Activities of Agnieszka KOZŁOWSKA related to 2015/2007(INI)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on gender equality and empowering women in the digital age PDF (381 KB) DOC (167 KB)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on gender equality and empowering women in the digital age
Amendments (33)
Amendment 12 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph -1 (new)
Paragraph -1 (new)
-1. Points out that digitalisation has a substantial impact on the labour market by modifying job dynamism, creating new job opportunities and more flexible working conditions such as telecommuting or teleworking which could serve as a an effective tool for better reconciliation of professional and domestic duties for both women and men;
Amendment 13 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph -1 a (new)
Paragraph -1 a (new)
-1a. Points out that only 20% of 2.7 million people working in the ICT sector are women, they are underrepresented at all levels in the ICT sector, especially in decision-making positions;
Amendment 14 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph -1 b (new)
Paragraph -1 b (new)
-1b. Highlights the fact that the Commission's estimations show that allowing more women to enter the digital jobs market can create an annual € 9 billion GDP boost in the EU area;
Amendment 15 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph -1 c (new)
Paragraph -1 c (new)
-1c. Stresses the importance of improving digital skills and IT-literacy among women and boosting their inclusion into ICT, which is one of the highest paying sectors, which could contribute to women's financial empowerment and independence resulting in the reduction of the total gender wage gap and future pension gap;
Amendment 16 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Points out that low participation of women and girls in ICT-related education and later in employment is a result of a complex interplay of gender stereotyping that starts at early stages of life and education and continues to professional career; takes note of the fact that factors limiting women and girls from participating in the ICT education and employment include: lifelong stereotyping, segregation into "typically female and male" activities, hobbies and toys that starts at the earliest levels of education, a relative lack of female role models in the ICT sector as well as the limited visibility of women in this sector especially in leadership position;
Amendment 26 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas digitalisation has an enormous impact on the labour market by changing value chains and creating new job opportunities and more flexible working patterns; whereas women, in particular, face possible negative consequences such as the erosion of workers’ riopportunities for flexible and teleworking work arrangements broughts and working time boundaries as well as boundaries of professional and non- professional responsibilities, increasing low-paid and less secure types of employment andbout by digitalisation may serve as a an effective tool for better reconciliation of professional and domestic duties for both women and men; whereas these flexible working arrangement and digital technologies which facilitate work from home could also contributinge to the challenge of maintaining a work-life balancinclusion into the labour market of disadvantaged groups of women, such as women with disabilities or with caring duties which require presence at home;
Amendment 30 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
C a. whereas improving digital skills and IT-literacy among women and boosting inclusion of women into the ICT which is one of the highest paying sectors could contribute to their financial empowerment and independence resulting in the reduction of the total gender wage gap;
Amendment 31 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Highlights the fact that the ICT sector is characterised by both vertical and horizontal segregation which is even higher that the other sectors, as well as a gap between women's educational qualifications and their position in the ICT sector; whereas the majority (54 per cent) of women employed in ICT sector occupy lower paid and lower skill-level positions and only a small minority of them (8 per cent) are in the high skill software engineer positions; whereas women are also underrepresented in the decision-making within this sector with only 19,2 per cent of ICT sector workers having female bosses compared to 45,2 per cent of non-ICT sector workers;
Amendment 35 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 b (new)
Paragraph 2 b (new)
2b. Stresses that the ICT sector is rapidly growing, creating around 120,000 new jobs every year, however skills shortage in ICT and related services might cause up to 900,000 unfilled vacancies by 2020, due to a skills mismatch, stresses therefore the importance to make a full use of women's potential and talents to fill up those vacancies and include women to the ICT sector in order to boost economy in the EU and women's employment opportunities as well as offer a level of protection against exclusion from the labour market;
Amendment 35 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas, in the digitalised labour market, responsibility is increasingly shifted away from the company to the individuation offers new opportunities for entrepreneurship for women, including small scale digital entrepreneurship which in many cases does not require significant initial, changapital as well as enterprises pursued withing the termsframework of social security membership of the self-employed and freelancers; whereas digitalisation often uncouples the ponomy which enhance social inclusion; whereas there is need to support female digital entrepreneurship as women constitute only 19 per cent of entrepreneurs in this sector; whereas digitalisation of the labour market is likely to increase micro entrepreneurship, self-employment and freelance of work from the enterprise, challengingwhich in cases of multiple individual contracts within various companies and institutions may render the monitoring of the principle of equal pay for equal work at the same workplace, which is of utmost importance for a truly equal society, more challenging;
Amendment 38 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas the entry of more women into the ICT sector would boost a market in which labour shortages are foreseen and in which an equal participation of women would lead to a gain of around EUR 9 billion for EU GDP each year; whereas in the existing male-dominated workforce leads to many women leaving the ICT sector within a few years of completrealities women remain heavily underrepresented in ICT degrees where they constitute only around 20 per cent of graduates ing their university degree field;
