NATIONAL STRATEGY FOR GENDER EQUALITY FOR THE YEARS 2009–2013
Gender equality is of fundamental importance for a democratic and socially just society. Current social processes intended to strengthen gender equality have established the need for a new type of strategic material. The National Strategy for Gender Equality for the years 2009–2013 (hereinafter referred to as “the strategy”) is a document providing the most general definition of the equality of women and men as a cross-sectional, horizontal and universal social and political priority. The strategy belongs to a class of materials that was previously lacking with regard to the general understanding of gender equality, material that could serve as a foundation for decision-making at all levels. The strategy is the result of the undertakings given by the government of the Slovak Republic in its Manifesto for 2006–2010 to support equal rights for women and men in its policies as an important factor in the development of democracy and the implementation of human rights in accordance with the Lisbon strategy and international treaties.
In the light of these facts in an effort to change the unfavourable situation described above, the government of the Slovak Republic has adopted two documents focussing on the problem of violence against women. These are the National strategy for the prevention and elimination of violence against women and in families (2004) and the National action plan for the prevention and elimination of violence against women for the years 2005–2008 (2005). The National Action Plan for the years 2005–2008 included measures designed to achieve some short-term goals but mainly long-term objectives covering a three year period. It proposed mainly basic steps in the areas of prevention, education, research, improvements in legislation covering the issue as a whole and the building of an institutional framework of coordinated assistance for women against whom violence has been committed. At the adoption of the National Action Plan for the years 2005–2008 it was emphasised that after its results were evaluated in 2008, the material would be updated and supplemented with new formulations of areas and measures in order to move the whole issue forward smoothly.
The Strategy in English is avaiable here as .pdf document
