Ljubljana related

25 Apr 2022, 18:27 PM

40% of Newly Elected MPs Women, Record for Slovenia

STA, 25 April 2022 - As many as 36 women have been elected to the 90-seat National Assembly, which translates in 40% of all MPs, a record figure ever since Slovenia gained independence. The Freedom Movement, the election winner, leads the way - it has not only the largest number of women MPs but more than half of its elected candidates are women.

According to the unofficial partial results of Sunday's election, the Freedom Movement will have 22 women MPs, which is nearly 54% of the party's deputies.

A total of three women were elected to parliament on the slate of the SocDems, which came in fourth, accounting for almost 43% of the SD's deputy group.

The fifth-placed Left has two women out of its five elected MPs (40%).

The two parties of the outgoing coalition that have made it to parliament have below 30% women MPs.

The second-placed Democrats (SDS) and the third-placed New Slovenia (NSi) have seven and two women MPs, respectively.

The SDS's share is thus nearly 26%, whereas the NSi has the lowest share of women MPs among all the parties that will be in the next parliament - 25%.

Prior to this election, the highest number of women MPs in Slovenia, 32, was recorded at the end of the 2011-2014 and 2014-2018 terms.

The lowest number of women MPs was meanwhile seen during the 1996-2000 and 2004-2008 terms, when there were only eleven female MPs.

In the term that is now coming to an end, 22 women were originally elected to parliament, and at the end of the term, Slovenia had 26 women MPs due to various reshuffles.

10 Mar 2022, 15:22 PM

Exhibition Highlights 60 Women Artists in Slovenia, from 90s to Now, at Cukrarna, Ljubljana

STA, 10 March 2022 - The Cukrarna Gallery will host an exhibition of works by almost 60 women artists, all either Slovenian or working in Slovenia, from the 1990s to the present day in a highlight of this year's programme. Opening tonight, Returning the Gaze deals with different social topics and presents various artist approaches.

The group exhibition offers an extensive selection of paintings, sculptures, videos, performances, interventions and audio events, as well as an accompanying programme of presentations, film screenings, lectures and discussions; the aim being to shed light on aspects of the Slovenian art scene by creating dialogical relationships between the works of artists from different generations, all using different media, practices and approaches, Cukrarna says on its website.

Blaž Peršin, the head of the Museum and Galleries of Ljubljana, which manages Cukrarna, told the press today that the artists presented had become a constitutive element of Slovenian contemporary art. He said he was glad that the exhibition and the diverse accompanying events would offer an insight into Slovenian contemporary art, not only that created by women.

The artists presented had to overcome many obstacles to "find their place in the sun and they have not only found it but literately owned it", he said.

According to Alenka Gregorič, one of the four curators of the exhibition, artists who live and work in Slovenia are being presented as well as those who have left Slovenia but have been marked by the country. More than 150 artists were discussed and in the end works by almost 60 were picked, including some who are no longer active but their works were either characteristic of a particular period or groundbreaking in their approach or execution.

Some of them focus on specific social themes, such as issues of identity, gender and feminism and the way women artists are represented in the art system. Special attention has been paid to the artists who have consistently adhered to a particular style of expression, approach, form or concept.

The curators have identified four main themes: urban and natural landscapes; the body or figure; the art system; and the socio-political environment.

The accompanying programme will start in April and last until the exhibition closes on 21 August.

According to Cukrarna's website, the title of the exhibition alludes to the "eternal question of who is doing the looking and who is being looked at". In his book based on the famous BBC television series Ways of Seeing, John Berger explores the centuries-long history of painting and sculpture, highlighting the ways in which women have been looked at.

"Regardless of whether their role in the artwork is as metaphor or iconographical element, women have consistently been presented as objects of desire intended to satisfy the male gaze. And this has been compounded by the fact that women's artistic creativity has all too often been hidden from the public eye. Denied, misunderstood and, until fairly recently, marginalised," says on the website.

