Gender Equality Conference Report
Following the series of seminars held by unions around Europe which ended with the meeting in Edinburgh in February on Strategies to Combat Gender Stereotypes and Promote Equal Opportunities for Performers, a major conference was held in Brussels on June 6th. Equity Vice President Jean Rogers reports on the conference here:
FIA GENDER EQUALITY CONFERENCE BRUSSELS
“Engendering Change: Strategies to Combat Gender Stereotypes and Promote Equal Opportunities in Theatre Film and Television in Europe.” See attached programme
"This Conference was the final one of the FIA Gender Equality Group‘s second project funded by the EU Commission, bringing together all the findings from the five earlier regional conferences.
It was a great advantage that this Conference was held within the European Parliament as it facilitated the attendance and positive contributions by no less than 3 MEPs. The British MEP Mary Honeyball was extremely supportive and has subsequently outlined in a Stage newspaper article how the EU can help push forward the gender equality issue for female performers within the arts and entertainment sector. She believes existing EU anti-discrimination legislation should be amended so that it specifically targets the performing arts. She sits on both the European Parliament’s Women’s Rights and Gender Equality and the Culture and Education committees. The whole occasion was optimistic and supportive and during the afternoon MEP and former Equity Council colleague Michael Cashman joined us to hear the debates.
It was clear from the many strategies outlined that a number of European countries have taken the gender issue forward in a much more positive manner than here in the United Kingdom. Scandinavian laws encourage a better gender balance at board level and Sweden in particular have introduced an auditing of programming in subsidised theatres as a yearly activity, along with leadership training schemes to encourage women to become artistic directors. This has also been successful in Slovenia. Sture Carlsson, the Chair of Swedish Performing Arts (the Swedish employers’ organisation for music, dance and theatre), spoke glowingly of how applying gender equality to casts and administration had injected life, vigour and success into Swedish theatre.
The good strategies and best practice uncovered at the regional conferences will be collected into a Handbook soon to be published. It is sobering to note that the one good example from the UK – the women’s theatre group Sphinx, who last year at the National Theatre arranged a panel session on the problems actresses face in the poor quality and quantity of work opportunities presently on offer – had its ACE funds withdrawn in the last funding round. Other countries such as Spain have a number of positive schemes which the Spanish minister of Culture Andrea Gautier outlined.
I would like to thank Christine Payne, Pauline Moran, Louise McMullan, Deborah Dean (author of the first FIA project’s report on Age, Gender and Performer Employment in Europe) and Sue McGoun for their enthusiasm and input, and also actress and script writer Tracey Brabin for her entertaining and encouraging speech on Challenging Gender Portrayal."
Jean Rogers (Equity Vice President and member of FIA Gender Equality Group)
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