Do you believe a woman's life should be centered around her kitchen, raising her children and, whenever she ventures into the outside world, limited to attending church? Or do you believe, quite on the contrary, that - 53% of the European electorate being made up of women - it would only be fair that 50% of elected politicians be women?

Jezebel, Messalina, Catherine de' Medici, Indira Gandhi, Golda Meir… Throughout the ages, women who decided to play an active role in politics were too often portrayed as immoral and ruthlessly - yet unfairly - slandered by historians (who, incidently, all happened to be males!). Women had to wait until the twentieth century to be granted the right to vote and to be elected, and many disparities still exist: Parity Democracy in decision-making bodies and Equal Pay seem to exist only on paper, while violence against women (including prostitution) and stereotypes conveyed in education and in the media still need to be eradicated. Although the principle of equality between women and men is now enshrined in EU legislation, there remains a lot to be achieved for it to become a reality!

Whether you are a woman or a man, an elected politician in a regional assembly or a civil servant interested in or in charge of equal opportunities between women and men, we invite you to actively contribute to make Europa a fairer place for both women and men.

Join the AER Observatory on Gender Issues!

Please fill in the following registration form and send it to the AER Secretariat

"Dear friends,

I would like to invite you to join our working group on Equal Opportunities […].

In the past few years, we have been active in informing regions on European policies and exchanging best practices. We conducted several surveys […] and produced a series of political documents: the Manifesto of Catalonia (2002) and the Declarations of Venice (2003), Kiruna (2006) and Timisoara (2007) – which were all favourably received by a large number of MEPs and other key leading European figures, including […] Mr. Romano PRODI, former President of the Commission […] (or) the European Commissioner Viviane REDING […]. We even visited women's associations in Brussels […].

We came to the conclusion that we should focus on 4 main priorities, which I shall briefly sum up as follows:

• The promotion of Parity Democracy in Europe’s regions;
• The elimination of gender-related stereotypes in society (basic foundation of misogyny and homophobia);
• The achievement of equal economic independence for men and women;
• The eradication of sex-related violence and trafficking in human beings.

[…]

Without your commitment and active participation, no result will ever be achieved! […]. I therefore urge you to join our working group […] and hope to see you soon at one of our meetings. […] Thank you for your attention”

Excerpts from Michèle SABBAN’s speeches to the AER General Assemblies of Udine (2007) and Palma de Mallorca (2006).