Gender Inequality Throughout Estonia

Estonia is a country with high gender gap. Many authors and citizens have said that females are not equally valuable to men in the work force. In “Gender Equality in Estonia” Commissioner Mari-Liis Sepper acknowledges that the 2008 Eurostat data shows “Estonia ranks among countries where the negative impact of parenthood on female employment is higher by 15 percent” (Diel). The work force is highly segregated; compared to its region Estonian women only hold 6 percent of seats on boards of directors compared to the average in Europe which is 11 percent. This shows that gender is a huge issue when a female wants to reach a higher level in her field.

The government has taken initiative in achieving the decline in gender gap equality in the institutions. The government passed the Gender Equality Act in 2004; the act during the legislation process was resisted by many but ultimately passed. The hope is that this act will provide awareness to citizens “rights, their legal remedies, and the first cases to reach courts in upcoming years” (Diel).

Currently Estonia is 47th out of 134 in the Global Gender Gap Report created by the World Economic Forum; sadly Estonia ranked lower than Russia who was ranked number 45th. Estonia has been dropping their position in the Global Gender Gap Report for 4 years; in 2006 Estonia was ranked number 26th and in 2009 the country rested at 37th out of 134 countries. The biggest gap in gender inequality is in salaries which the country ranked sadly 87th. “Quite negative also the results Estonia got on political participation (74th) and health (50th), both areas that suggest a strong intervention from Estonian policy makes in order to bring an effective change in the way women and men are treated” (De Castro).

Gender Equality Act and the Equal Treatment Act. The opinion under the commissioner though is non-binding, they “contact the alleged discriminator and demand an explanation, as well as all the necessary data and documents... [they] may disclose the subject matter of the dispute . . . and exercise certain pressure through the media” (Diel).The commissioner is hoping in the next couple years to educate legal professionals on the issues concerning equal treatment among gender (Diel).

Since 2009, the commissioner created an institution called the Gender Equality and Equal Treatment Commissioner. The institution views companies and different field and looks if discrimination has occurred through the Gender Equality Act and the Equal Treatment Act. The opinion under the commissioner though is non-binding; they “contact the alleged discriminator and demand an explanation, as well as all the necessary data and documents... [they] may disclose the subject matter of the dispute . . . and exercise certain pressure through the media” (Diel). The commissioner is hoping in the next couple years to educate legal professionals on the issues concerning equal treatment among gender (Diel).