Wanted: A Gender Agenda

By DAHLIA SCHEINDLIN
schein224 (photo credit: )
schein224
(photo credit: )
Column from Issue 16, November 24, 2008 of The Jerusalem Report. To subscribe to The Jerusalem Report click here. Dahlia Scheindlin is an international political consultant and public opinion analyst based in Tel Aviv. Dear Tzipi Livni, With the real race for prime minister now underway, it is time to say it out loud: You are a woman, and people should care about that fact. Even men. Here's a feminist version of why we should all care. We don't need you to prove that a woman can lead just like the boys; they have made a fine mess of things. You are not a general, and this is a strength. You will draw not on combat experience, but rather on professional, intellectual and social acumen. By legitimizing leadership not based on military prowess you can raise questions about the effectiveness of military might and about the importance of strengthening the home front, as you started to do during the Second Lebanon War. True, on the surface, women in Israel seem to be doing pretty well. We've had a female leader before. If you become prime minister, Israel will be the only nation in the world in which all three branches of government are headed by women. We have statutory authorities to advance our status and promote equal opportunity, and excellent legislation against sexual harassment, stalking and domestic violence. But the country has not reached gender equality - neither de jure nor de facto. Marriage and divorce laws in Israel are unconscionable. Men can divorce, or refuse to divorce, at will. A 2005 Knesset study estimated that up to 100,000 women had been or were being refused a divorce, prevented from legally remarrying and moving on with their lives. And too many women still suffer at the hands of men. Over 200,000 women are battered by their husbands or partners. The Association of Rape Crisis Centers states that one in three women is sexually assaulted in Israel and one in five is raped. Furthermore, Israel is, deplorably, a major hub for trafficking girls and women for the sex industry. Workplace inequalities impinge on economic growth. The Central Bureau of Statistics tells us that 58.8 percent of men participate in the civilian workforce, but only 47.7 percent of women; broken down into sectors, 81 percent of Jewish women participate, but only 28 percent of Arab women do. And women earn only 63 percent of the gross salary that men earn. Men make up 90 percent of the top-earning category. The economy needs greater equality. Changing these things isn't easy without political representation. Although the number of women Knesset Members has doubled over the past decade, it is now just 14 percent. The lingering disease of inequality hurts the country as a whole. We need you, Ms. Livni, to push the boundaries; we need an explicit, activist gender agenda. Hillary Clinton has never had a political persona without a gender agenda. Even in one of her early speeches she declared, "If women are free from violence, their families will flourish. If women have a chance to work and earn as full and equal partners in society, their families will flourish. And when their families flourish, communities and nations will flourish." Her candidacy went on to spark a passionate debate about feminism in America. She crusaded for the Paycheck Fairness Act for income equality. Her career and campaign have dealt with health care, education, retirement, access to birth control. Ségolène Royal, the first woman presidential candidate in France, called herself a feminist in her campaign against the eventual winner, Nicolas Sarkozy, and peppered her proposals with legislation on domestic violence, mandatory schooling from age 3, and raising the minimum wage. Ms. Livni, you could even take some lessons from France's Rachida Dati. You both served as minister of justice, you both came from right-wing parties. Unlike you, of course, she's single, Muslim and pregnant. She may not call herself a feminist crusader, but her identity pushes the bounds of legitimacy for any French public figure, male or female. And she has demonstrated a willingness to think about women's needs, not only men's. For a negative example, take America's Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin: She's a former beauty queen; she opposes abortion rights and supports her daughter's teen motherhood, a notorious formula for lower achievement for women. She shoots and hunts as well as the guys. The New York Times reported that while she was mayor of Wasilla, the city began the practice of billing rape and assault victims for medical examination kits. If you win, don't be just another prime minister. Be Ms. Prime Minister; try to overturn those de facto and de jure inequalities. Promote free education for the youngest children. Fight for 50-50 representation in political parties; find a way to bring marriage and divorce into this millennium; advocate economic measures to close the social gaps. These aren't women's problems; they are society's problems. Make them the problems you want to solve. • Column from Issue 16, November 24, 2008 of The Jerusalem Report. To subscribe to The Jerusalem Report click here.