Towards gender equality in the cultural and creative sectors : recommendations of the OMC (open method of coordination) working group of Member States’ experts.
Date: 2021-06-07
Institutions: Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture
Subjects: EU Member State, artistic profession, coronavirus disease, cultural pluralism, cultural policy, culture industry, data collection, gender equality, gender mainstreaming, mass media

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TOWARDS
GENDER EQUALITY IN THE CULTURAL  
AND CREATIVE SECTORS

RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE OMC (OPEN METHOD OF COORDINATION)  
WORKING GROUP OF MEMBER STATES’ EXPERTS

EUROPEAN  UNION

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Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2021

© European Union, 2021
Reproduction is authorised, provided the source is acknowledged.

ISBN 978-92-76-37676-7          doi:10.2766/241861            NC-02-21-620-EN-N  

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TOWARDS
GENDER EQUALITY IN THE CULTURAL  
AND CREATIVE SECTORS

RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE OMC (OPEN METHOD OF COORDINATION)  
WORKING GROUP OF MEMBER STATES’ EXPERTS

Editor: Amelie Menzel, European Experts’ Network on Culture

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T A B L E  O F  C O N T E N T S

INTRODUCTION 

1. 

1.1 

GENERAL RECOMMENDATIONS 

Lead by example – ensure gender equality in the workplace 

1.2  Mainstream gender equality into policies and promote it via a legal framework and funding 

1.3 

1.4 

1.5 

1.6 

1.7 

Implement gender budgeting 

Support data collection and research 

Use culture, media, education and research as a means to promote gender equality 

Use the COVID crisis as an opportunity for transformative change 

Good practices on gender budgeting 

1.8   Good practices on gender mainstreaming 

2. 

2.1 

2.2 

2.3 

2.4 

2.5 

2.6 

KEY CHALLENGES AND RECOMMENDATIONS 

Gender stereotypes 

Sexual harassment 

Equal access to the labour market and the gender pay gap 

Access to resources and the art market 

Access to leadership and decision-making positions 

Female entrepreneurship 

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INTRODUCTION

This booklet contains the collected recommendations of the OMC expert group report 
‘Towards Gender Equality in the Cultural and Creative Sectors’ (2021). All recommendations 
are based on practical experience and good practise case studies. They highlight the impor-
tance of political commitment to improving gender equality in the cultural and creative 
sectors (CCS). It should also be stressed that gender equality strategies without targets or 
gender equality targets without monitoring are less effective and artistic quality and artistic 
freedom remain the primary selection criteria for any of the proposed measures.

The following recommendations correspond to all the recommendations of the OMC report 
and, firstly, include general recommendations addressing all policy makers and persons in 
positions of power, as well as the cultural and creative sectors, the media, and the education 
sector (Chapter 5 of the OMC report). Secondly, this booklet contains detailed recommen-
dations focusing on the key challenges as emphasised by the OMC group (Chapter 6 of the 
OMC report). These consist of gender stereotypes, sexual harassment, access to the labour 
market and the gender pay gap, access to resources, access to leadership positions, and 
female entrepreneurship.

This booklet serves the easy accessibility and thus the implementation of the recommen-
dations developed by the OMC group. Implementing these recommendations will contribute 
to cultural diversity and gender equality in the CCS across Europe.

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GENERAL RECOMMENDATIONS

1.1 Lead by example – ensure gender equality  

in the workplace

1

Recommendations to all policy-makers, employers, project managers and persons 
in leadership positions in the CCS 

•  Promote gender equality and diversity in the workplace 

Adopt a proactive stance to ensuring equality of access, opportunities and outcomes for 
all employees irrespective of their gender identity, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, 
class, religion, physical appearance, disability, age, parenthood, citizenship, and social 
or geographical origin. 

Gender parity and inclusion of marginalised groups should be a goal throughout 
your entity – especially in management and leadership roles. Create a friendly and 
accessible space and take into consideration the needs and perspectives of all your staff, 
in all their diversity. This will lead to a more inclusive and more productive atmosphere 
and yield better results. 

•  Promote gender equality in work culture through clear gender-equality guidelines 
that include self-awareness standards in recruitment processes, working in more hori-
zontal structures, avoidance of information asymmetry, and providing women and men 
equally with feedback on their work.

•  Use gender-sensitive and gender-inclusive language to improve gender equality 
Language plays a key role in shaping cultural and social attitudes. Using gender-inclusive 
language means speaking and writing in a way that does not discriminate against a 
particular sex, gender or gender identity, and does not perpetuate gender stereotypes. 
Gender-inclusive language avoids bias towards a particular sex or gender or the use of 
expressions that exclude particular groups of people. Men, women and gender-diverse 
people should be included and referred to explicitly in language.

