The women spend more time on domestic chores on average each day than men even if they work. Most of the respondents of a study carried out by the Center of Sociological Investigations and Marketing Research “CBS-AXA” said the household chores of women represent the most important obstacle to their involvement in politics, IPN reports.
According to the gender barometer “How do women and men take part in politics and decision-making processes?”, which was presented on May 30, men are more eager to become involved in politics than women. The more important the political post is, the greater is the preference of respondents for a man in this post.
Asked about the factors that discourage them from becoming involved in politics, most of the women said they are concerned about the personal security and the security of the family. They also mentioned the care for household chores. Men said nothing prevents them from becoming involved in politics.
CBS-AXA vice director Vasile Cantarji said polls show the women represent at least 40% of the members of political parties. This fact refutes the hypothesis that the low number of women candidates is due to the low number of female members of political parties.
“The women become involved to a greater extent at community level. For example, they take part in consultations on the local budget and in debates on the distribution of budget funds, etc. In all the types of activities, we see that the participation rate of women is higher,” stated Vasile Cantarji, noting that a bizarre picture is created, when women become more involved at community level, but the final decisions are taken by men.
Asya Varbanova, representative of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN WOMEN), said that despite particular progress in engaging women in decision-making, the situation concerning the roles of men and women in the family hasn’t changed. “We think it is an opportunity to see what we can do in the future for these barriers to be overcome more efficiently. Last year Parliament adopted a law that provides for the introduction of a women quota of 40% as regards participation in decision-making. For everyone, this was a success, but looking at the data of this study we see that the battle is not fully won. We must make greater effort in terms of perceptions and their change so that these become more equalitarian. We have enough data that show that we need a reform within parties,” stated the representative of UN WOMEN.
The gender barometer is the first comprehensive study in Moldova that addresses the involvement of women and men in politics and decision-making. This was carried out within the UN Program “Women in Politics” that is implemented by UN WOMEN and UNDP in partnership with East Europe Foundation with the financial support of the Government of Sweden.
