WUNRN
Report from the Czech
Women´s Lobby Round Table on Anti-Discrimination Legislation in the Czech Republic
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8th of
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Source: website
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The
The
The roundtable focused
on two major themes: gender aspects of anti-discrimination legislation and
multiple discrimination. In her opening speech, Iva Laňová
(Member of Vladimír Špidla’s – Commissioner’s for Employment, Social Affairs
and Equal Opportunities - Cabinet) outlined the wider European context of the
fight against discrimination. She stressed that the European Commission
perceives the issue of discrimination as belonging to its main agenda – with an
even stronger acuteness during the period of the financial crisis. On the
contrary, "the Czech presidency has decided to continue in
discussions (on the topic of discrimination), but on a technical level alone,"
said Laňová. Laňová, further, mentioned intended activities of the EU
in the field of anti-discrimination. A
summit is planned for the period of the Swedish Presidency, which will be
devoted to the issue of multiple discrimination and the exchange of relevant
best practices. In 2010, a report will be produced and published, providing a
summary of possible extensions of anti-discrimination legislation related to
gender. Alexandra Jachanová Doleželová (President of the Czech
Women's Lobby and Gender Studies Manager) called the attention to the stagnant
situation of the ADL. The House of Parliament has not been able to meet and
discuss the law since its veto by the country’s president in May 2008. In the
initial panel of the round table, the First Vice-President of the Czech Senate,
Alena Gajdůšková, described the process of passing the ADL in the Senate
and expressed a wish for CSSD (the Czech Social Democratic Party) support of
the ADL.
The Czech ombudsman Otakar Motejl confirmed the precariousness of the situation concerning the adoption of the ADL: "If the ADL is not adopted before the early elections, we will have to initiate the whole process again from the very beginning." He said that the law, in its present form, provides sufficient protection for victims of discrimination. This view was reiterated by Lucie Otáhalová, the Office of the Government representative. The lawyer Barbara Havelková added: "Unlike the Constitution, which the ADL opponents often cite as providing sufficient protection against discrimination, the ADL serves as a mandatory norm for private entities." Amandine Bach from the Europen Women’s Lobby also stressed the need for the ADL. According to her, there is a large number of discrimination cases in all EU countries and the issue of gender discrimination in relation to the ADL should build on the specifics of a concrete country. Havelková suggested that if one ADL covered all the discrimination bases and at the same time also took into account a country’s particularities, then single anti-discrimination piece of legislation might prove to be functional and effective.
The second panel of the
round table focused on the topic of multiple discrimination. Amandine Bach
stressed that the key element in this respect is a strong and functional
legislation which may help to establish other support actions in the fight
against discrimination (campaigns, training of state administration officers,
judges, lawyers, etc.). Jarmila Balážová (head of the NGO Romea) spoke about
successful projects in the area of media representation of discrimination
cases. She also noted that multiple discrimination is not an exception in the
Czech society: "A Romany woman can become a victim of three-fold
discrimination: she can be discriminated
against by the major white society (for being a woman and for being a Romany),
as well as by her own community."
Jan Hutař, the legislative director of the National Council of
Persons with Disabilities, said that for people with disabilities their health
state is more crucial than their gender. Martina Štepánková (lawyer) commented
that nowadays it is necessary to emphasize the single main cause of
discrimination at the court, since the chance to win a lawsuit thus increases.
The round table confirmed the importance and the necessity not only of the ADL,
but also of the anti-discrimination directive, which deals with discrimination
outside the labour market.
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