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Viewing cable 09WARSAW626, WOMEN'S ISSUES IN POLAND - SCENESETTER FOR AMBASSADOR

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
09WARSAW626 2009-06-17 15:00 2011-08-30 01:44 UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Embassy Warsaw
VZCZCXRO6746
OO RUEHSL
DE RUEHWR #0626/01 1681500
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 171500Z JUN 09
FM AMEMBASSY WARSAW
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 8458
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHINGTON DC
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 WARSAW 000626 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
G/IWI FOR AMBASSADOR VERVEER 
STATE ALSO FOR EUR, DRL, G/TIP 
LABOR FOR ILAB 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KWMN PREL KPAO PHUM OPPI SCUL ELAB PL
 
SUBJECT: WOMEN'S ISSUES IN POLAND - SCENESETTER FOR AMBASSADOR 
VERVEER'S JUNE 20-22 VISIT TO WARSAW 
 
WARSAW 00000626  001.2 OF 004 
 
 
1. (SBU) SUMMARY. The political and economic transformation in 
Poland over the last two decades has brought considerable 
improvement in the lives of Polish women.  Nevertheless, women 
continue to face a number of challenges, including 
underrepresentation in political life, discrimination in the labor 
market, and gender-based violence.  The June 20-21 "Women for 
Poland, Poland for Women" Congress in Warsaw is an excellent 
opportunity to assess women's contributions to Poland's economic and 
political transformation.  Congress organizers expect 3,000 women 
from various social and professional milieus to participate. The 
Congress will analyze Poland's development from a female perspective 
and identify the most pressing issues related to the status and 
rights of women. Your participation in the Congress and Secretary 
Clinton's message send a clear signal that women's issues are a top 
priority for the U.S. Government.  END SUMMARY. 
 
WOMEN IN THE POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC SPHERES 
------------------------------------------- 
 
2. (SBU) Over the last twenty years, women have become increasingly 
more active in public life.  In the 2008 issue of the Global Gender 
Gap Report released by the World Economic Forum last November, 
Poland rose 11 places to 49th among the 130 countries evaluated in 
the report.  The rise was due to gains in the percentage of women 
among legislators, senior government officials and managers, as well 
as in ministerial level positions. 
 
3. (SBU) Despite these gains, women are still underrepresented in 
Poland's political life.  52 percent of the Polish population is 
female, but there are only 94 women in the 460-seat lower chamber of 
Parliament (Sejm), eight women in the 100-seat Senate, and five 
women in the 20-member Council of Ministers.  In 2004-2009, Poland 
ranked 25th out of 27 EU member states in the number of female 
members of the European Parliament (7 out of 54), followed only by 
Cyprus and Malta.  In this year's European Parliament elections, the 
number of women rose slightly to 11 out of 50.  The Women's Party, 
established in 2007, has not developed into a significant movement 
nor won any seats in the Polish or EU parliaments. 
 
4. (SBU) Although active in economic life, Polish women still face a 
number of challenges. Polish women run businesses, hold top 
managerial positions in large companies, are well educated, and are 
active in non-governmental organizations.  According to Monika 
Ksieniewicz of the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy, women run 
one third of all companies in Poland.  Nevertheless, Polish women 
find it difficult to balance an active professional career with 
family life.  In addition, according to Malgorzata Tarasiewicz, 
Director of the Network of East-West Women Association, women still 
struggle with common stereotypes concerning the traditional social 
roles of men and women -- public life is governed by men, and 
women's role is centered on family -- which makes it difficult for 
men to accept women in professional roles. 
 
GENDER EQUALITY ISSUES 
---------------------- 
 
5. (SBU) The constitution provides for equal rights for men and 
women in family law, property law, and in the judicial system; 
however, in practice there are no laws implementing these 
provisions.  The 'equal pay for equal work' rule has not yet been 
implemented, either.  A report published in April 2009 indicated a 
huge disparity -- on average 20 percent -- between remuneration 
levels for male and female university graduates.  In some areas, 
such as the arts or freelance work, the gap was as large as 60 
percent.  Women often hold lower-level positions; they are fired 
more readily, and are less likely to be promoted. 
 
6. (SBU) Poland has failed to adopt an EU-mandated comprehensive 
anti-discrimination law, although it was obliged to do so by 2007. 
In February 2009, 32 Polish NGOs which promote women's rights sent a 
complaint to the European Commission pointing out the lack of GOP 
action on anti-discrimination.  In May, the European Commission 
referred Poland to the EU Court of Justice (ECJ) for not codifying 
Community rules prohibiting gender discrimination in access to and 
supply of goods and services.  If the ECJ finding shares the 
Commission's conclusions, Poland may face huge financial penalties. 
Work on the new legislation is underway. 
 