Amendment 40 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E a (new)
Recital E a (new)
E a. whereas the ICT sector is characterised by particularly high vertical and horizontal segregation as well as a gap between women's educational qualifications and their position in the ICT sector; whereas women's share in the ICT sector amounts to less than 20 per cent; whereas the majority (54 per cent) of women in ICT jobs occupy lower paid and lower skill-level positions and only a small minority of them (8 per cent) occupy high skill software engineer positions; whereas women are also underrepresented in the decision-making within this sector with only 19,2 per cent of ICT sector workers having female bosses compared to 45,2 per cent of non-ICT sector worker;
Amendment 41 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E b (new)
Recital E b (new)
E b. whereas women over 55 are at a particular risk of unemployment and labour market inactivity with the average EU employment rate for women aged 55- 64 being only 42 per cent compared to 58 per cent in case of men; whereas low level of IT literacy and e-skills further amplifies this risk; whereas improving and investing in digital competences of women over 55 would boost their employment opportunities and offer a level of protection against exclusion from the labour market;
Amendment 46 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Highlights the fact that some Member States (Germany, Spain, Sweden) initiated policies to encourage a positive gender balance within Europe's ICT professions, and these policies are primarily aimed at promoting ICT-related studies and career paths for girls and women from an early age;
Amendment 47 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 b (new)
Paragraph 3 b (new)
3b. Points out that digitalisation in the labour market changes nature of work and relations between employer and employee as well as creates new possibilities of organisation of work; stresses that these new opportunities require rethinking and redefying terms such as place and boundaries of work time; stresses that employees labour rights guaranteed by Member States' labour law, should be safeguarded independently of new forms and organisation of work brought by digitalisation;
Amendment 47 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas sexism and gender stereotyping is a burden for economic development and the competitiveness of the EU, further widening the already strong digital gender gap in participation of women in the field of ICT, media and information society;
Amendment 55 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H
Recital H
H. whereas ICT, like any technology, can be used and abused to threaten women, their rights and freedoms, and ultimately their empowerment, such as in the case of cyber-bullying, cyber-stalking, trafficking of human beings through the internet, hate speech, incitement to hatred, discrimination and violation of fundamental rights; whereas anonymity the Internet contributes to the proliferation of these forms of violence against women; whereas such new challenges and risks need to be identified and addressed appropriately by policymakers as well as by enterprises, companies and civil society organisations, while providing room for information exchange on the internet;
Amendment 57 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H a (new)
Recital H a (new)
H a. whereas new communication and information technologies are used to create channels and platforms which facilitate the expansion of prostitution, also involving minors; whereas universal accessibility and easiness of using these new digital channels as well as anonymity they offer contribute to widening of the spectrum of potential actors involved, in particular among the most vulnerable groups in terms of sexual abuse, such as teenage girls; whereas there is a need for relevant law enforcement professionals to recognize the transformations in the way prostitution is carried out through the digital medium as well as to monitor relevant Internet platforms from this perspective, when there is a justified reason for suspecting a crime; whereas there is also a need to raise awareness among relevant education professionals about these new forms of digital threats in order to safeguard minors;
Amendment 62 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H b (new)
Recital H b (new)
H b. whereas social awareness about digital forms of violence both among the general public and the relevant professionals, such as law enforcement agents and teachers, remains insufficient to ensure adequate prevention, monitoring and assistance for victims; whereas different forms of online violence are not yet fully reflected in the criminal law as well as modes and procedures of prosecution in all member states; whereas there is a need for a recognition at the EU-level of the potentially transborder nature of the abuse and violence on the Internet;
Amendment 64 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H c (new)
Recital H c (new)
H c. whereas low participation of women and girls in ICT related education and later in employment is a result of a complex interplay of gender stereotyping that starts at early stages of life and education and continues to professional career; whereas factors limiting women and girls from participating in the ICT education and employment include: lifelong stereotyping, segregation into "typically female and male" activities, hobbies and toys that starts at the earliest levels of education, a relative lack of female role models in the ICT sector as well as the limited visibility of women in this sector especially in leadership positions;
Amendment 82 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Welcomes the opportunity for a better work-life balance for women in the digital age; emphasises the risks posed by potential demand for a constant accessibility of employees (e.g. burnout); advocates, therefore, a ‘right to log off’ for workerstresses therefore the need for respecting working time arrangements under flexible hours employment contracts in order to maintain the boundaries of working time as defined by the labour law in the individual Member States;
Amendment 94 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7a. Takes the view that women over 55 are more likely to have depreciated e-skills due to the lack of life-long learning and that digitalization constitutes an important barrier for older job seekers with limited e-skills, calls on the Commission and the Member States to support life-long learning as well as training and schemes which prepare for a better adaptation or a potential change of career path according to the growing demand for e-skills in many different sectors with a special regard to women over 55 in order to safeguard them from the exclusion from the labour market;
