvantaged position of women in political life. Now the Government consists of an equal number of women and men - 10 women, 10 men. This balance was deliberately chosen by the Swedish Prime Minister in 1994.⁶⁴⁹

When looking at the statistics concerning political participation in Finland, it can be concluded that the proportion of women in the democratically elected bodies is relatively high in Finland, especially since the 1980s. In addition, Finnish women have an exceptionally long history of political participation behind them: already in the first democratically elected parliament in 1906 their proportion was 10%. Also the division of labor between sexes in politics is not so clearcut anymore: particularly since the end of 1980s, women have been appointed also as ministers of defense, ministers of justice and foreign affairs. However, it has to be noted that women are still a minority in the real centers of power: in the preparatory ministerial committees, e.g. those concerning budget matters, and in the higher levels of state administration.⁶⁵⁰

On the contrary to the Nordic countries, the situation of women in the Southern countries of European Union, especially as far as their governments are concerned, is much worse. Four Southern countries: Spain, Greece, Italy and Portugal are at the bottom of the table presenting the percentage of women in the government.

The integration of women into the field of public politics in Spain has started later and has been much slower compared to their participation on other social spheres. As late as in 1984, when people were asked in a poll by the Center for Sociological Research, 92% of the women, and 85% of the men, said that they had never been members of political parties. More recent studies by the Woman's Institute continue to demonstrate women's lack of interest in participating in the political parties. Only 3.2% of Spanish women were members of a political party in the beginning of the 1990s. Only one woman in hundred said that they would want to participate politically. However, women's membership in the parties has increased in recent years. Young, well-educated women, who live in urban areas and support the ideas of the political left are reported to be the most interested in political activities. It is possible that in the near future these young women will be increasingly taking part in politics in Spain.⁶⁵¹

As far as the Central and South-Eastern Europe is concerned, the situation of women in politics changed during the period of transition.In all ex-socialist countries in the transition period there has been a considerable fall down of the representative women rates in the high government positions, at all levels. Analysing the figures in Albania, for instance, if we refer to the period before the 90s, women participation in the political life was very high: more than 30%. Since 1991, with the new elections, there are only 8 women out of 140 MPs, 5.7% of the total. There is one woman in the government, but no women as prefect or mayor.⁶⁵²However, it is difficult to assess the impact of transition on the situation of women since this has not been homogenous but varies according to the areas and social groups to which women belong.⁶⁵³

Although there are fewer women in parliament, there has been a considerable increase in the numbers occupying decision-making positions: the percentage of women at ministerial level has doubled, while at sub-ministerial level the figure has risen from 0% to 11.8%.⁶⁵⁴These figures in comparison to the current ones show the positive changes in Poland as far as the gender equality in politics is concerned. In Parliament women constitute 20.2% of the members. In the government this number is lower and is 12.5% (Eurodatabase)13⁶⁵⁵

As far as Hungary is concerned, according to the figures for the 1994 May elections , women occupied 11.4% of the seats in the Hungarian Parliament. However it must be remembered that women accounted for only 9.2% of the candidates. Women represented between 8% and 12% of the candidates on the Hungarian parties’ lists. The Hungarian Democratic Forum is interesting in that its female candidates represented 7.8% of its list, but its elected members account for 15.8% of its delegation. According to United Nations figures for the same year (1994), there were no women in ministerial posts and only 6% in sub-ministerial jobs.⁶⁵⁶

According to the current data, there has been a slight decrease in the representation of women in Parliament (8.4% from 1998). In the Government women constitute 6.1% ⁶⁵⁷

In the Czech Republic there was a drastic reduction in the number of women in the Parliament which occurred with the abolition of the quota system applied prior to1989, with representation falling from 30% to 9%. In the second elections, in 1992, women accounted for

9.5% of all seats. However after the 1996 elections we can see a major increase in the number of women to 15%. This increase can be explained by the importance of women’s affairs during the 1996 electoral campaign.⁶⁵⁸

As it may be noticed, the situation of women in politics is not very satisfactory but it veries in different countries. Women are much better represented in Nordic countries than in the rest of Europe.