08 Mar 2022, 10:04 AM

Women's Day Marked in Slovenia

STA, 8 March 2022 - Calls against a deteriorating situation of women in society will be in the spotlight of this year's International Women's Day events in Slovenia. A number of events are planned, including a rally in Ljubljana at which NGOs and trade unions will highlight inequalities in various fields and call for respecting women's rights.

The rally will call for a decent minimum wage as well as for teaching about gender stereotypes at school and expanding screening programmes to more age groups.

Calls to parties to field women candidates in their traditionally electable districts for the April general election will also be made, Women's Lobby head Ana Kalin has told the STA.

"New parties, which still don't know in which districts they can win a seat in parliament, should make sure the share of women on lists of candidates is 50%," she says.

It is important that Slovenian law sets down quotas, but this is not enough to ensure that more women are elected to parliament, she says.

This issue will be debated by National Council, the upper chamber of parliament, which will host a panel on women's participation in politics.

At the Ljubljana Faculty of Arts, the Days of Gender Equality will open featuring a number of events focussing on equal rights and opportunities until 13 April.

The City of Women will give out the Women about Women award, which is conferred on "women for fighting for a better world".

The STA and the commission for equal opportunities in science, a Ministry of Education advisory body, will host an online discussion on women scientists in the media.

Work-life balance will be in the focus of an event organised by the ZSSS confederation of trade unions to present a review of this concept in collective bargaining agreements.

Minister Janez Cigler Kralj said the view of the Ministry of Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities is that the "acquired women's rights are untouchable" while the ministry also gives special attention to measures leading to a more equal labour market, including work-life balance.

The war in Ukraine has strongly affected the lives of women, which calls for being even more aware of the importance of women in society, he added in a message.

Human Rights Ombudsman Peter Svetina on the other hand said education and awareness raising is key to enhance gender equality as women are still prevalent in low paid jobs, there are too few in leadership positions, while they also often face violence.

He welcomed last year's redefinition of rape to reflect only-yes-means-yes international standards, urged safeguarding the rights previous generations acquired and cautioned against "shifts towards retraditionalisation".

Mira, the women writers' section of the Slovenian PEN, warned that female writers are not equally represented in the curricula and the texts at high school leaving exams. "Teaching literature without including female authors is misleading and wrong," reads its 8 March message, signed also by several well known authors and artists, members of PEN, the Association of Libraries and the Women's Lobby.

The Nurses and Midwives Association highlighted the fact that in Slovenia, women account for over 85% of all employees in this sector while they have little say in deciding on health policy. Apart from improving working conditions and pay, a better work-life balance should be secured and career development enabled.

In a statement before International Women's Day, SOS Telephone, a helpline for victims of domestic violence, said that women's rights are constantly violated, which can lead to femicides.

Statistics show that an average women in Slovenia, one of the four EU members with more men than women, was 45.1 years old in 2021, almost 3 years more than an average man and almost 2 more than in 2011.

Nearly 30% of women in Slovenia have completed tertiary education; the share has been larger than the share of men with tertiary education ever since 2011.

Life expectancy for girls born in Slovenia in 2020 is 83.4 years, which compares to 77.8 years for boys.

Early Statistics Office figures show that an average monthly gross pay in 2020 was just over EUR 1,900 for women and EUR 1,955 for men.

Preliminary Eurostat figures meanwhile show that the pay gap in Slovenia in 2020 was among the narrowest in the EU-27, at 3.1%.

The initiative to celebrate a day dedicated to women was given at an international conference of socialist women in Copenhagen in 1910 by German communist Clara Zetkin.

The day was first marked in 1911 in Austria, Germany, Switzerland and Denmark, but on different days. The same year it was marked in the Slovenian city of Trbovlje.

In 1977, the UN General Assembly declared 8 March International Women's Day in remembrance of the day in 1857 when textile workers in New York protested against inhumane working conditions and low wages.

14 Feb 2022, 12:47 PM

Nika Kovač Named Jana’s Slovenian Woman of the Year

STA, 14 February 2022 - Anthropologist and sociologist Nika Kovač, the founder and head of NGO the 8 March Institute, has been named the Slovenian Woman of the Year 2021 by the women's magazine Jana and its readers.

