Legislative and policy framework

The Slovak Constitution sets out equality between human beings regarding dignity and rights and prohibits discrimination on the grounds of sex (Article 12). [1]

Although Slovakia made some commitments to gender equality in the early 1990s (notably under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action), gender equality policies were developed further during the EU accession negotiations. During the accession period, the implementation of the principle of gender equality was enacted through the transposition of EU equality directives (e.g. the EU Employment Equality Directive (2000/78/EC)).

Gender equality in Slovakia is legislated through Act No 365/2004, the Antidiscrimination Act, which prohibits discrimination ‘on [the] grounds of sex, religion or belief, race, nationality or ethnic group, disability, age, sexual orientation, marital or family status, colour, language, political or another opinion, national or social origin, property, gender or another status.[2]

The 2021–2027 national strategy for equality between women and men and equal opportunities in the Slovak Republic is the key policy document on gender equality. It builds on the previous strategy and action plan for 2014–2019 and is divided into eight strategic areas.[3]

Priority areas of the national strategy for equality between women and men and equal opportunities in the Slovak Republic

  • Dignity and bodily integrity.
  • Work-life balance.
  • Education, science and research.
  • Equality of opportunities and access to labour market, financial dependence and women's poverty.
  • Political and economic participation and participation in decision-making.
  • Ensuring participatory mechanism for promoting equality of women and men and institutional mechanisms for equality of women and men.
  • Inclusion of vulnerable groups and multiple discrimination of women and young (minor) children/girls.
  • International development cooperation and humanitarian aid. 

The strategy is implemented through an action plan for the same period (2021–2027). It sets out tasks in the eight areas outlined in the strategy, together with a clear implementation timeline for each year. Moreover, the plan lists the bodies responsible for implementation, although it includes no indicators or targets to facilitate monitoring.[4] There is also a national action plan on women’s employment 2022-2030. [5]

Alongside these structures, some ministries and offices have their own gender equality plans targeting gender mainstreaming within their work, such as the Government Office, the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, and the Ministry of Defence.

Structures

Governmental gender equality body

The Department of Gender Equality and Equal Opportunities (Odbor rodovej rovnosti a rovnosti príležitostí) is responsible for coordinating Slovakia’s gender equality policy. The department has been part of the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Family. It has operated under the minister’s supervision since 2007. Currently, it falls under the direct supervision of the Department of Human Rights, led by the Directorate-General for Human Rights and directly overseen by State Secretary 2. The change shifted direct responsibility for gender equality from the minister to a state secretary, a subordinate position that does not have a seat on the cabinet.

The Department of Gender Equality and Equal Opportunities is recognised as the main body responsible for the gender equality agenda at the government level, in compliance with the amendment to Competence Act No 575/2001 Coll. The status of the department is established by the organisational order of the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Family, which states that the department must fulfil the tasks of the ministry in developing and coordinating national gender equality and equal opportunities policies.  [6]

The main mandate of the department concerns gender equality. However, it is also responsible for monitoring Slovakia’s anti-discrimination policies that cover other grounds of discrimination.

Functions of the Department of Gender Equality and Equal Opportunities

  • Developing, coordinating and evaluating national gender equality and anti-discrimination policies.
  • Creating government documents and initiatives and reviewing legislation.
  • Coordinating the national gender equality indicators.
  • Publishing an annual gender equality report.

The department’s mandate also includes evaluating gender equality in the labour market, social inclusion, social benefits and the position of women and men in economic, public and social life.

In 2023, the department was restructured and the department handling EU funds for gender mainstreaming was removed and turned into a new department: the Department of Horizontal Principles. This new department coordinates the implementation of cross-cutting principles, including gender equality for the 2021–2027 EU funds programming period. It ensures the effective application of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The department provides coordination, methodological support, information dissemination and training for key actors. It also compiles annual reports on the implementation of these priorities. Both the Department of Gender Equality and Equal Opportunities and the Department of Horizontal Principles are involved in information dissemination and awareness raising, training sessions and EU and international affairs. [7]

The Department of Gender Equality and Equal Opportunities, together with the Committee for Gender Equality of the Slovak Government Council for Human Rights and Gender Equality, reports on the progress made in the field of gender equality and gender mainstreaming initiatives to the government, which approves the annual report on the status of gender equality in Slovakia. [8]

The Department of Gender Equality and Equal Opportunities has a staff of five, who spend between 25–50 % of their time specifically on gender equality. The department has a total annual expenditure of approximately EUR 108 000, with 5 % allocated to non-administrative costs, such as implementing gender equality measures through projects. The department engages in public consultations, as this is the only mechanism for consultation on areas outside gender equality policy.

The government also benefits from the presence of the Committee for Gender Equality, [9] composed of equal number of representatives from public and non-profit sector.  The activities of the committee are organised by the Joint Secretariat of Advisory Bodies (Spoločný sekretariát poradných orgánov) and the secretary of the Committee.

 

Independent gender equality bodies

The Slovak National Centre for Human Rights (Slovenské národné stredisko pre ľudské práva) (NHRI) was established in 1993 by Act No 308/1993 Coll. Governed by the Antidiscrimination Act, Article II, the centre has served as a national independent body under the EU equal treatment directives since 2004.

Functions of the NHRI

  • Evaluating and issuing expert opinions on compliance with the equal treatment principle and the Antidiscrimination Act.
  • Providing legal assistance, including legal representation, to victims of discrimination.
  • Preparing and publishing reports and recommendations on issues related to discrimination.
  • Carrying out training and awareness-raising activities.

