Gender Issues 2009: Gender Equality Discourse in Times of Transformation, 1989-2009: the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia and Ukraine

Looking at the changes initiated in 1989, such as the introduction of market economy and the adoption of neoliberal ideology as the foundation of the new political, economic and social system, it is important to see how they influenced the situation of men and women.
The publication Gender Issues 2009: Gender Equality Discourse in Times of Transformation, 1989-2009: the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia and Ukraine is yet another initiative of the Heinrich Böll Foundation regional Office in Warsaw trying to fill this gap and, at the same time, it is also the result of the Foundation’s cooperation with partner organisations from Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Ukraine, which, since 2007, have been monitoring the progress of the implementation of gender equality politics and adherence to EU standards in this field. The country reports for 2009, compiled in this publication and prepared by ASPEKT from Bratislava, Gender Studies from Prague, Feminoteka Foundation from Warsaw and Liberal Society Institute from Kiev, are concerned with the changes which took place in the past twenty years in the discourse of gender equality and women’s rights. Other areas analysed in the reports include women’s political participation, economic situation, violence against women, reproductive and sexual rights, including the rights of sexual minorities. The authors focused mostly on events which they consider to be the milestones of changes; which influenced the situation of women, the language of the debate, the perception of women’s rights and their place in social, political, economic and private life.