The 8 March Institute has been warning of inequalities and the problems of the most vulnerable, the magazine said. "She (Kovač) is aware that the power lies in the community and she has been proving this constantly," Jana said in a press release.

Kovač has mobilised more than 600,000 citizens to vote on changes to the waters act, which were overwhelmingly rejected in a referendum in July 2021, the press release stressed.

"That she is definitely a future leader had been noticed by the Obama Foundation as well, which first accepted her to a programme for 40 future European leaders and then picked her as the only representative of Europe among 15 young people who have been changing the world for the better and will continue to do so."

Currently an Obama scholar and researcher at the Columbia University, New York, Kovač remains active in Slovenia as well, building a community with her compassion and perseverance.

At last night's ceremony, she accepted a unique statuette, a work of artist Ljubica Ratkajec Kočica, from Jana's editor-in-chief Melita Berzelak.

Among those shortlisted for the award were climber Janja Garnbret, actor Zvezdana Mlakar, Špela Miroševič, a researcher who initiated research into her son's rare genetic disease, activist Andreja Slameršek and Emilija Stojmenova Duh, the professor who supported students protesting against school closure.

Shortlisted as a group were also founders of the NGO Legal Network for the Protection of Democracy.

12 Jan 2022, 10:06 AM

Nataša Kovačević Named Woman Engineer of the Year

STA, 11 January 2022 - Nataša Kovačević, a research project manager at Kolektor Group company, has become the Woman Engineer of the Year. The title has been awarded for the fourth year to encourage young women to study science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

The Woman Engineer of 2021, selected by Mediade company and IRT 3000 magazine, was declared at a hybrid event at the Presidential Palace on Tuesday.

Kovačević started her professional career as a young researcher at the Jožef Stefan Institute (IJS) and earned a PhD from the Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering in the field of corrosion and passivation processes on the surfaces of metal materials.

In 2013, she started working for Kolektor, a major Slovenian supplier for global car industry giants, and soon became a project manager.

On her own initiative, she also started researching basic and applicative corrosion processes in metal and composite materials, Mediade said in a written statement.

Kovačević is also a member of the supervisory board of and a partner in the international project MAMI Magnetics and Microhydrodynamics.

She shares her know-how and experiences at lectures and workshops for talented secondary school children, and mentors doctoral candidates at Kolektor and at the IJS's international post-graduate school.

The winner was selected from a total of ten nominees as four juries had scrutinised the nominations. Woman Engineer of the Year is part of We'll Be Women and Men Engineers, a project promoting STEM among secondary school kids.

29 Oct 2021, 13:52 PM

Slovenia Ranked 12th on Gender Equality in EU

STA, 28 October 2021 - Slovenia has ranked 12th in this year's EU gender equality index ranking released by the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) on Thursday. The country scored 67.6 points out of 100, practically level with the EU average, as it dropped by one spot compared to the 2020 ranking.

The EU average is 68 points, a tiny improvement on 2020, but given the institute's estimates, the consequences of the pandemic could bring all this progress to nothing in the future, said the Ministry of Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities.

The list is topped by Sweden with 83.9 points, which had the best score last year as well, whereas Greece has come last with 52.5 points. Slovenia is meanwhile tucked in between Austria (68 points) and Malta (65 points).

"Since 2010, Slovenia's score has increased by 4.9 points but its ranking has dropped by three places. Since 2018, Slovenia's score has remained the same (-0.1 points), but its ranking dropped by two places," the EIGE noted.

The ranking is determined based on six main categories: work, money, knowledge, time, power and health, and a cross-sectional issue of violence.

When it comes to work, Slovenia scored 73 points, down by 0.1 point on 2020 due to increased gender segregation in employment. Since 2010, Slovenia's ranking in this category has dropped from the 10th to the 15th place.

In the money category, which includes average net income and at-risk-of-poverty rate, the country got 83.7 points, up by 0.7 point. This score and ranking are among the highest for the country as it placed 12th among all member states.

