Legislative and policy framework

The concept of equality is defined in the Czech Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms, which forms part of the 1993 constitution. References to gender equality can be also found in the Labour Code. The influence of the EU on the advancement of gender equality in Czechia was fundamental during the accession process, especially in terms of harmonising legislation with the EU acquis.

The legal basis for non-discrimination on the grounds of sex is set out in Article 3(1) of the Constitution of Czechia (within the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms), entitling everyone to rights and liberties regardless of their sex.

The Anti-discrimination Act of 1 September 2009[1] is the central piece of legislation aimed at preventing discrimination based on gender and sex, among other types of discrimination. In addition, legislative amendments exist to address gender equality in areas such as education [2]  and employment. [3] 

Government Resolution No 456 of 9 May 2001 provides a de facto binding decision regarding gender mainstreaming,[4] recognising it as a legitimate tool for achieving equality between women and men.

The 2021–2030 government strategy for Gender equality [5] (Strategy 2021+) provides a clear framework for gender equality over the medium term and sets government priorities for each year. This strategy replaced the first government framework document for the implementation of gender equality policy in Czechia, the 2014–2020 government strategy for gender equality.

Implementation of the strategy is carried out in part through departmental ‘gender focal points’ (GFPs), who are employed in all 14 ministries and are responsible for the application of gender mainstreaming and gender equality within the ministry. Compliance with the strategy is monitored and assessed regularly, although there is no sanction mechanism in place for failure to comply. The strategy is divided into eight chapters, which cover 26 strategic objectives and 434 measures.

Chapters of the 2021–2030 government strategy for gender equality in the Czech Republic

  1. Work and care: eliminate gender inequalities in the labour market and in care responsibilities, reduce the gender pay gap and lower the at-risk-of-poverty rate.
  2. Decision-making: increase the representation of women in politics and public decision-making positions.
  3. Safety: support efforts to prevent gender-based and domestic violence, improve access to assistance and find systemic solutions for victims.
  4. Health: reduce gender inequalities in healthcare, provide gender-sensitive health and social services and improve working conditions in healthcare.
  5. Knowledge: maximise development potential for all genders, incorporate gender perspectives in education, science, and research, and apply gender aspects in managing educational and research institutions.
  6. Society: eliminate gender and sex stereotypes, enhance understanding of gender equality, and strengthen gender equality culture in media and public policies.
  7. External relations: promote gender equality values and women’s empowerment in Czechia’s foreign policy.
  8. Institutions: ensure that public administration has sufficient capacity and resources to effectively promote gender equality and implement Strategy 2021+.

Strategy 2021+ also acts as an action plan, as it includes a clear list of the measures and actions necessary to implement the strategy, as well as timelines, indicators and allocated responsibilities. Annex 1 to the strategy presents a specific section with the relevant measures to be reported annually.[5] In addition, two specific action plans were approved in 2023 for 2023–2026 on the implementation of measures for preventing domestic and gender-based violence, and of measures for achieving equal pay.

 

Structures

Governmental equality bodies

The highest level of government responsible for gender equality is the prime minister’s office, as the Department of Gender Equality (Odbor rovnosti žen a mužů při Úřadu vlády ČR) is located within the Office of the Government. The Department of Gender Equality is further subdivided into two units: the Unit of the Secretariat of the Council for Gender Equality, and the Unit of Cross-cutting Agendas.[7] Effective communication between government advisory structures (the council) and the relevant ministries is ensured by GFPs from each ministry being members of councils, committees and working groups or participating in them as guests.

 

Functions of the Department of Gender Equality [8]

  • Drafting, formulating and assessing national concept plans and legislation in the field of equality for women and men.
  • Drafting, formulating and assessing international and EU legislation and conceptual and strategic documents of the EU in the field of equality for women and men.
  • Assessing the fulfilment of international obligations, especially the implementation of EU law in the field of equality for women and men.
  • Acting as a national coordinator for gender equality policies. Providing expert, organisational and administrative support to the Council for Gender Equality.

