The yearly International Women’s day took place eight of March, just six days after the IUSY World congress in Copenhagen, Denmark. In the same city, but 104 years earlier and a few month later in august, the second socialist international held their meeting which ended up in a deceleration of what one can call a predecessor to the International Women’s day.

Every year the same date the whole world stands up together to fight discrimination and to promote gender equality. The struggle for equality is deeply rooted in the Social Democratic ideology. It is our firm believes that no person is free before all people are free. It is in the end also an issue of democracy. No person or group must be forced into a life of exclusion and be deprived from their rights just because of their gender. Women have during long time sadly been deprived of exactly these rights and the power has been concentrate in the hands of men.

Still, 104 years later, we haven’t come far. International reports shows that around the world at least every third woman has faced some kind of violation against her rights. Violation against women is a fact that can’t and must not be neglected. In many societies around the world we also see that men earn more than women for the same job. Women are being treated as second class citizens. Socialist and Social Democratic governments have fought for equal right between the genders through harder discrimination laws, good child care system, adequately paid parental leave and women’s right to her own body. The latest struggle and victories we see is in among others Tunisia where the Tunisian Social Democratic party ETTAKATOL managed to, after the revolution and the fall of their dictator Ben Ali, push for a progressive constitution that guarantees women and men the same right.

At the same time other countries are taking the opposite road back in time. In Spain the conservative government Partido Polular (PP) wants to deprive women their right to their own body through very restrictive abortion laws. The proposal for a new law called “Law for the Protection of the Life of the Conceived and the Rights of the Pregnant Woman” only permits interruption of pregnancies in two cases, rape and risk of death for the mother. This doesn’t give women the right to choose when they feel is the right time to become a parent. Instead parenthood is being forced upon them and conservative moral values belonging to the middle age deciding for them.

For us Socialist and Social Democrats there is no time for rest. We need to reconquer the struggle our precursors started. We need to stand up even higher today and demand all people’s rights. Social democracy and feminism is not something to be taking for granted. Only when our voices are not high enough inequality will prevail. But as long as we together stand up, resist and show that we have the solutions of today and the future we will manage to make a change.

On 25^th of May it is time for the European elections. It is an ideological election. An election that affects us all, but unfortunately fails to persuade too many citizens to use their right to make their voice heard. When people, the defenders of democracy, is not those who sets the political agenda by taking advantage of their voting right we find ourselves in a democratic crises.

In the European elections 2009 the turnout in Sweden was only 45.53 percent. Note then that Sweden was not the country with the lowest turnout. In some countries in the European Union, such as Romania, Poland and Lithuania, barely 30 percent voted. The European Members and our parties have an obligation to engage people by informing and showing the difference between the different political alternatives. It for sure matters if one votes Social Democracy or Conservative.

With almost 15 years of right-wing majority in the European Parliament they have failed to achieve growth at the same time as the gaps between people as well as countries has widened. The consequences of right-wing policies are devastating.

It is clear that neoliberal policy´s has failed. We Social Democrats have for long called for an end to austerity measures and want to instead invest us out of the crises. Investments must be done, for example in infrastructure to build Europe together and facilitate environmentally friendly transport. Furthermore, we must make sure that implementation of the European Youth Guarantee is taken seriously.  This is the only way to reduce the frightening high youth unemployment.In a time of deep economic crisis, the right winged majority succeeded to deepen the crisis through aggressive austerity measures which led to an increasingly high unemployment. Today, almost 26 million European citizens are unemployed. 6 million of them are young people. Meanwhile, the costs of unemployment has increased in country after country, conservatives have dismantled social safety nets.

Investments for sure assume good economy and finances which are in order. But a good economy is not achieved by increased income inequality´s and people in alienation. The answers are more and secure jobs and a good education system. Many countries in Europe are already on the verge of losing a generation to unemployment and hopelessness. If we don´t turn this trend soon, the consequences will be even more far-reaching and the possibility of recovery will become more difficult than it already is.

One of the most obvious side effects of a Europe torn apart is racist and populist parties gaining more ground in country after country. In Sweden, for example, the Sweden Democrats exercised many people’s alienation by putting various groups against each other. The European election is a choice between an open or excluding Europe. In the end, the question is whether we want a Europe that puts the need of the people or the need of the market first?

Article written by Evin Incir, IUSY Secretary General
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