The same improvement was recorded in knowledge, where Slovenia bagged 56.6 points. However, Slovenia's gender inequalities remain most pronounced in this category as the country ranked 18th in the knowledge domain, its lowest ranking.

When it comes to the time category or allocation of time spent doing care and domestic work and social activities, the country got 72.9 points, same as last year.

In the power category, where gender representation in government and parliament is taken into account, Slovenia received the least points, 53, down by two points on last year as a result of a lower number of female ministers in the current government.

Since 2010, the share of women on the boards of the largest listed companies has increased from 10% to 24%, while the share of women on the central bank board has remained at 20%.

Taking into account the last decade, Slovenia's score has improved the most in the domain of power as it increased by 11.9 points. However, since other countries have seen faster progress, Slovenia's ranking has still decreased by four spots, taking the 13th place.

Health-wise, Slovenia has fared the best, having scored 87.8 points, up by 0.9 of a point. Female participants in the survey were more likely to consider their health worse than men's even though their life expectancy is higher by six years in general.

Healthy life expectancy after the age of 65 is the same for both women and men in the country, and the level of fitness is much above EU average for both men and women.

On the other hand, one of the largest gender gaps in the EU is Slovenia's situation when it comes to paying for unexpected costs of primary healthcare services, as some 47% of women in the country have difficulties with this, while the same problem is encountered by 40% of men.

This is also one of the largest gender divides across the bloc compared to EU average, which stands at 19% and 17%, respectively.

The violence sub-index did not provide an assessment of progress for 2021 due to the lack of comparable data for all EU countries. Eurostat is currently coordinating a survey on gender-based violence in the EU, the results of which will be included in the 2024 index, the ministry said.

Read the full report here

12 Oct 2021, 12:37 PM

Council of Europe Report Calls for Slovenia to Do More for Vulnerable Women

STA, 12 October 2021 - The first evaluation report on Slovenia's implementation of the Istanbul Convention, released on Tuesday, notes a number of positive measures but points out that more attention should be paid to forms of violence against women other than domestic violence. Efforts to help women from socially vulnerable groups should be boosted.

The Council of Europe's Group of Experts on Action against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (GREVIO) has highlighted Slovenia's significant progress "towards building a comprehensive legal, policy and institutional framework in the field of prevention of domestic violence" before and after its 2015 ratification of the convention.

The group points to improvements in legislation, including redefinitions of rape and sexual violence based on the yes-means-yes concept and criminalising stalking and forced marriage.

"The measures taken by the Slovenian authorities demonstrate their clear commitment to eliminate gender-based violence against women," said the GREVIO delegation to Slovenia.

However, the report also points out that "less policy attention, funding, and political support is directed towards other forms of violence against women covered by the convention, in particular rape, stalking, forced marriage/abortion/sterilisation and female genital mutilation".

Slovenia is hence urged to step up efforts to address all types of violence against women, particularly sexual violence. It is key the state adopts a new strategic document to improve the situation.

When it comes to vulnerable women, such as Roma and other national minorities or women with disabilities, efforts by NGOs to take into account their specific needs are lauded, but generally speaking, these women still face discrimination, says the report.

"Women victims without a permanent residence permit are of special concern, as they don't have access to safe houses," warned GREVIO, calling on Slovenia to continue with its relevant efforts, including by improving access to shelters for Roma women and migrant women without a permanent residence permit.

Moreover, efforts should be stepped up to ensure that legislative, training and awareness-raising measures to address the different forms of violence against women as a gendered phenomenon.

The report also warns that Slovenia's data collection should be improved to provide an integrated system that would cover all the forms of violence.

A stronger criminal justice response is also needed. What raises concern is "the high level of attrition rates in relation to several forms of violence against women, in particular domestic violence and rape, and the lack of effort to identify its causes".

In response to the report the Human Rights Ombudsman called on the relevant Slovenian authorities to adopt a strategy for the combat against all forms of violence against women.

The ombudsman described the report as an important mechanism for the protection of human rights which sheds light on where improvements can be made.

