A recent article I read quoted a study which claimed that Malta “is the worst place to be a woman in Europe”. Although I generally tend to withdraw from such absolutist statements, my passion for gender equality spurred me to read further.

It seems that our performance in promoting gender equality and bridging the gender gap is nothing short of abysmal witha ranking of 108th out of 144 countries in the World Economic Forum index of nations – Malta seizing the worst performancein the EU and lagging behind countries such as Rwanda and the Philippines.

The results are based on measures taken in sectors such as health, education, economy and participation in politics and decision- making roles.

To say that this is a sad state of affairs would be the understatement of the century.  This government is perceived as a champion of civil rights and liberties and has captured the respect of what were traditionally known as ‘minority groups’.

And yet in its zeal to legislate overdue legislation in favour of equal rights for LGBT people, it seems the government has forgotten us women.  Very ironic from a government who promised us the ‘most feminist government in Maltese history’.

The European Union has long been recommending that Malta needs to embrace more flexible work conditions for both male and female parents in order to create incentives for potential female entrants in the workforce.  However despite the welcome introduction of free childcare, it would seem that a more holistic approach to the problem is required if we truly believe that we do not deserve the title of a chauvinistic country.

From a purely economic aspect it is clear that female participation in the workplace has increased and needs to be further expanded.  Successive government administrations have pumped millions into our education system so that this could be achieved.  I believe that this was a runaway success and great strides forward have been made.

Figures show a majority of females in tertiary education and many skills have today by and large become neutral.  At face value there seems to be very little apparent gender discrimination at least up to certain grades of career advancement.  For many it is perceived that Maltese women have been able to dent, albeit not break, the glass ceiling that shields them from progression.

A more holistic approach to the problem is required if we truly believe that we do not deserve the title of a chauvinistic country

With well over 60 per cent of our University graduates being female, one would be forgiven for thinking that this whole issue is a non-starter seeing that we have a healthy pool of females with a high level of education.  Unfortunately this is seemingly not enough and women still earn less, do more unpaid domestic work, and are poorly represented in decision-making posts.

I will not even go into the dismal female representation that we have in Parliament but recall President Marie Louise Coleiro Preca’s words some time back describing the situation as “shameful”.

Malta lies in the 139th place worldwide where women representation in parliament is concerned, overtaken by countries such as Algeria, Tunisia and Cyprus.  Just nine of Malta’s 69 MPs are women, rendering our country critically under-represented in the nation’s highest decision-making forum.

It is painful to see this debate at times descending to ridiculous standards by cynics more interested in confusing rather than assisting in progression.  Whether one agrees with quotas, mixed electoral lists, identity photos on ballot papers or not, the fact of the matter remains that unless something is driven by government and very fast this sad state of affairs may very well persist.

I believe in action and the lack of it in this respect on the part of the Labour government is of much concern.  Actions require vision, determination and courage but it is only this which brings change in a society.

An example of this immediately springs to mind and this is when Simon Busuttil, leader of the Nationalist Party suggested and enacted amendments to the statute of the party to introduce two separate ballot papers for male and female candidates seeking election to the executive committee of the party.

These are the type of concrete measures we would like to see in order to bring about a much needed culture change in Malta to reverse this increasing gender gap.

I trust that this government will endeavour to stop the erosion to gender rights that we are currently experiencing.   Women deserve far better in our society and will most definitely vote for the party that promises to bring about change with concrete action and not for the party that failed on electoral pledges on gender equality.

info@carolinegalea.com

Caroline Galea is a National Party general election candidate on the fourth district.