The NHRI is responsible for assisting victims of discrimination on all grounds covered by the Antidiscrimination Act: sex, gender, religion or belief, race, nationality or ethnic origin, disability, age, sexual orientation, marital or family status, skin colour, language, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property or other status.[10]

Public bodies and the government can consult the NHRI on all issues within its mandate, including gender equality, but there is no transparent structure in place to facilitate such consultation, meaning this often depends on the willingness of bodies to engage with the NHRI.

In 2023, the NHRI had a total annual expenditure of EUR 1 212 596, with approximately 71 % dedicated to administrative costs. The NHRI has 26 employees and, as a result of its extensive remit that covers multiple areas of discrimination, between 25–50 % of personnel time is dedicated to gender equality issues.

Parliamentary body

There is no specific gender equality committee within the Slovak parliament (National Council). However, gender equality is included on the agenda of the Committee for Human Rights and National Minorities (Výbor NR SR pre ľudské práva a národnostné menšiny).[11] Parliamentary committees are established and governed by Act No 350/1996 Coll., as amended.

The committee’s main task is to review draft laws to ensure that they respect and promote human rights, protect personal data and uphold gender equality and non-discrimination. It focuses on laws regulating the activities of independent human rights institutions (e.g. the Public Defender of Rights, the Commissioner for Children, the Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities, the NHRI, the Office for Personal Data Protection and the Nation’s Memory Institute) and discusses reports submitted to the National Council. The committee collaborates with NGOs and various government plenipotentiaries.

The Committee for Human Rights and National Minorities also monitor government programmes like the national strategy for the protection and promotion of human rights; the strategy for equality, inclusion and participation of Roma by 2030. 

Consultation with civil society

The Slovak Government Council for Human Rights, and Gender Equality is one of the permanent advisory bodies of the government. The governmental council was established in 2011 by an amendment to the Competence Act (No 575/2001 Coll). Within this council is the Committee for Gender Equality, made up of an equal number of representatives from both ministries and NGOs.[13] 

The committee acts as an interministerial body and cooperates with ministries and other central government bodies, social partners, municipalities, higher territorial units, local government authorities, NGOs, non-profit organisations, research institutes and academic institutions. The council adopts statements and approves reports on the fulfilment of Slovakia’s international human rights commitments. The Committee for Gender Equality provides the council with recommendations to improve the status of human rights from a gender perspective, as well as recommendations on legislative and policy development.

The Department of Gender Equality and Equal Opportunities evaluates projects submitted by NGOs on the basis of the provisions of § 9a and §9c of Act 544/2010 Coll.,[14] on subsidies within the jurisdiction of the Ministry of the Interior and Local Government of the Slovak Republic, i.e. subsidies to support equality between women and men and equal opportunities. The value of the subsidy to promote equality between women and men and equal opportunities may be up to EUR 20 000.[15] 

 

Methods and tools

Note: the methods and tools listed in 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 by Slovakia.

Gender impact assessment

In Slovakia, under the rules of the Government Office, there is a legal obligation to undertake an ex-ante gender impact assessment when drafting both legislative and non-legislative policy material. Additionally, the internal rules of the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Family require that the Department of Gender Equality and Equality Opportunities check all legislative and non-legislative policy materials during the public consultation phase of the legislation procedure.

Gender budgeting

There is no legal obligation to undertake gender budgeting, and this tool is not used.

Training and awareness raising

Employees of the Department of Gender Equality and Equal Opportunities engage in training on gender equality on an ad hoc basis. Additionally, the current action plan includes training for labour inspectors on the observance of the principle of equal treatment in employment relations, with a particular focus on the position of women in the workplace.

There have been no initiatives to promote the importance of gender-sensitive language among ministries in the past two years.

Gender statistics

The Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic is the institution responsible for gathering, analysing and disseminating sex-disaggregated data in Slovakia. The office has a legal obligation, under Section 14(g) of Act No 540/2001, to collect sex-disaggregated data in its surveys and to gather data on social and demographic characteristics. The collection and publication of gender statistics is also a specfic objective of the action plan on equality between women and men (2021-2027). [16]

As a result, several other institutions are also obliged to produce sex-disaggregated data. The data collection and publication systems can vary depending on the public sector. Some ministries have established a public institution, such as the National Health Information Centre. In other cases, specific institutes are established within the ministries, for example the Institute for Financial Policy. Arrangements, tasks and functioning also vary depending on the system adopted. Ensuring the quality of the data gathered is similarly the responsibility of each body.

The statistical office produces an annual publication on gender equality, Women and Men in Slovakia (previously Gender Equality), which includes sex-disaggregated data for several policy areas, such as employment, education, criminality and health. [17] The publication represents the most important collection of sex-disaggregated data in Slovakia. It is distributed in hard copy to parliament and public libraries, as well as being made available online.

A section of the statistical office website is dedicated to indicators related to equality between women and men. It includes an interactive platform allowing users to visualise and download the data.

Monitoring progress

Slovakia’s institutional mechanisms for gender equality and gender mainstreaming stand below the EU average but show progress compared with 2021.

Explore Slovakia’s scores on the four key indicators on institutional mechanisms for the promotion of gender equality and gender mainstreaming developed to monitor progress on Area H of the Beijing Platform for Action.

Slovakia: Institutional mechanisms for gender equality and gender mainstreaming

References