7. (SBU) There are currently two central government institutions 
that monitor and combat discrimination in Poland.  The Ministry of 
Labor and Social Policy Department for Women, Family and Combating 
Discrimination is responsible for incorporating gender equality into 
governmental policy, and monitoring implementation of government 
programs to promote gender equality.  The Government Plenipotentiary 
for Equal Status established by Prime Minister Tusk in March 2008 
 
WARSAW 00000626  002.2 OF 004 
 
 
monitors all types of discrimination. 
 
8. (SBU) The Government undertakes measures to combat various types 
of discrimination.  Between November 2008 and January 2009, the 
Ministry of Labor implemented an EU-funded project aimed at raising 
awareness among public administration employees on gender equality 
issues.  The project consisted of a series of training sessions on 
gender equality for public administration employees.  In February 
2009, the Government Plenipotentiary for Equal Status announced that 
all public administration institutions at the central and provincial 
level, including regional labor inspections and law enforcement 
agencies, will over the next three years appoint their own 
plenipotentiaries for combating discrimination and will undergo 
specialized EU-funded training. 
 
9. (SBU) Despite these efforts, women's organizations are critical 
of the current Government and institutions for failing to prioritize 
gender equality issues.  NGOs are particularly critical of Elzbieta 
Radziszewska, the current Plenipotentiary for Equal Treatment, whom 
they accuse of a lack of commitment to deal with women-oriented 
discrimination.  Radziszewska has been strongly criticized by the 
opposition Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) for failing to implement 
EU projects on gender equality, which has resulted in a considerable 
loss of EU funds designated for such activities.  Radziszewska 
asserts that while she is responsible for monitoring discrimination, 
individual ministries are responsible for promoting gender equality. 
 
 
VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN 
---------------------- 
 
10. (SBU) Violence against women continues to be a serious problem 
in Poland.  Over the last 10 years there has been an increase in the 
number of domestic violence cases reported.  This is in part 
attributable to heightened police awareness, particularly in urban 
areas, as a result of media campaigns and NGO efforts.  However, the 
number of women affected by domestic abuse is still underreported, 
particularly in small towns and villages.  The NGO Women's Rights 
Center reported that police were occasionally reluctant to intervene 
in domestic violence incidents if the perpetrator was a member of 
the police or if victims were unwilling to cooperate. 
 
11. (SBU) Poland adopted legislation on combating domestic violence 
in 2005; however, numerous NGOs report that it has failed to provide 
adequate protection to victims.  The main problem lies in the lack 
of an effective restraining order mechanism to isolate perpetrators 
from victims.  Also, there is insufficient financial assistance to 
victims when the victims are economically dependent on the 
perpetrators.  NGOs observe that women are often reluctant to open a 
case because the investigation, pretrial proceedings, and trial can 
last for two to three years, during which time victims often remain 
financially dependent on perpetrators and thus vulnerable to further 
violence, coercion, and other forms of pressure. Some proposed 
revisions to the law combating domestic violence are under 
consideration. 
 
12. (SBU) Sexual harassment continues to be a serious problem in 
Poland.  Social awareness also continues to increase as more cases 
are reported by the media.  Under the criminal code, persons 
convicted of sexual harassment may be sentenced to up to three years 
in prison.  According to Center for Women's Rights, sexual 
harassment was a serious and underreported problem.  Many victims do 
not report abuse or withdraw harassment claims in the course of 
police investigations out of shame or fear of losing their jobs. 
According to Dziennik, a leading Polish daily, in 2008 only 20 women 
filed sexual harassment complaints with the Labor Inspection Office, 
while a recent public opinion poll revealed that every tenth Polish 
woman may have experienced unacceptable behavior from her 
supervisor. 
 
13. (SBU) In November 2008, Dziennik revealed that the Polish Labor 
Inspection Office is unprepared to deal with the problem of sexual 
harassment.  A Dziennik reporter called 16 Labor Inspectorate field 
offices claiming to be a victim of sexual harassment.  In several 
cases, Labor Inspectorate personnel told the reporter that such 
behavior is typical for some men, that she is probably very 
attractive and should take such a behavior as a compliment.  Chief 
Labor Inspector Tadeusz Zajac promised to take concrete measures to 
improve the situation.  The results of a Labor Ministry January 2009 
survey were similarly striking: 20 percent of women working at the 
Ministry reported a hostile work environment.  In addition, 60 
percent of the women said they did not know whom to turn to when 
facing sexual harassment or a hostile work environment. 
 