•  Provide guidelines with practical advice on the use of gender-sensitive and 
gender-inclusive language. These guidelines should be applied to any type of com-
munication, whether it is oral or written, formal or informal, or addressed to an internal 
or external audience in all areas and at all levels. At EU level, these guidelines must be 
available in all official languages.

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•  Apply zero tolerance to sexual harassment, sexism and gender violence

Create a safe, respectful and friendly space in which everyone can thrive. Act before 
harm is done by putting in place measures that can prevent harmful behaviour1:
>  Train your staff on gender stereotypes and unconscious gender bias. Specifically 
engage men in this process, as it is the best way to make them realise the implica-
tions of certain behaviour(s) and develop an informed understanding of what is 
acceptable and what is not. Women do not carry the responsibility for the behaviour 
of men. Ensure that men also take responsibility for creating a safe work environ-
ment and culture.

>  Show your commitment by raising awareness on the importance of preventing ha- 

rassment through education and establishing guidelines (see below).

>  Establish clear rules on (in)appropriate behaviour and make them visible and easily 
accessible throughout your entity. Prepare and disseminate template self-commit-
ments to abide to equality and non-discrimination principles. Such self-commitments 
should accompany employment and similar contracts. These self-commitments 
should be monitored and enforced.

>  Apply an intersectional lens and recognise that every case is different. Some people 
may be more vulnerable to harassment and discrimination due to intersecting mar-
ginalisations – gender, race, ability, sexual orientation, age, etc.

>  Encourage the reporting of incidents by putting in place a clear process – both 
internally (with disciplinary measures for the perpetrator if needed) and involving 
justice/police for the most serious accusations, in accordance with the victim’s 
wishes. Make this process clear and accessible to all. Publish and make easily acces-
sible the information of whom to contact in case of undesired behaviour and how 
to go about it. Ensure the complete confidentiality of the process and prioritise the 
victim’s needs.

>  Make it clear that harassment will not go unpunished: scrupulously investigate the 

reported cases and implement disciplinary measures if needed. 

  More detailed recommendations on the prevention of sexual harassment will be provided 

in the next chapter.

•  Promote an even balance of care work as well as work-life balance  

>  Create flexible working conditions that will help to reconcile the private life of your 
staff with their professional career. This does not only apply to women; encourage 
men to take on an equal share of care work. 

>  Ensure that any gender can take parental leave. You will gain motivated and dedi-

cated employees if you respect and support the needs of their private life. 

  More detailed recommendations related to work-life balance will be provided in the next 

chapter.

1  
Inspired by ‘All things being equal. Gender equality guidelines 
from public service media’ European Broadcasting Union, 
December 2019.

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1.2 Mainstream gender equality into policies and 

promote it via a legal framework and funding

Putting in place a coherent legal framework complemented with sound policies and dedi-
cated funding is necessary to ensure gender equality in society and in specific sectors. 

Gender mainstreaming has been embraced internationally as a strategy towards achieving 
gender equality. It involves the integration of a gender perspective into the preparation, 
design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies, regulatory measures and 
spending programmes, with a view to promoting equality between women and men, and 
combating discrimination.

Gender mainstreaming ensures that policy-making and legislative work is of higher quality 
and has a greater relevance for society, because it makes policies respond more effectively 
to the needs of all citizens – women and men. It makes public interventions more effective 
and ensures that inequalities are not perpetuated.

Furthermore, gender mainstreaming does not only aim to avoid the creation or reinforcement 
of inequalities, which can have adverse effects on women and men. It also entails analysing 
the existing situation, with the purpose of identifying inequalities, and developing policies 
that aim to redress these inequalities and undo the mechanisms that caused them.

Recommendations to all policy-makers

•  Continue promoting gender equality in the CCS at EU level

Include gender equality and diversity in the next Work Plan for Culture.

>  Share this group’s conclusions and recommendations at relevant fora.
>  Maintain constructive dialogue among EU governments.
> 
>  Ensure that voices, ideas and needs of women are fully reflected and that their skills, 
competences and experiences are given significant space in the development and 
implementation of the New European Bauhaus initiative, and in the European green 
transformation.

•  Enact laws and regulatory frameworks promoting gender equality in society, 
including in the CCS. In addition to the national legal frameworks, implement the relevant 
EU legislation and international conventions, in particular the Council of Europe Convention 
on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul 
Convention), and provide criminal law sanctions for gender violence.