Noting progress identified by the report, the ombudsman also highlighted issues such as a lack of trainings and protocols that would lead to suitable institutional response, and a lack of coordination at the level of policies.

The ombudsman's office said they had established many shortcomings themselves and GREVIO representatives also met Ombudsman Peter Svetina during their visit to Slovenia.

The ombudsman called on those responsible to examine the recommendations and take measures to implement them as soon as possible.

The Association for Non-Violent Communication fully endorsed the report, its head Katja Zabukovec Kerin telling the STA that a focus in the coming years should be on specially vulnerable groups of women as well as on tackling the issue of parents' contacts with their children when violence is present.

04 Oct 2021, 12:57 PM

Teaching Profession Dominated by Women, But Less So at the Top

STA, 4 October 2021 - More women than men work in education-related professions in Slovenia and the situation is getting more imbalanced still. Ahead of World Teachers' Day, Statistics Office data show that the higher the level of education, the less disproportionate the share.

The number of women in education is increasing - in the 2020-2021 academic year the figure rose by 7% compared to four years ago.

The share of women working in kindergartens is 97%, in primary school 88% and in secondary school 66%.

In the latest school year, there were almost 19,500 primary school teachers, up by 1% year-on-year, as the number of pupils also increased to some 193,160. The ratio of teaching staff per pupils was 1:10.

Nearly 6,340 teachers taught in secondary schools in the 2020-2021 academic year, also slightly up compared to the previous year as the total of students also rose. The ratio of teaching staff per students was 1:10.

Meanwhile, tertiary education is slightly more of a domain of men as the share of male experts working at tertiary education institution is 53%.

In total, 5,669 experts worked there in the previous academic year, down by almost 2% year-on-year. Most of them had PhDs - 82% among the men and 72% among the women.

The situation in education-related professions is likely to remain gender-imbalanced as more female students than the male were enrolled in teacher education programmes in the past academic year (87%).

Overall, most teachers in the 2020-2021 school year belonged to the 30-49 age group (57%).

Public spending on education in 2019 totalled EUR 2.38 million or 4.9% of GDP, up on 2018. The largest share of these funds was allocated for primary education.

03 Oct 2021, 12:23 PM

City of Women Festival Opens in Ljubljana, Runs Until 18 October

STA, 2 October 2021 - The 27th City of Women, a festival of contemporary art, will focus on community art projects, celebration of women's accomplishments and a reflection on the school system. The festival open on Saturday with a performance by Dr Xenia.

The festival focusing on women performers and collectives and running until 18 October will present 130 artists across three programme sections.

see the full programme here

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The opening section, Hand in Hand, will present community art projects and the strengthening of social ties during the pandemic and the tense political situation.

The opening event will be held at the Alkatraz Gallery and feature a performance by Dr Xenia, a collective entity, entitled The Fourth Corner: Rights for Our Fights.

Another highlight in this section will be the Atlas Collective, which brings together fifteen artists, critical thinkers and cultural workers from Belgium, who will present their exploration of participative practices in Slovenia.

As part of a European project Be Part, an international debate will be held at the Stara Elektrarna (Old Power Station) venue about fair relations and working conditions in the art world.

Dutch platform for dialogue art Building Conversations will be presented, accompanied by several workshops.

The second section, Collective Memory, will celebrate woman's achievements.

In collaboration with the Ljubljana Academy of Theatre, Radio, Film and Television, an event entitled I Want to Conquer the World 2.1 - Actress on the Crossroads of Cultures, will pay tribute to Barbara Sušec Michieli, a professor at the academy who died ten years ago.

The Kindovor cinema will offer a rich programme, including a poetic migrant odyssey by Italian director Loredana Bianconi Of Gates and of Deserts, and Glory to the Queen! by Tatia Skhirtladze, a film about four Georgian chess grandmasters.

The third section, The School We Want, will offer a reflection on the curriculum and a shadow curriculum, the festival organisers say.

Annette Kraus will present her Hidden Curriculum project at the Škuc Gallery, showing how secondary school students perceive and explore the hidden curriculum.

