Parliament passes Gender Equality Act

After more than three years of discussions, the Estonian parliament ratified a Gender Equality Act in April 2004. The aim of the new legislation is to reduce gender-based discrimination in all areas of life, including the workplace. The Gender Equality Act obliges authorities and employers to promote equality between men and women, thus strengthening the legislative basis for promoting gender equality.

A draft Gender Equality Act was drawn up by the Ministry of Social Affairs and adopted by the government in 2001. After the first parliamentary reading in March 2002, the draft was referred back to the Constitutional Committee. After parliamentary elections in March 2003, an amended draft was resubmitted to the parliament (Riigikogu) (EE0401103F). At the beginning of 2004, the government approved the latest draft of the Act and in February and March the draft Act passed its first and second parliamentary readings. The necessity of passing the Act was reinforced by accession to the European Union on 1 May, which brought the obligation to bring Estonian legislation into conformity with EU law, in which gender equality is one of the basic principles. Finally, on 7 April 2004, parliament ratified the Gender Equality Act, which seeks to reduce gender-based discrimination in all areas of life.

The Gender Equality Act: clarifies the terminology and definitions with regard to gender equality; explicitly prohibits direct and indirect discrimination; and lays down relevant measures in this area. To a large extent it deals with equal treatment at work and establishes a number of obligations for the employer as the 'promoter' of equality. The employer will be obliged to promote equality between men and women at work and to create the appropriate working conditions for that purpose. The personnel records of the employer must be such as to enable a gender-disaggregated analysis of data on recruitment, pay, promotion, training etc.

Until now, Estonian legislation has contained very few provisions that could potentially be used to prevent discrimination between men and women. A few paragraphs of the Constitution deal with equal rights, while several laws such as the Employment Contracts Act, the Employment Services Act, the Wages Act and the Advertising Act contain separate provisions on the prohibition of sex discrimination. Despite the general lack of specific legislation dealing with gender issues, many institutions and organisations engaged with issues relating to equal rights have been created since the beginning of 1990s (EE0312102F). For example, in 1996, the Bureau of Gender Equality (Soolise Võrdõiguslikkuse Büroo) was created at the Ministry of Social Affairs. It is responsible for coordinating activities targeted at eliminating gender inequalities, drafting legislation and promoting gender equality. There is also a private initiative dealing with gender issues - the Estonian Women’s Studies and Resource Centre (Eesti Naisuurimus- ja Teabekeskus, ENUT), which was registered in April 1997. The aim of ENUT is to promote better understanding of human rights and the democratic process by encouraging gender equality, cooperation between men and women in all aspects of life and the empowerment of women. ENUT provides services in the field of gender equality for policy-makers, researchers and students, media, other NGOs and the general public.

According to the new Gender Equality Act, the institution of the Gender Equality Commissioner should be created in the very near future. The Estonian Employers’ Confederation (Eesti Tööandjate Keskliit, ETTK) (EE0310102F) believes that the Commissioner should be appointed by tripartite agreement, as the Gender Equality Act primarily concerns equal treatment in working life. ETTK does not support the Ministry of Social Affairs' plan to appoint the commissioner through a competition and with a unilateral decision by the Ministry.

Also on the initiative of the government, a special commission has been established to draw up a National Gender Equality Plan for 2004-8. The plan will be based on international human rights conventions, agreements and documents and will cover areas including violence against women, trafficking of women, protection and assistance for victims, working life, education and the economic situation of women, as well as institutional cooperation.