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Wednesday, November 29, 2000
By Gwendolyn Albert Although Czech women comprise 44 percent of the work force, their unemployment rate is almost twice that of men, and their earnings only 70 percent of men's. The Czech labor market is "visibly segregated," and women predominate in low-paying jobs. Women with small children, women older than 50 and women with only primary education suffer the most. Czech men have not changed since 1989, even though their familial obligations are prescribed as "the same" as women's in the Family Code. Czech women still suffer the double working day, cleaning the home and children while working full time. Legislation cannot change the fact that 70 percent of Czechs believe laundry is women's work. Alena Zemancikova suggested recently in Literarni noviny that if men believe women's pay is sufficient, they should lower their pay to the same level. "Let a foreman earn the same as a nurse if a nurse can't earn the same as a foreman," she writes. "Both jobs require expertise and physical prowess." Domestic violence is ignored here. Women who report it face unsympathetic police officers (surprise, surprise) who view domestic violence as a private matter and often persuade victims not to file charges. If the case goes to court, there is no legal aid available for the plaintiff, who must reconfirm her intention to prosecute at three separate times during the process. Women who are economically dependent on their partners are usually pressured into withdrawing complaints. The Helsinki report calls rape one of "the most hidden criminal acts in the Czech Republic." The maximum possible prison sentence for rape is eight years, 12 years if the victim is under 14, and a mere 15 years if the victim is also murdered. In the early 1990s the Czech Institute on Sexology revealed that an eighth of Czech women had been raped, but only three in 100 ever reported the crime. Incredibly, rape victims give their statements at police stations in front of whomever else happens to be there, thus increasing their trauma. Police often do not secure the victim's transportation home after the medical exam, during which the victim is not given the choice of a female doctor. No protection is given to victims when identifying perpetrators in line-ups -- they often are made to stand face-to-face with offenders. Psychologists often ask inappropriate questions that further traumatize. According to the Helsinki report, rape is on the increase, and victims often feel that their families will blame them. In Czech society -- and not only here -- rape is viewed as something that the victim is responsible for, not an act of unspeakable cruelty. There is also a societal belief that husbands who rape their wives are exercising their "right" to sex, even though marital rape is recognized as a crime by the law. Other forms of sexual abuse exist here as well. According to the Helsinki report, 9 percent of Czech women and 5 percent of Czech men are sexually abused before the age of 15. Half the abuse of females occurs within the family. The public does not realize how widespread the problem is. The demoralizing atmosphere faced by Czech women, combined with a lack of women in positions of power, whether in education, politics or business, means that the road to gender equality in this society is a long one. Unfortunately, even in "the West," conditions aren't much better for women at the start of the 21st century. Change ultimately depends not only on women themselves, but also on men, most of whom won't even read this column to the end, as their eyes, hearts and minds will have skipped away once they saw the word "women" in the title. There is nothing so strong as the power of disregard.
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