Gender quotas were merely “numbers for statistics”, Chamber for Small and Medium Enterprises (GRTU) head Abigail Mamo insisted on Friday morning.
Speaking at an event by the Nationalist Party to mark Women’s Day, Ms Mamo said she first heard the term “quotas” in reference to fish.
The first of a series of speakers who took the stage to speak about their experiences, both as women and men, Ms Mamo insisted that discrimination based on sex, whether positive or negative, was still a form of discrimination.
Speaking about her experience as head of the body for the past five years, Ms Mamo said that she formed part of several boards and while as a young woman raising a family, she often faced certain prejudices, the last thing she wanted was to be met with hostility because she is given someone else’s seat.
'Shiver down my spine'
“Whenever I hear the term ‘quotas’, I get a shiver down my spine. The first time I heard the term quota, it was in reference to fish. Five years ago, the GRTU council, with a male majority, approached me to be CEO, not because I was a woman.
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“I cannot begin to imagine the reaction I would been met with had I been chosen for the role only because I am a woman and my chair was there ready for me just because of my sex,” Ms Mamo argued.
She went on to point out that having women on boards and other decision-making positions should be “the last thing we have”, insisting that an exercise on paper would not work.
Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has said he favours quotas to bolster the presence of women in Parliament, insisting that more women were needed there.
Malta has the EU's second-lowest rate of women in parliament.
The event was also addressed by Life Network Foundation chair Miriam Sciberras, sociologist Albert Bell and entrepreneur Charlene Mercieca, who spoke of how their own life experiences shaped their view on the importance of equal rights for all society.
Barriers still exist - Delia
In closing remarks, PN leader Adrian Delia noted that not all women enjoyed equal rights and some were facing struggles on a daily basis.
“I would like to wish a good day to all women. But I cannot. I know that unfortunately women in Malta do not have the same rights as men, there are still barriers and we also cannot forget that there are countries were women are still objectified,” Dr Delia said.
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Urging people to understand why women’s day was still celebrated every year, the PN leader said that it was only once women were on par with their male counterparts that there would no longer be the need to mark the day.
He insisted that as long as women still faced certain barriers and girls were held back, the day should serve as a reminder that there was still more that society needed to achieve.