Defending women’s rights in the Czech Republic

Our main focus was the advocacy of equal opportunities for women and men at the institutional level, on the labour market, in families, and in society. In June 2015, we held the 2nd annual Women’s Congress called Women and Media; in 2016 we started preparations for the next year of the Congress, which will be devoted to public and online space (for example, there was a workshop on the topic of online violence against women). Within the Czech Women’s Lobby, the “obstetric” working group was active in bringing together NGOs contributing to systemic change in Czech obstetrics. A Gender Expert Chamber of the Czech Republic has been established, which is an independent platform for cooperation with the executive branch and state and local administrations. We have run several campaigns with a positive impact: media and lobbying campaigns (the Education Act, prostitution, current topics related to gender equality) and complementary campaigns focused on the general public (the Normal Childbirth campaign wants to change public attitude toward home births and midwives; research on the perceptions of responsibility for rape and the Stop.cz campaign have contributed to the debate on gender-based violence). Thanks to this project, we have become a respected partner in political and journalistic circles. We have approached both the general and expert public and political representation on the Czech and European level (Department of Gender Equality, Minister of Human Rights, Equal Opportunities and Legislation, European Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality). The outcomes have an impact on everyday life in the Czech Republic and we intend to continue these activities.