Czech Republic

The Czech Republic (CZ) represents an established parliamentary democracy of the central European region with a population of 10.5 million. Prague is the nation's capital. CZ was created in 1918 as Czechoslovakia, and women's suffrage was enacted in 1920. After World War II, the country became a part of the communist bloc. As the women's movement was subject to control by the Communist Party, the second wave of [Page 370]feminism never took place. Transition to democracy occurred in 1989 under the leadership of Václav Havel. In 1993, Czechoslovakia peacefully split into the Czech and the Slovak Republics, respectively. In 2004, the CZ joined the European Union (EU). The current Czech women's movement is divided, represented mainly by nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and two university departments of gender studies, in addition to partial representation in a governmental committee for equal opportunities.

Women's rights have a high standard that is required for all EU members by the common EU law. In 2009, the Discrimination Act was enacted, forbidding both direct and indirect discrimination on the grounds of race, ethnic origin, nationality, gender, sexuality, age, disability, religion, and worldview. However, instances of discrimination still occur, mainly due to gender, age, and ethnicity (i.e., the Roma minority of 150,000-300,000 people).

Czech households traditionally depend on incomes of both partners. The social system allows parents to receive welfare benefits until a child is 4 years of age. Childcare is still perceived as an exclusive domain of women. The percentage of women who are employed is high, and the difference between male and female unemployment has been at 2 to 3 percent for the last five years. However, 26.4 percent of women with three or more children are unemployed. The gender pay gap is at 23.6 percent with the EU average being 17.5 percent. The Czech labor market is characterized by its limited job variety and scarcity of part-time positions. In 2008, only 8.5 percent of women and 2.2 percent of men had part-time jobs, compared to the EU average of 31.1 percent for women, 7.9 percent for men.

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