The concept of school will also be explored in a project in which the Ljubljana Puppet Theatre cooperated with secondary school students in staging a play entitled Everything Is Alright.

The show will be followed by a discussion with its makers and accompanied by a debate on school and kindergarten.

Several other different shows will be held outside the three sections.

Aleksandra Bajde will present her scenic musical work Self-Portraits in Imaginary Places and Fabrice Murgia a pop opera Sylvia, presenting the story of famous American author Sylvia Plath at the Cankarjev Dom arts centre.

Among the Slovenian performances the organisers highlighted Us Witches by Simona Semenič and the Slovenian premiere of Castration by Glass Illka.

Learn more at the website or follow on Facebook

06 Jun 2021, 11:00 AM

Slovenia Redefines Rape in Line with Yes Means Yes

STA, 4 June - The National Assembly passed in a unanimous vote on Friday amendments to the penal code that redefine sexual consent in line with the concept that only yes means yes. MPs said during the debate that the credit should go to NGOs, which mobilised the public to create a genuine social movement.

The legislative proposal drawn up by NGOs and adopted by the opposition Marjan Šarec List (LMŠ), Social Democrats (SD), Left and the Alenka Bratušek Party (SAB), had received unanimous support already at the parliamentary Justice Committee at the beginning of May, and it had no opponents today either.

Justice Ministry State Secretary Matic Zupan said that "as a society we have matured so much that we are ready to protect sexual integrity in a broader sense". The legal system will no longer wonder whether enough force was used in a case, but the use of force will be an aggravating circumstance, he said.

Žiga Turk’s Tweet on Rape Wins “Most Sexist Quote of the Year”

SD MP Bojana Muršič said the initiative for the legislative changes did not belong to any party. This is a law of many citizens, volunteers, who have been working for women's rights for years, and of NGOs.

"We want a more equal society in which we are developing a culture of consent, are learning to ask, hear and respect what is said. The legislative change will not miraculously cure our society, but it is a reflection of strong political will to change the mindset, empower victims and enable more efficient prosecution of perpetrators," she said.

Branislav Rajić from the group of unaffiliated MPs said that the changes to the penal code were sending a message to the victims that they had the support of politicians. "We encourage them to report such actions, as there is no more risk that perpetrators would go unpunished."

Dejan Kaloh from the senior coalition Democrats (SDS) said that the redefinition of violence in line with the only yes means yes model was more than required and a civilizational norm that should have been adopted long ago.

Tina Heferle (LMŠ) added that this was not a political but a social consent, while Predrag Baković (SD) warned that mere legislative changes would not suffice. "Even more resources need to be invested in support to victims, psychological support, support provided by institutions."

Matej T. Vatovec (Left) agreed that a lot of work remained ahead "if we want to remain an open and inclusive society".

Survey Suggests 20% of Slovenes Victims of Child Sex Abuse

The driving force behind the redefinition of sexual violence has in the past year been NGO Institute 8 March. Its head Nika Kovač said ahead of today's vote that the process of adopting the legislative changes had proven that there was a general human value in Slovenia, which was sexual integrity.

She stressed that parties across the political aisle had supported the motion, which clearly showed that "every victim of rape has a voice in the National Assembly". "We are convinced this would never have happened without the mass support of volunteers. Together, we have changed the society for the better."

Over 20 NGOs welcomed the passage as a "big step towards protection of sexual integrity and support to victims of sexual violence" in a joint press release.

"Today is a big day, not just for the victims of violence but for all of us who will be living in a slightly different society from now on," said Katja Zabukovec Kerin, the head of the Association for Non-violent Communication. She added that cooperation with both justice ministers, Andreja Katič and Lidija Kozlovič, and virtually all parties had been exemplary.

Nataša Posel from Amnesty International Slovenije spoke of a "historical moment", adding that relevant institutions and the society as a whole were now in for the important work of implementing the concept of consent.

Darja Zaviršek from the Faculty of Social Work said the legislative change was a "gigantic step towards formal equality between men and women" that will lead to a new understanding of human relations, encourage discussion on new topics among boys and girls, and promote new forms of intimacy between men and women.

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