The report on gender equality, prepared annually by the Department of Gender Equality, is regularly presented to the government for adoption, but is not required to be presented to any of the parliamentary committees. [9]

The Council for Gender Equality was established by government resolution No 1033 of 10 October 2001. The statute of the council states: ‘by its activities, the Council assists in and promotes the achievement of equality between women and men, i.e. equal standing and balanced participation of women and men in all spheres of life and at all levels of society, including the legislature, and it acts to raise general consciousness about equality between women and men and about measures to achieve equality’.[10]

The annual expenditure for the department in 2023 was EUR 828 640, with approximately 20 % dedicated to non-administrative costs. The department has 12 employees dedicating their time to gender equality issues.

The Department of Gender Equality is regularly consulted on nearly all policies and laws (in fields other than gender equality). The department is included in the interministerial commenting procedure on proposed legislation and has the mandate to comment on every policy submitted to the government. As part of this procedure, the Department of Gender Equality provides their comments (relating to the gender impact assessment) via the Government Commissioner for Human Rights or the Head of the Office of the Government. If the party presenting the material for the government does not comply with the comments marked as crucial, the material becomes a subject of disagreement. If the disagreement cannot be resolved at a lower level, the disagreement is decided by the government itself. This procedure is based on the Rules of Procedure of the Government. Comments from the department lead to the relevant adjustment of new or existing policies, laws or programmes in around half of all cases.

Gender mainstreaming is coordinated through an interdepartmental network of GFPs, based on a government resolution (No 464 of 20 April 2005). Each of the 14 ministries of Czechia employs a GFP. In May 2018, the Gender Focal Points Standard was adopted by the government to facilitate GFPs’ liaising on gender equality issues across different ministries, and to strengthen the role of GFPs in carrying out gender impact assessments of legislative and non-legislative materials. Gender expertise varies between GFPs, but the standard recommends appointing graduates with degrees in gender studies, law and social sciences. The standard also specifies that gender equality training for GFPs should be officially recognised by their employers as part of continuing professional development. The implementation of the standard is a recommendation and is not obligatory.

Effective communication between government advisory structures (the council) and the relevant ministries is ensured by the GFPs being members of councils, committees and working groups or participating in them as guests. The Department of Gender Equality meets regularly with GFPs outside council meetings.

Independent equality body

The Public Defender of Rights (PDR) (Veřejný ochránce práv) is the independent equality body, whose mandate is designated by EU Directive 2002/73/EC, the Anti-discrimination Act (No 198/2009 Coll.) and the Act on the Public Defender of Rights. According to the Act on the Public Defender of Rights, the PDR ‘shall contribute to the promotion of the right to equal treatment of all persons irrespective of their race or ethnic origin, nationality, sex, age, disability, religion, belief or opinions’.

Functions of the Public Defender of Rights

  • Researching gender equality issues and gender-sensitive analysis of policies and legislation.
  • Integrating gender equality considerations into EU and international affairs.
  • Publishing and disseminating gender equality-related information and conducting training.
  • Providing legal support for victims of discrimination on the grounds of sex or gender.
  • Deciding on complaints of discrimination on the grounds of sex.
  • Coordinating and/or implementing anti-discrimination policies (on grounds other than sex or gender) for the government.

The PDR’s duties include projects specifically focused on gender equality, such as those supported by the European Economic Area funds. Funding for the administration of the PDR office and PDR projects and programmes is provided solely by the national government, with EUR 6 097 726 allocated across all PDR activities, not just gender equality. The Equality Unit of the PDR has 12 full-time employees, who dedicate up to 25 % of their time to gender equality issues.

The PDR office actively monitors the legislative process to track all legislative proposals and provides comments on proposals in relevant areas. The PDR may submit non-binding proposals itself in the form of recommendations. One vote is allocated to the PDR office on the Council for Gender Equality. [11]

Parliamentary body

There is no designated group or committee within the parliament structure to promote gender equality legislation. Nonetheless, relevant parliamentary and senate committees discuss issues connected to gender equality intermittently, such as the Parliamentary Subcommittee on Domestic and Sexual Violence of the Constitutional Law Committee, Parliamentary Permanent Commission on Family and Equal Opportunities and Senate Social Policy Committee.

Consultation with civil society

The Department of Gender Equality discusses many of its activities with the Council for Gender Equality and its committees and working groups, on which civil society organisations and gender equality policy experts are represented.