•  Mainstream gender in the cultural policies and funding programmes relevant for the CCS. 

•  Provide adequate funding for initiatives and projects aiming to promote gender 

equality in the CCS. 

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•  Put in place measures to tackle intersections of different types of discrimination, 
including through the collection of data on (multiple) marginalised groups and the sys-
temic discrimination and other challenges they face.

>  Take intersectional discrimination into consideration in all legal and policy efforts 

towards reducing gender discrimination.

>  Develop knowledge of the various types of discrimination and the way they intersect, 
through focused studies, guided by education and experiences from local profes-
sional groups and associations, ideally led by those affected. An example of this 
could be anti-racism training and other diversity awareness education. 
Include all marginalised identities in gender-equality training and deal with the ways 
in  which  different  forms  of  discrimination,  globally  and  locally,  connect  and 
intersect. 

> 

>  Whenever and for whichever criteria legislation permits, quotas, targets and other 
focused aid and funding should include a reasonable percentage for all marginalised 
groups.

•  Promote a continuous dialogue and cooperation with civil society with regard to 
gender equality. Encourage multi-stakeholder cooperation between publicly funded cul-
tural institutions, gender-equality bodies, grass-root organisations and researchers. 
Involve women and gender-diverse people in this policy dialogue at all levels.

Specific recommendations to policy-makers at EU level

•  Mainstream gender in the cultural policies, in the Creative Europe programme and other 

funding instruments relevant for the CCS. 

•  Shape further design and implementation of the funding programmes accordingly so 

as to advance gender equality in the field of culture.  

•  Carry out gender analysis, and evaluate what effect the implementation of the pro-

gramme (distribution of the budget) has on gender equality in the CCS. 

•  Encourage Member States to include the CCS in the mandate of EIGE and provide it with 

necessary tools and resources for this end.

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1.3 Implement gender budgeting

Better and targeted distribution of public resources is crucial for empowering women, 
addressing their needs and interests, and achieving gender equality. This means a gen-
der-based assessment of budgets, incorporating a gender perspective at all levels of the 
budgetary process and restructuring revenues and expenditures in order to promote gender 
equality.2

Gender budgeting enables policy institutions to match their budget with gender policy 
objectives and take a close look at how public allocations are distributed, measure perfor-
mance and make improvements on further spending. This is necessary in ensuring that all 
genders can enjoy public money equally, and also helps to improve the overall effectiveness 
and transparency of public spending. 

Gender budgeting can be applied to a national, agency, or regional (local) budget. Ideally, 
to achieve the most effective results, gender budgeting should be implemented at all levels 
simultaneously: this would enable both top-down and down-top coordination, thus allowing 
to identify budget programming shortcomings, make corresponding improvements without 
delay, and distribute public resources more evenly. It is also important to note that national 
gender-equality policies should be accompanied by political and bureaucratic commitments 
to apply gender budgeting. 

Gender budgeting can still be decisively if not equally effective when implemented on a smaller 
scale; thus it can be applied to a specific programme budget, whether it be an EU-wide or 
nation-wide programme or fund. 

Applying gender budgeting to sector-specific programmes and funds would duly strengthen 
the efforts to distribute public resources for the benefit of all genders.

Recommendations to policy-makers at EU level

EU institutions should: 
•  apply gender budgeting in order to advance gender equality in the CCS; 
•  where appropriate, collect gender-disaggregated data;  
•  develop a solid tracking methodology for expenditures; 
•  carry out gender analysis, and evaluate what effect the implementation of the pro-

gramme (distribution of the budget) has on gender equality in the CCS; 
include a gender budgeting perspective in evaluations of EU funding programmes;
• 
•  shape further design and implementation of the programme accordingly to advance 

gender equality in the field of culture.

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2 
Gender budgeting: practical implementation Handbook, 
Council of Europe, 2009.

Special focus on Creative Europe

The Creative Europe programme, as the EU’s instrument aimed at supporting the CCS, 
is the core tool for the European Commission to deliver on its commitment to supporting 
projects promoting gender equality in the CCS.

The new programme for the years 2021-2027 puts a special focus on three areas, 
including prioritising female talent and supporting women’s artistic and pro-
fessional careers, and promoting gender equality as one of the main values to 
be pursued by the programme. From an operational point of view, the programme 
will mainstream the cross-cutting issues of inclusion and diversity, notably gender 
balance, and the greening of Creative Europe. This is a positive change in comparison 
to the previous programme, which did not focus on this aspect, even if it co-funded 
several projects promoting gender equality.

