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Resolution 1806 (2011)
Rural women in Europe
1. Women are a driving force for the
maintenance, conservation and development of rural areas, both in cultural
and economic terms. Not only do they contribute to the preservation
and handing down of traditions but they also represent a considerable
proportion of the workforce in agriculture and support the development of
rural areas in the face of a constant process of depopulation.
2. Unfortunately, due to the predominance of certain conditions
in rural areas, such as unemployment, poverty, poor transport and
lack of basic educational, health and care services, and to the
persistence of a traditional mentality imposing stereotyped roles
for women and men and confining women to a subordinate role in both
private and public life, women in rural areas are confronted with
major challenges in the achievement of gender equality and the enjoyment
of their rights. In addition, rural women from ethnic minorities,
especially Roma women, face multiple and serious forms of discrimination
– more so than men from the same ethnic groups or women in the majority
population. As a result of this situation, many women, in particular
young women, tend to leave the countryside which, together with
demographic changes, further exacerbates the depopulation process
of rural areas.
3. This problem is often aggravated by the failure of Council
of Europe member states to adequately ensure gender mainstreaming
in the development and implementation of legislative and policy
measures relating to agriculture and rural areas. This was particularly
the case during the privatisation process which took place in the
1990s in a number of states which are today members of the Council
of Europe. In addition, rural women are seldom the subject of specific
and targeted legislative measures and policies.
4. The Parliamentary Assembly notes that, despite marked regional
differences in the situation of these women in member states, a
number of common issues of concern can be identified: rural women
are not adequately accounted for in national statistics; their opportunities
for finding employment are limited, as is their access to credit,
social security cover, health care and social services; they face
obstacles in access to property and inheritance rights; they have
difficulties reconciling work and family life and have limited,
if any, decision-making power within the family business.
5. Furthermore, the Assembly notes with great concern that rural
women are particularly vulnerable to violence, including so-called
“ honour crimes” and domestic violence, and that, in some member
states where rural areas are affected by widespread unemployment
and poverty, they are particularly at risk of becoming victims of
trafficking in human beings.
6. The Assembly fears that the combined effect of globalisation
and the current financial and economic crisis might further worsen
the living conditions of rural women, increasing their vulnerability
and their exposure to discrimination and human rights violations.
7. The Assembly therefore calls on Council of Europe member states
to:
7.1. devise specific legal measures
and policies focusing in particular on improving the situation of rural
women and aimed at achieving progress in equal opportunities to
create conditions which will enable women to remain in rural areas;
7.2. ensure a gender-sensitive approach in the elaboration
and implementation of all policies that have an impact on the situation
of rural women;
7.3. provide for the involvement of rural women in agricultural
policy development at national, regional and local levels and in
all decisions affecting them;
7.4. promote greater participation by rural women in decision
making, encouraging their presence in local political life, in the
governing bodies of businesses, co-operatives, local agricultural
boards and agricultural associations;
7.5. monitor the proper implementation of the law by law enforcement
officials and other public officials in rural areas, in the fields
of justice, anti-discrimination, labour law and criminal law, in
order to strengthen respect for the rule of law;
7.6. ensure that law enforcement officials and members of the
judiciary in rural areas receive training on gender equality and
on domestic violence, and promote the presence of female staff in
the workforce;
7.7. set up or support visibility and awareness-raising campaigns,
as well as information services to inform rural women about their
rights;
7.8. promote the establishment of fora for exchanging knowledge,
best practices and experience at national and international level
on the situation of rural women;
7.9. support information and communication networks between
rural women and government institutions, with the help of professional
organisations, civil society and the media;
7.10. apply gender budgeting;
7.11. sign and ratify the Council of Europe Convention on Action
against Trafficking in Human Beings (CETS No. 197), ensure its strict
implementation and co-operate with its monitoring mechanism (GRETA);
7.12. support the negotiations on the Council of Europe Convention
on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic
Violence (CETS No. 210).