Informal ad hoc meetings are also held with key non-governmental organisations (NGOs), including the Czech Women’s Lobby. NGOs were key partners in the drafting process of Strategy 2021+. The Department of Gender Equality co-organises conferences and other awareness-raising activities with NGOs, and is regularly invited to attend events organised by NGOs.

The Department of Gender Equality administers a grant programme called ‘Support for public benefit activities of non-governmental non-profit organisations in the field of gender equality’, to support activities related to the objectives of Strategy 2021+. Funds are distributed to civil society organisations on an annual basis, with approximately EUR 18 042 awarded in 2023.

 

Methods and tools

Note: the methods and tools listed under this section were the focus of EIGE’s 2024 assessment. If certain methods and tools are not mentioned in this section, this does not necessarily mean that they are not used at all by Czechia.

Gender impact assessment

Gender impact assessments are a key tool used to implement gender mainstreaming. The Rules of the Procedure of the Government (Article IV, paragraph 7(c)) include an obligation to submit a gender impact assessment evaluation for all documents submitted to the government. The obligation states that ‘the submission report [must] always contains an assessment of the current state and impact of the proposed solution on non-discrimination and equality between men and women, in so far as the proposed solution concerns the status of natural persons; the evaluation must explain the reasons for any differences, expected impact[s] or expected developments, using statistical or other data disaggregated by men and women, if such data are available’.

Gender budgeting

In Czechia, there is no legal obligation to conduct gender budgeting, and this is a relatively unknown concept.

There has been limited action to introduce gender budgeting in the public sector. In 2018, a new gender mainstreaming handbook and action plan for public administration was approved and announced, and, while it does include elements of gender budgeting, this has not been supported by the adoption of related policies.

Training and awareness-raising

No measures related to awareness raising on gender equality or gender-sensitive language among the ministries have been undertaken.

The Department of Gender Equality does not carry out gender equality awareness-raising activities to increase general sensitivity. Rather, the Council for Gender Equality, its committees and its working groups hold meetings that aim to increase general sensitivity to gender equality, especially among members of these bodies. Informal gender equality awareness raising is part of the support provided by the Department of Gender Equality to various ministerial officers, including the GFPs in carrying out gender impact assessment.

The regular gender equality training excludes employees at the highest political level, and is mandatory in few ministries.

Gender statistics

The primary provider of statistical data in Czechia is the Czech Statistical Office, whose authority stems from Act No 89/1995 Coll. on the state statistical service.

The Czech Statistical Office’s website has a section on gender statistics, which includes a thematic breakdown by demography, health, education, labour and earnings, social security, justice and crime, decision-making, and women in research and development.[12] Under each theme, there are data visualisations, and the data can be downloaded for further use.

Although there is no legal obligation for the statistical office or other public bodies to collect data disaggregated by sex, the statistical office publishes sex-disaggregated statistics annually, including the 2023 publication ‘Focus on women and men’[13] (Zaměřeno na ženy a muže) and the 2020 publication ‘Women and men in data’[14] (Ženy a muži v datech). In addition to these statistical yearbooks, the Czech Statistical Office publishes quarterly data on wages disaggregated by sex. The unit responsible for promoting the production of sex-disaggregated data within the Czech Statistical Office is the Unit for Labour Force, Migration and Equal Opportunities, located within the Department of Labour Market and Equal Opportunities Statistics.

Since 2003, the agenda of the Department of Labour Market and Equal Opportunities Statistics has included the below activities related to gender statistics. The essential role of the Czech Statistical Office in collecting and publishing sex-disaggregated statistics is also included in Strategy 2021+.

Functions of the Czech Statistical Office

  • Collecting and compiling statistical data disaggregated in particular by gender and age, and analysing and presenting this data.
  • Conducting time series and studies in gender equality.
  • Proposing changes to the current system of statistical monitoring of gender statistics.
  • Publishing gender yearbooks such as the ‘Focus on women and men’.
  • Collecting data and providing input for international gender statistics such as for the UN and Eurostat.
  • Coordinating with other governmental and non-governmental institutions, particularly with the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs of Czechia on the monitoring of gender-disaggregated statistics and indicators.
  • Collaborating with Eurostat to harmonise indicators, methodologies, data collection and the presentation of gender statistics.

References