The new Creative Europe programme should apply gender budgeting in order to advance 
gender equality in the CCS. A gender perspective has been incorporated into assessment 
criteria of all projects applying for the programme, which should ensure a more even 
distribution of EU support in the field of culture, and could also have a snowball effect 
on national support programmes.  

Recommendations

•  Capitalise on all knowledge generated by the gender-oriented projects co-funded 
by the programme so far, for example editing a special issue containing all project 
results summarised, categorised and/or analysed. 

•  Encourage projects seeking to promote gender equality and non-discrimination. 
•  Ensure that all activities funded under the programme, both at design and imple-
mentation stage, incorporate a gender-equality perspective. Project activities should 
contribute to the equal empowerment of women and men in all their diversity, 
ensuring that that they achieve their full potential and enjoy the same rights. 

•  Enable the eligibility of childcare costs in project proposals.
•  Amongst the award criteria for calls include a strategy on how gender equality is 

addressed in the project.  

•  Creative Europe should build synergies with other relevant EU programmes (e.g. 
Horizon Europe and Erasmus+) so that they can operate complementarily regarding 
gender equality issues, such as female entrepreneurship and issues of gender train-
ing and education. 

•  Special actions under Creative Europe, such as prizes, awards, European Heritage 
days, or European Heritage Label, etc., should pay attention to gender balance 
amongst juries and awardees, and include gender equality events or actions. 
•  Consider providing training to Creative Europe Desks (CEDs) on the ways to promote 

gender equality:
>  Create a practical guide for CEDs on how to better promote gender equality. 

Include training on gender equality in the newcomer training seminar.

>  Promote a gender budgeting toolkit and gender mainstreaming toolkit for those 
working with the programme, either CEDs or applicants. EIGE has already devel-
oped a gender budgeting toolkit for those working with EU funds in general 
– consider whether it should be adapted to meet the special characteristics of 
the CCS.

•  Consider new collaborations between the three sectoral strands with regard to gender 

issues. 

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Recommendations to policy-makers at national and local levels 

•  Adjust the regulatory environment, and design and implement gender-disaggregated 

statistics for gender-responsive budgeting.

•  Carry out impact assessments on gender equality when amending or drafting new 

legislation.

•  When drafting and adopting a national (regional, local) budget, consult the sectors, and 
analyse and evaluate the budget’s gender impact, in particular to its economic, employ-
ment, social security and cultural policy measures as these affect the CCS the most. 
Carry out gender auditing and shape further design and implementation of the budget 
accordingly so as to advance gender equality, including in the CCS.

•  Provide training on gender budgeting and gender mainstreaming to ensure that gov-
ernmental officials have an understanding of this, as well as a commitment and capacity 
to implement it in practice.

•  Adopt a gender-responsive public procurement framework (for example, incorporate 
gender-equality clauses into tenders, include gender criteria for the evaluation of sub-
mitted proposals, etc.).

Recommendations to cultural and creative sectors 

•  Mainstream gender equality in institutions providing financial support to the CCS, as 
well as to cultural institutions and their strategic documents and work programmes.
•  Raise awareness of the need for gender budgeting and build capacity on gender- 

responsive budgets among policy-makers, budget officials and the CCS.

•  Carry out a gender-responsive budget analysis of the policy and budgets of cultural 
institutions, funds and programs designed for the CCS, and make changes in budgets, 
funds and programmes accordingly.  

•  Monitor and evaluate the progress in order to move towards equal distribution of funds 
and  programmes  to  women,  gender  diverse  people  and  men  working  in  the  CCS.  
A minimum percentage of funding going to women and gender diverse applicants should 
be set, where necessary.

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1.4 Support data collection and research

Data collection remains a cornerstone of any sustainable gender equality agenda, and is 
the best tool to monitor the implementation of different action plans and measure actual 
progress. Research is needed to better understand the processes that impact gender 
equality. 

Recommendations to all policy-makers 

•  Collect relevant and comparable data on gender equality in the CCS. Only with 
the help of data will you be able to identify the problems, propose evidence-based policy 
and monitor progress. This data should be comparable among different areas of the 
CCS and between EU Member States.

•  Adopt a common approach to gathering quantitative and qualitative data on gender 
equality in the CCS through agreed common monitoring methods and performance 
indicators, using standardised sets of data.

•  Annually monitor the situation regarding gender equality in the CCS at the national level, 

based on commonly agreed indicators.

•  Highlight causal relationships using qualitative analysis of the data.

•  Promote active research on gender equality in the CCS, particularly relating to access, 
representation, participation and working conditions, and regularly publicise the out-
comes of such initiatives.  