14. (SBU) In March 2009, the Office of the Plenipotentiary for Equal 
 
WARSAW 00000626  003.2 OF 004 
 
 
Treatment published a comprehensive manual for victims of sexual 
harassment.  The manual explains what sexual harassment is, how to 
identify it, and how to combat it, how to collect evidence against 
perpetrator, and who can provide assistance. 
 
TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS 
---------------------- 
 
15. (SBU) In the Department's 2009 TIP Report, Poland was ranked in 
Tier 1 (the best ranking).  Poland has long been a source and 
transit country for women and girls trafficked primarily to Western 
European countries for the purpose of commercial sexual 
exploitation.  As a result of its increasing economic prosperity, 
Poland has also become a destination country for purposes of 
commercial sexual exploitation and labor exploitation.  As in many 
countries, traffickers target young, unemployed, and poorly paid 
women, particularly those with weak family ties and support 
networks. Traffickers attracted victims with false promises of 
lucrative jobs, arranged marriages, fraud, and coercion. Traffickers 
threatened victims with violence, and those who resisted or tried to 
flee were raped, beaten, or injured.  In 2008, 315 victims of 
trafficking were identified by Polish authorities.  La Strada, the 
major Polish NGO which combats human trafficking, provided 
assistance to victims, 85 percent of whom were women. 
 
WOMEN'S HEALTH ISSUES 
--------------------- 
 
16. (SBU) Poland has one of the most restrictive abortion laws in 
Europe. According to the 1993 law on family planning, protection of 
a human embryo and conditions for terminating pregnancy, abortion is 
allowed only in three instances: when pregnancy poses a threat to 
the life or health of the mother, when pre-natal examinations 
indicate a high probability of severe birth defects or incurable 
disease, and when pregnancy was the result of rape.  As women's 
rights NGOs point out, even those entitled to legal abortion under 
the strict anti-abortion law are often denied.  Under Polish law, a 
doctor has the right to deny an abortion if it is in conflict with 
his/her conscience (so-called conscience clause). 
 
17. (SBU) According to official statistics, 322 legal abortions were 
performed in 2007 compared to 340 a year earlier.  Women's 
organizations estimate the number of illegal abortions at between 
80,000 and 120,000 per year.  Polish women also travel abroad to 
undergo procedures that are prohibited in Poland.  In May 2009, 
Anand Grover, United Nations special envoy on health issues, 
criticized Poland for limited access to contraceptives, prenatal 
tests and abortion.  He stated that in cases when abortion is 
allowed, it should be made available and conducted safely.  He also 
appealed for the provision of unbiased sexual education and better 
funding for contraceptives. 
 
MISSION POLAND'S EFFORTS 
------------------------ 
 
18. (SBU) Mission Poland regularly monitors developments on women's 
issues in Poland and often engages in outreach programs to promote 
the rights of women in the country.  The following are some recent 
examples: 
 
-- In December 2008, Embassy Warsaw actively participated in the 
2008 international campaign "16 Days of Activism Against 
Gender-based Violence" by raising awareness of the problem through a 
series of profiles posted on Embassy Warsaw's website of individuals 
and institutions actively working against gender-based violence in 
Poland. 
 
-- In September 2008, the Embassy provided funding of an Interior 
Ministry and IOM co-sponsored campaign to raise awareness of the 
problem of trafficking of women through a series of displays in 
major train stations around the country. 
 
-- In March 2008, the Mission sponsored the visit of veteran TV 
journalist Susan Spencer of CBS News, who spoke at the International 
Women's Day event hosted by Ambassador Ashe, met with leading women 
in business and journalism at an event hosted by the Consul General 
in Krakow, and participated in speaking programs in Warsaw, Krakow 
and Wroclaw. 
 
-- In February 2008, the Embassy organized a visit by Cindy Dyer, 
the Director for the Office on Violence Against Women in the 
Department of Justice, who attended a conference on victim 
assistance and protection organized by the Polish Ministry of 
Justice. She also met with Polish governmental officials, members of 
parliament and representatives of NGOs. 
 
WARSAW 00000626  004.2 OF 004 
 
 
 
-- In December 2007, Embassy Warsaw organized a DVC on Combating 
Violence against Women with US experts from the Department of State, 
Department of Justice and US-based NGOs, and representatives from 
the Polish government ministries and NGOs. 
 
ASHE