Equal chances
The Romanian Senate has passed a draft law on equal chances for men and women. The law provides for the measures to be taken in order to promote equal chances and to eliminate direct and indirect gender-based discrimination in all the fields of public life.
Today we will introduce to you some exceptional women, who, in spite of working in apparently restrictive fields, have become successful. Norica Nicolai is the secretary of the public order and national security Commission with the Romanian Senate. We asked her how the Romanian woman officers are treated. According to her 14% of the Romanian officers are women but they are not assigned combat missions. Most of them work in the army’s logistics, medical and intelligence departments. “We, Romanians, have inherited a cultural background that prevented women from choosing mannish professions. For the first time a law was passed in 1972 stipulating that women could go to military schools but after graduation they could only teach other female students, as, at that time, military service was compulsory for women as well. The 1991 constitution bans all discrimination, and thus women can become members of the military staff.”
The army is one of the most stable state institutions. Irrespective of the political regime, of the economic situation, a job within the army seems to be a safe one at present. However, the army is considered to be meant exclusively for men. Norica Nicolai told us why a woman should choose a military career. “The latest events are proof of the fact that we should reconsider our military strategy and philosophy. We are no longer dealing with a classic war, in which 2 armies are facing each other and are fighting for victory. We are dealing with another kind of war, in which performance and intelligence are primordial. That is why I think there is no reason, as to the women’s professionalism, to make them 2nd rate officers. Of course, the principle of equal chances, a principle stipulated in our constitution, is not always observed as there is still that old misogynism that men can hardly do away with. I’m sure that with perseverance and professionalism we can cope with such prejudice and we can prove to be winners in this war. The only problem women are faced with is making the military and private lives meet halfway, the fact that, as an officer, you have to be equal with yourself, and it is hard for a woman to be a mother, a wife and to stifle her feelings when having to make a sometimes painful decision. But I guess all that is possible”.
Another somehow restrictive field for women is aviation. Lieutenant and wing commander Cornelia Bugean graduated from the military aviation school in 1989, a short while before the fall of the communist regime. 12 years after graduation, her class is serving in the Romanian air force. “I had very good results on graduation and all 19 of us got the military diploma. The quality of our education, but most of all, our passion for flying, the urge to become an air force pilot made all of us remain active in the air force. Some of us are flight instructors and others have become patrol commanders. We have been assigned all kinds of missions, drills and target shooting. We are usually assigned combat missions. However we have not neglected our social status: we’ve got married, most of us with active military, we have become mothers, we have built up families. It’s been like fighting on 2 fronts and winning both battles. Obviously it was hard at first, we were reticent, doubtful, it was rather hard to work with us. We had to prove that we are trustworthy for any mission, in any conditions. I believe everything is OK now: we are appreciated for our work and for the qualities of each and everyone of us. We could not stay away from such a magnificent profession.”
Women account for 7.6% of the Romanian police forces. Although the Romanian police is undergoing a demilitarisation process, making a career in this field is still very difficult. A very subtle method of discrimination is the physical test to be passed by those who apply for the Police Academy. Women have problems in passing this test and this seems to be the explanation for the small number of police- women. Colonel Ioaneta Vintileanu is one of the 43 women occupying leading positions in the Romanian police. She explained to us why we need police women: ‘At the moment, family violence is a big problem in Romania; it is not an exclusively private matter, but one that should concern the state institutions as well. Policewomen are much more receptive to qualified intervention in these cases. It has been proved that policewomen are more open-minded and sensitive and know how to handle the victims. In the Romanian police specialised intervention units will be set up to deal with family violence, the units being made up of 80- 90% of women. ‘
Colonel Vintileanu warns however that there are few cases when both men and women observe the tacit convention regulating their traditional roles in society. ‘Many times we accuse men of discriminatory attitudes, but we shouldn’t overlook the fact that it is often women themselves who accept the role of discriminated persons and reproduce it in the models they offer to their family. We are not necessarily pleading for numeric equality or proportional to women’s number in society, but an organisation with few women, especially an institution enjoying social authority, cannot work to the advantage of women.’
It is likely that the law on equal chances, recently passed by the Romanian senate, will not bring significant and rapid changes in the mentality of the Romanian society. It takes time and a lot of diplomacy on both sides.
