A bill to integrate gender equality into the executive, legislative and judicial elements in the public and broader public sector was discussed at the House legal affairs committee on Wednesday.

“Women and men have different needs, and we should take into account the different impact of every policy or action and every bill on women and men,” gender equality commissioner Josie Christodoulou said after the meeting.

She emphasised that equality between women and men needed to be considered to eliminate gender-based discrimination, in order to ensure legislation and policies are drafted accordingly.

In this context, Christodoulou mentioned the example of single parenting or the needs of women with disabilities, which she said were crucial and that these would be addressed in the present proposal, handed in by House president Annita Demetriou.

The commissioner emphasised the positive practices adopted by the local government in Cyprus, including yellow parking spots designated for pregnant women and families with strollers, citing them as commendable examples.

“These are some actions that take these needs into account,” she said

The commission also mentioned other examples in which the gender dimension had been successfully incorporated into the policy process, such as the city of Vienna, where the installation of adequate lighting until late at night led to an increase in female employment in the municipality.

Disy MP Fotini Tsiridou, reiterated the commissioner’s call for the inclusion of the gender dimension into future legislation and policies, stressing that this was crucial to achieve “substansive equality”.

“These efforts are needed so that we can finally bring about full equality between the two sexes,” she said.

Elam MP Sotiris Ioannou said the proposals failed to explain to him “how women will be practically helped”.

He went on to ask the House president about a reference made in her explanatory memorandum of the proposal, in which she mentions the term “feminist legal thought” and that “gender is nothing more than a social construct”, stressing that for his party “gender is biological.”

“Society expects the House of Representatives to deal with the very serious problems we face,” Ioannou said.