According to the Gender Equality Index, the share of women among the members of the boards of directors of the largest listed companies and supervisory boards in the Czech Republic is only 21%. Compared to EU countries, the Czech Republic is thus in 20th place. Together with a 17.7% pay gap against women, we are among the worst on the European continent. At the seventh meeting of the signatories and supporters of the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs) with the subtitle Equality Means Business, the main focus was on why change is so slow and difficult to implement and how to convince those who can accelerate change.
The panel discussion was led by Radmila Pinkavová Jirkovská, who recently took on the role of European coordinator of WEPs.
The meeting took place on Thursday, January 25 at the Embassy of Romania and was attended by 11 female ambassadors working in the Czech Republic. In her welcome speech, Ambassador of Romania Antoaneta Barta said: “Equality in business, as in other sectors, is a goal that has not yet been achieved. According to statistics, less than 30% of leadership positions are held by women worldwide. This is despite many studies that show positive results of equality on productivity, profitability, and innovativeness of businesses. The main causes of this situation are gender stereotypes and mentality, which lead to differences between the sexes in the labor market, differences in the remuneration of women and men, unequal involvement in various sectors of the economy and society.‟
The ambassador pointed out that in view of these facts, Thursday’s refusal to ratify the Istanbul Convention by the Senate is a very bad signal for those who strive to eliminate violence against women. She emphasized that “equality should not only be promoted by women, on the contrary”, and therefore it is important that the Women’s Empowerment Principles are also supported by men, especially those in top positions.