Today we will introduce to you some exceptional women, who, in spite of working in apparently restrictive fields, have become successful. Norica Nicolai is the secretary of the public order and national security Commission with the Romanian Senate. We asked her how the Romanian woman officers are treated. According to her 14% of the Romanian officers are women but they are not assigned combat missions. Most of them work in the army’s logistics, medical and intelligence departments. “We, Romanians, have inherited a cultural background that prevented women from choosing mannish professions. For the first time a law was passed in 1972 stipulating that women could go to military schools but after graduation they could only teach other female students, as, at that time, military service was compulsory for women as well. The 1991 constitution bans all discrimination, and thus women can become members of the military staff.”
The army is one of the most stable state institutions. Irrespective of the political regime, of the economic situation, a job within the army seems to be a safe one at present. However, the army is considered to be meant exclusively for men. Norica Nicolai told us why a woman should choose a military career. “The latest events are proof of the fact that we should reconsider our military strategy and philosophy. We are no longer dealing with a classic war, in which 2 armies are facing each other and are fighting for victory. We are dealing with another kind of war, in which performance and intelligence are primordial. That is why I think there is no reason, as to the women’s professionalism, to make them 2nd rate officers. Of course, the principle of equal chances, a principle stipulated in our constitution, is not always observed as there is still that old misogynism that men can hardly do away with. I’m sure that with perseverance and professionalism we can cope with such prejudice and we can prove to be winners in this war. The only problem women are faced with is making the military and private lives meet halfway, the fact that, as an officer, you have to be equal with yourself, and it is hard for a woman to be a mother, a wife and to stifle her feelings when having to make a sometimes painful decision. But I guess all that is possible”.
Another somehow restrictive field for women is aviation. Lieutenant and wing commander Cornelia Bugean graduated from the military aviation school in 1989, a short while before the fall of the communist regime. 12 years after graduation, her class is serving in the Romanian air force. “I had very good results on graduation and all 19 of us got the military diploma. The quality of our education, but most of all, our passion for flying, the urge to become an air force pilot made all of us remain active in the air force. Some of us are flight instructors and others have become patrol commanders. We have been assigned all kinds of missions, drills and target shooting. We are usually assigned combat missions. However we have not neglected our social status: we’ve got married, most of us with active military, we have become mothers, we have built up families. It’s been like fighting on 2 fronts and winning both battles. Obviously it was hard at first, we were reticent, doubtful, it was rather hard to work with us. We had to prove that we are trustworthy for any mission, in any conditions. I believe everything is OK now: we are appreciated for our work and for the qualities of each and everyone of us. We could not stay away from such a magnificent profession.”
Women account for 7.6% of the Romanian police forces. Although the Romanian police is undergoing a demilitarisation process, making a career in this field is still very difficult. A very subtle method of discrimination is the physical test to be passed by those who apply for the Police Academy. Women have problems in passing this test and this seems to be the explanation for the small number of police- women. Colonel Ioaneta Vintileanu is one of the 43 women occupying leading positions in the Romanian police. She explained to us why we need police women: ‘At the moment, family violence is a big problem in Romania; it is not an exclusively private matter, but one that should concern the state institutions as well. Policewomen are much more receptive to qualified intervention in these cases. It has been proved that policewomen are more open-minded and sensitive and know how to handle the victims. In the Romanian police specialised intervention units will be set up to deal with family violence, the units being made up of 80- 90% of women. ‘
Colonel Vintileanu warns however that there are few cases when both men and women observe the tacit convention regulating their traditional roles in society. ‘Many times we accuse men of discriminatory attitudes, but we shouldn’t overlook the fact that it is often women themselves who accept the role of discriminated persons and reproduce it in the models they offer to their family. We are not necessarily pleading for numeric equality or proportional to women’s number in society, but an organisation with few women, especially an institution enjoying social authority, cannot work to the advantage of women.’
It is likely that the law on equal chances, recently passed by the Romanian senate, will not bring significant and rapid changes in the mentality of the Romanian society. It takes time and a lot of diplomacy on both sides.
posted by Andreea Demirgian at
4:20 AM
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