National Council of Women sees need for change in mentality

Gender equality in Malta "is not really in place", but, at least, the law is there, the president of the National Council of Women, Grace Attard, said.

"Society does not really see the need for gender equality, being under the impression that everything is in order. However, it is not the case," Ms Attard argued.

"We are still lacking the measures that have been set up in other European countries. Our gender equality implementation is far behind what is expected as minimum standards."

Ms Attard spoke of a need for a change in mentality: the fact that women take up positions normally occupied by men and that they go out to work is still considered unusual, she said.

"Today, we have to talk about the roles and responsibilities of men and women, married, or unmarried, towards the family and work, and not just the role of women."

A number of men are still embarrassed to make use of paternity leave, she said.

The council believes in the need for more structures and family-friendly measures to assist parents in coping with both family and work.

"As regards reduced hours and flexitime, we need employers who have a structured plan on how to implement these schemes, while men and women who make use of them should be committed not to abuse."

Professional child care facilities were lacking and most were not up to standard, particularly from the point of view of the ratio of the number of children to carers. The problem was that there was no child care legislation to set standards and establish the need for a licence to operate.

Speaking about the valid role NGOs have in working with the government, she said the NCW would like to network with the Appogg agency to create widespread, nationwide awareness about, for example, domestic violence.

The council is proposing the setting up of early detection measures, which would prevent situations from becoming harmful and which would entail the collaboration of the social policy and health ministries.

It has also requested that the civil society committee be part of the core Malta Council for Economic and Social Development and that legislation be changed to allow civil society to participate in the core group.

"All issues concern women, so we should be constantly on the MCESD. As it is, the NCW is only on a sub-committee.

"Today, we do not consider ourselves as catering for women's needs only but as an organisation that wants to see every aspect of society given richer value by including a woman's perspective.

"EU policies are all geared towards the participation of NGOs in the consultation and decision-making process - a principle that has been established in the EU constitution," Ms Attard said.

She urged Malta to make use of the strategies adopted in other EU countries and adapt them to its needs.

Like other countries, Malta should set up a job evaluation system to study the different types of work carried out by men and women, establishing criteria on their value to ensure the principle of equal pay for work of equal value and narrow the existing wage gap.

"No country can afford not to make use of a potential of more than 50 per cent of its population (which is female)," Ms Attard said.

Ms Attard questioned the lack of women in top positions, for example, within the Department of Education, which has a high percentage of female employees.

As regards women in public life, the NCW was disappointed with the outcome of the general and local elections. She questioned why women were not coming forward for these positions, or whether people were simply not voting for them. The council was considering these issues to determine "the real obstacles that are discouraging women from coming out into society".

The Maltese would soon be voting for members of the European parliament and "we would like to see a woman from Malta", she said, urging the political parties to ensure that enough opportunities and backing would be given to them to stand for election.

The council augured that women who did not declare they were working should form some kind of cooperative for their work to be recognised, not be exploited and to be able to reap the benefits, such as pensions.

The council is studying the situation and trying to create awareness, Ms Attard said.

The NCW believes that breast care needs more attention. Although self-examination is creating more awareness among women, statistics show that it has not changed the incidence of cancer. However, where breast screening is carried out regularly, studies showed a marked reduction.

The NCW believes it should be the Health Department's responsibility to compile a data base and call every woman at risk, with a regular follow-up.