Minister of Social Affairs calls for end to specific gender equality portfolio

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In November 2003, the Dutch Minister of Social Affairs and Emancipation Policy, Aart Jan de Geus, stated that he was keen to drop the current specific government policy portfolio for gender equality. Instead, gender issues should be mainstreamed into other policy areas. The Minister asserted that Dutch women now have equality in many areas, though problems persist. Various women’s organisations have responded sceptically to the Minister's statements.

On 17 November 2003, a conference was held to mark the 25th anniversary of equality policy for women and men (known as 'emancipation policy', or emancipatiebeleid) in the Netherlands. In a speech at the event, the Minister of Social Affairs and Emancipation Policy, Aart Jan de Geus, stated that he no longer wished to see a special portfolio for equality policy by the end of the government's forthcoming term of office. He expressed a preference for approaching the topic of equality in an integrated way, with 'gender' issues being addressed within the context of other policy areas - such as policy on the labour market, education and training, and on integration and foreign nationals. Although the Minister feels that many matters related to gender equality - such as labour force participation among women and childcare - are now taken for granted in Dutch society, he stated that persistent shortcomings remain, such as the 'glass ceiling' on women's promotion, violence against women in the private sphere and the position of women of foreign extraction. According to the Minister, these issues can be addressed within the context of 'regular' policy in other areas in the future. In October 2003, Mr De Geus called for the continuation of policy on positive discrimination, though one of the parties in the governing coalition, the liberal Party for Freedom and Democracy (Vereniging voor Vrijheid en Democratie, VVD), wants to scrap such regulations.

Various women’s organisations responded sceptically to the Minister’s stated intentions. They assert that women’s emancipation has by no means reached a point of 'closure'. Taking only current government policy into account, they state that there are a number of points that require further critical attention - contraceptive pills are being dropped from the standard medical expenses insurance package, and matters related to financing child daycare have yet to be properly addressed, making these facilities unaffordable for lower income earners. When asked, the former State Secretary for Emancipation and Family Affairs, Khee Phoa, asserted that someone should always be responsible for the equality process, since the Netherlands is far from being 'emancipated' in gender terms. The Clara Wichmann Institute, an institute that focuses on women and the law, refers to a need for a centralised coordination point. The Institute sees little logic in the minister’s timing. In 2001, a fact-finding committee was established to study whether equality policy is rooted in the policies of all government departments. The committee has yet to report its findings, and the Institute asks why Mr De Geus has not waited for the recommendations of this committee. International treaties relating to women's rights prescribe that equality impact reports must be drafted with regard to legislative proposals, and the Institute asks who will supervise this process and bear responsibility for official coordination. For the time being however, the many questions raised by the Minister's statements have yet to be answered.