W stronę równości płci?
Towards Gender Equality?

The Principle of Equal Treatment and Non-Discrimination on the Basis of Gender in the Initiatives of the Polish Ombudsman

Author(s): Jolanta Arcimowicz
Subject(s): Gender Studies, Sociology
Published by: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
Keywords: ombudsman; women’s rights; prohibition of discrimination on grounds of gender; gender equality principle
Summary/Abstract: Debates on women’s rights have been taking place in the Polish Parliament since the beginning of the country’s democratic transformation in 1989. MPs and senators, as well as the general public, have for over three decades listened to the annual addresses by the Polish Ombudsman, which constantly included mentions of the issues of the social position of women in Poland, their problems and threats to their rights. Persons serving as the Ombudsman stressed that although the situation of women in Poland had improved after 1989, there was still much to be done. Women have waited patiently. Since 2015, explanations or excuses for the existing status quo were no longer sufficient. In the autumn of 2016, a wave of protests on a scale not seen since the 1980s swept through Poland. Women, supported by male allies, took to the streets to defend their rights. The situation repeated itself in 2020, when the Constitutional Court ruled that the provision which permitted abortion in the case of severe and irreversible fetal disability was unconstitutional. The Polish Ombudsman supported women protesters, intervening, among others, in defense of women activists of social organizations who were detained and repressed by the authorities. This article focuses on the actions taken by the Ombudsman in order to protect women’s rights. The analyses and conclusions are based on the annual reports of the Ombudsman submitted to the Polish Parliament, informing about the state of observance of the rights and freedoms of citizens, including the implementation of the gender equality principle. A brief recapitulation of the achievements of the Ombudsman in this area is important and timely, especially in the context of the aforementioned events of autumn 2020, which is described as a rebellion of women who regained their voice, a revolt of the young generation who renounced the “new gender contract”, and a diametrical cultural change in which “the era of good girls is over”.

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