8. In addition, as regards statistics, the Assembly asks Council
of Europe member states to:
8.1. draw
up statistics aimed at providing a clear overview of the situation
and living conditions of women in rural areas in order to develop
focused policies;
8.2. improve statistical data and information on the reasons
why women leave rural areas, with a view to implementing the necessary
measures to curb this exodus;
8.3. produce statistical studies on the impact of poverty and
social exclusion in rural areas, including a gender-impact assessment,
in order to establish policies to tackle these problems;
8.4. consider setting up national monitoring centres to collect
and share data and information, and monitor the evolution of the
situation.
9. In order to improve the economic conditions of rural women,
the Assembly calls on Council of Europe member states to:
9.1. ensure that women are not discriminated
against as regards access to property and inheritance rights;
9.2. introduce legal provisions relating to the concept of
“ shared ownership” ;
9.3. assess the value of unpaid or low-paid work performed
on the farm during married life so that it can be taken into account
in the event of a couple’s separation or divorce;
9.4. end discrimination against women in access to employment
and wage discrimination;
9.5. facilitate the provision of microcredits, funds and loans
for rural women who wish to set up a business, by themselves or
through co-operatives, especially as regards innovative projects
which create new jobs for women in rural areas;
9.6. include in regional and local development strategies training
programmes for rural women to improve their vocational skills in
the field of sustainable agriculture and develop their entrepreneurial skills;
9.7. give added value to agricultural products, create commercial
outlets for them and contribute to the diversification of the rural
economy;
9.8. promote the recourse to and availability of new information
and communication technologies;
9.9. promote opportunities for rural women to work from home;
9.10. increase job opportunities in rural areas in sectors other
than agriculture, such as telecommunications, local services, tourism
and leisure;
9.11. create incentives for businesses which decide to set themselves
up in rural areas and employ women.
10. In order to improve the social conditions of rural women,
the Assembly calls on Council of Europe member states to:
10.1. develop a comprehensive legislative
framework on the status of women working as helping spouses, affording
them access to social security, retirement pensions, medical care,
maternity leave and maternity entitlements, and ensure the application
of national health and safety regulations;
10.2. set up a system to register those who work as helping
spouses, in order to ensure the enjoyment of their full social rights,
in compliance with Assembly Resolution
1752 (2010) on decent pensions for women and Resolution 1329 (2003) on
the status of collaborating partners in family businesses;
10.3. improve working conditions of women and men in agriculture
and ensure a gender-sensitive approach to risk assessment and prevention
of health hazards and accidents for agricultural workers. Special
attention should be given to the situation of pregnant women and
breastfeeding mothers;
10.4. strengthen the availability of essential services such
as nurseries, compulsory schools, care services for elderly people
and people with disabilities, health and social services, to make
it easier for rural women to reconcile work and family life;
10.5. ensure the availability of health care facilities in rural
areas and services relating to sexual and reproductive health and
family planning, if necessary setting up mobile units;
10.6. promote schooling, adult education and vocational training
for women and girls in rural areas;
10.7. set up or encourage the establishment of information offices
and advocacy centres providing rural women with advice on their
rights and legal representation;
10.8. invest in infrastructures and services such as roads,
public transport, broadband and Internet connections, including
in remote rural areas, so as to reduce inhabitants’, and in particular
women’s, isolation, and increase their employment and education
opportunities;
10.9. set up appropriate reintegration programmes and facilities
for victims of trafficking in rural areas, as well as protection
mechanisms, services and shelters for victims of violence, including
domestic violence.
11. Finally, the Assembly calls on the European Parliament and
the European Commission, within their respective remits, to:
11.1. pursue their efforts to ensure
gender mainstreaming in all their policies and measures, including the
Common Agricultural Policy and the Structural Funds;
11.2. monitor the implementation of Directive 2010/41/EU of
the European Parliament and of the Council of the European Union
on the application of the principle of equal treatment between men
and women engaged in an activity in a self-employed capacity and
repealing Council Directive 86/613/EEC.