Amendment 112 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Calls on the Commission, the Member States and social partners to promote gender equality in ICT companies, representative bodies and training institutions and to closely monitor and follow up the progress made as well as share best practices in this area;
Amendment 121 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Urges the Commission and the Member States to safeguard fundamental workers’ rights and the socmonitor changing work patterns and potential protecliferation of employees and to combat precariousatypical working conditions; urges the Commission to propose, and the Member States to further develop, new protection mechanisms adapted to thetracts that accompanies digitalisation to ensure that types of contracts applied correspond to the nature of performed working and career patterns shaped by digitalisation, paying particular attention to the situation of womenincludes appropriate measures of social protection, as defined by the labour law in the individual Member States;
Amendment 128 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Notes that the digitalisatEncourages the Commission ofand the labour market requires adaptation of both labour market policies and the underlying social security systems; callsMember States to recognize the full potential of flexibility offered by digitalisation in the area of work-life balance; on the Commission and the Member States, with regard to the Commission’'s roadmap ‘'New start to address the challenges of work-life balance faced by working families’,' to address the impactidentify the opportunities and challenges of digitalisation oin workers with care responsibthe area of reconciliaties, as regards working conditions and the need for adaptation of the workplace, skills development and lifelong learning opportunitieson of work and family duties for both women and men to ensure that the flexibility sector is used to improve work-life balance;
Amendment 130 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 a (new)
Paragraph 11 a (new)
11 a. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to support life-long learning as well as training and schemes which prepare for a better adaptation or potential change of career path according to the growing demand for e-skills in many different sectors with a special regard to women over 55 in order to safeguard them from the exclusion from the labour market;
Amendment 140 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)
Paragraph 13 a (new)
13 a. Encourages Member States to introduce age appropriate ICT education at early stages with a particular focus on inspiring girls to develop interest and talent in the digital field and to safeguard them from constraining and negative stereotypes as well as segregation of activities and toys whereby digital-related themes are associated with "natural predispositions of boys" which discourage girls to advance their e-skills;
Amendment 160 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Urges the Commission, within the scope of the Digital Single Market Strategy, and more specifically with regard to the reference to building an inclusive e- society, to increase the visibility of women in technology by starting an endowed professorship for women in ICT, setting up a pilot project on a European online university specifically focused on ICT and technical engineering and introducing a tailored scholarship programme for women in the area of ICT and new media;
Amendment 186 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
22. Calls for identification of the challenges posed by the use of ICT and the internet to commit crimes, issue threats or perpetrate violence against women based on misogyny, homophobia or transphobia; urges policymakers to address these issues properly taking into account the challenges related to online anonymity and potential transborder nature of such crimes and abuses;
Amendment 199 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23
Paragraph 23
23. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to consider the changed realities of women and girls, on account of digitalisation, in the implementation of future EU data protection legislation; emphasises that data controllers may only use sensitive data for limited purposes and may under no circumstances further share such data;
Amendment 205 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25
Paragraph 25
25. Calls on the Commission to launch and support e-literacy and training programmes, as well as awareness campaigns, thereby raising awareness of the potential risks of the digital world and how to counter them among relevant parties concerned, such as students at all levels of education, teachers, education and law enforcement professionals; calls on the Commission to promote campaigns against stereotypes in social media and digital media;
Amendment 212 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26
Paragraph 26
26. Calls for the EU institutions, agencies and bodies, as well as the Member States and their law enforcement agencies, to cooperate and concretely coordinate their actions to counter the use of ICT to commit crimes related to trafficking in human beings, cyber-harassment and cyber- stalking as they are often transborder in nature and a European-level coordination is vital for persecuting these crimes; calls on the Member States to review and potentially revise their criminal law to ensure that new forms of digital violence are clearly defined and recognized as well as that appropriate modes of persecution are in place; calls for the EU Cybersecurity Strategy and the Europol Cybercrime Centre to cover these issues; calls on the Commission to promote training and capacity-building for victim support in digital matters, for police and judicial authorities, as well as psychological support during court cases related to the issue;
Amendment 215 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26 a (new)
Paragraph 26 a (new)
26 a. Calls on the Member States to sign and ratify the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence and calls on the European Commission to initiate the necessary steps for the accession of the European Union to the Convention, as outlined in the recently issued EC Roadmap on EU Accession to the Istanbul Convention; stresses that ratification of the Council of Europe Convention is instrumental to eradication of violence against women, including digital forms of violence since it introduces harmonized legal definitions and modes of prosecution of crimes that are facilitated by the new communication technologies, such as trafficking in human beings and stalking;