Towards a Conceptual Framework for Struggles over Democracy in Backsliding States: Gender Equality Policy in Central Eastern Europe

Trends of de-democratization across Europe and the Americas are emerging, along with opposition to gender equality and threats to previous gender equality policy gains. Yet de-democratization has been barely analysed through the lens of gender equality, and so far, efforts to systematically analyse the implications for inclusive democracy and the representation of gender interests are lacking. Backsliding in gender policies, and new forms of feminist engagement with hostile states and publics, also raise new challenges to the literature on gender and politics. In this article we explore gender equality policy backsliding in fragile democracies. Backsliding and de-democratization processes in these contexts pose a series of important challenges to how we have thought about gender policy change in progressive, mainly Western democratic contexts until now. We propose a conceptual framework discussing these two conceptually interesting realms: backsliding in gender equality policies, and feminist responses to backsliding. We illustrate our framework with empirical observations from four backsliding or temporarily backsliding Central and Eastern European countries: Croatia, Hungary, Poland and Romania. With our article we aim to contribute to the understanding of gendered aspects of de-democratization both in gender and politics literature and in mainstream democratization literature

Stopping rape: towards a comprehensive policy

The need to stop rape is pressing. Since it is the outcome of a wide range of practices and institutions in society, so too must be the policies to stop it. This important book offers a comprehensive guide to the international policies developed to stop rape, together with case study examples on how they work. The book engages with the law and criminal justice system, health services, specialised services for victim-survivors, and educational and cultural interventions, as well as how they can best be coordinated. It is informed by theory and evidence drawn from scholarship and practice from around the world. It will be of interest to a global readership of students, practitioners and policy makers as well as anyone who wants to know how rape can be stopped

From formal adoption to enforcement. Post-accession shifts in EU impact on Hungary in the equality policy field

Research on EU conditionality in equality policy in Hungary shows that while the formal EU acquis has been transposed in a fast and successful way, its enforcement and application largely lag behind. Most researchers explain this weak enforcement with factors such as state capacity problems, the absence of inclusive policy making, and low norm resonance at the domestic level. This paper analyzes how changes in EU influence in the post-accession, post-conditionality period contribute to maintaining compliance with and improving the enforcement of EU equality policy in Hungary. It aims to understand implementation processes that take place in the post-accession period through the Hungarian case of equality policy. The paper argues that in order to capture the impact of the EU in the post-accession period, one must look beyond formal transposition-related mechanisms and increasingly at financial assistance and social learning mechanisms. While mechanisms connected to formal transposition might suggest major drawbacks in formal compliance, financial assistance and social learning mechanisms seem to address more directly the application and enforcement problems that Hungary faces in the equality realm. The paper shows that these mechanisms directly and indirectly impact the most crucial factors that determine enforcement – state capacity, the strength and involvement of civil society, and norm resonance. A slow but steady move toward sustainable improvement in enforcement is indicated.East-Central Europe; Hungary; civil society; Europeanization; enlargement; implementation; policy learning; policy diffusion; policy coordination; non-discrimination; gender policy; Roma; structural funds; political science

The politics of gender in the field of European agencies

Independent agencies are important regulatory instruments in European governance. They are also generally considered as central institutional mechanisms for the advancement of women’s rights. In this chapter we aim to understand linkages between these institutional structures and gender equality at the EU level from a variety of perspectives. We successively examine EIGE – the European agency specifically devoted to gender equality – its role and efficiency regarding EU gender equality policy, as well as its impact on expertise elaborated on gender issues and incorporated in EU policy-making. We also look at the particular contribution of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) to gender equality and its relationship with EIGE. We then consider mainstream European agencies from a gender perspective, and, we also adopt a Europeanization point of view in order to analyze the consequences of the EU model of equality bodies at member states level. Finally, we elaborate on the specific impact of the current context, characterized by both austerity politics and illiberalism. We conclude with some thoughts on the importance of considering regulatory agencies when analyzing EU gender equality politics and the relevance of what is, still, an under-developed path of research