•  Support active research from a gender-equality perspective on the CCS, and organise 

debates with a view of improving policy and legislation. 

•  Promote research on the impact of the CCS in the shaping of values, attitudes, needs 
and interests of all genders, analysing aspects such as equal access, visibility and par-
ticipation in the field of culture.

•  Encourage cooperation initiatives for research networks and partnerships, for example 
bringing together academic institutions, non-governmental organisations and other 
bodies.  

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1.5 Use culture, media, education and research 

as a means to promote gender equality

Recommendations to the cultural and creative sectors 

•  Engage in projects and artworks dedicated to promote gender equality, diversity and 

inclusion. 

•  Use the opportunities provided by Creative Europe, Horizon Europe and other relevant 
EU funding programmes for projects promoting gender equality and diversity in the CCS, 
and for those that use culture as a vector promoting these values.

•  Advocate for legislative and policy change.
•  Hold yourself accountable regarding the achievement of gender equality across all levels 

of work, production and content within your organisation.

•  Collect  data  on  gender  equality  in  your  organisation  and  your  sector;  monitor  its 

development.

•  Organise solidarity and awareness campaigns to promote gender equality and diversity 

within your institution and sector.

•  Promote networking among women and marginalised people and diverse role models.

Recommendations to the media sector 

•  Raise awareness on the importance of gender equality and the role of culture to this 
end, e.g. through dedicating media content to the issue of gender equality, developing 
media projects in cooperation with female artists and cultural and creative professionals, 
initiating public discussions on gender equality with women – especially marginalised 
women, etc.

•  Collect data on the representation of women and gender-diverse people in the media 

and use it to form new measures, promote change and monitor progress.

•  Ensure gender parity among journalists and creators of content by setting short-term 
and long-term hiring objectives and monitoring these. Implement gender sensitivity 
training for journalists and creators of content, both at the moment of their hiring and 
then through regular, ideally annual, sessions. The objective is the acknowledgement of 
one’s own biases and the ways to keep them in check.

•  Promote the visibility of women and gender-diverse individuals’ creative work. 
•  Report on harassment of and gender-based violence against women and gender diverse 
creatives in culture and media – without focusing on the point of view of the accused 
or perpetuating sexism and misogyny.

Recommendations to the education sector 

•  Promote research on (i) gender equality in the culture sectors and (ii) the role of culture 
in promoting gender equality, diversity and inclusion, and share these findings widely.
•  Advocate for an arts and cultural education that promotes the equality, diversity and 

• 

inclusion of all students and topics.
Include gender equality across curricula, in terms of both the topics approached and the 
examples provided and studied, including in art history.

•  Mainstream gender equality in public schools of arts and culture. 
•  Ensure an equal gender distribution among members of admission juries to the cultural 

and artistic schools in higher education.

•  Adopt an ethical charter on gender equality and periodically implement gender auditing, 
for example regarding leadership, the curriculum and the physical environment, as well 
as attitudes and relationships of the students, staff and the wider community in relation 
to gender issues.

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1.6 Use the COVID crisis as an opportunity  

for transformative change 

As noted by the European Parliament, ‘the COVID-19 recovery represents a significant 
opportunity to advance women as we seek to rebuild our economies and our societies in  
a different way. A true COVID-19 recovery can only be a success if we seek a greener,  
a fairer and a more gender equal Europe’.3

Without sound policy action, the CCS are in danger of losing diversity and talent needed to 
ensure wide cultural range, as well as competitiveness as a consequence of the COVID-19 
crisis.

Recommendations to policy-makers and all stakeholders 

• 

•  Guarantee the equal representation of women and men, including from marginalised 
groups, in COVID-19 support and recovery taskforces at national and EU level in the CCS. 
Implement policies that counteract backlashes in gender equality in the CCS, based on 
the idea of tackling deep structural injustices rather than a transitory pandemic-induced 
crisis. 
Include the CCS in the COVID-19 recovery processes. When building up towards recovery, 
public policy actors together with industry representatives need to turn the situation 
into an opportunity to unravel and fix the structures and mechanisms that maintain 
economic and social vulnerabilities in the CCS.  

• 

•  Apply gender-sensitive measures and incorporate targeted actions to advance gender 
equality into the general and sector-specific recovery and resilience plans at national 
and EU levels. Ensure that women can fully benefit from them in terms of employment, 
but also entrepreneurship.

•  Collect gender-disaggregated data, allowing analysis of the intersecting discrimination, 
on the consequences of the Covid-19 crisis on the CCS workforce. This will serve gender 
impact assessments, monitor the effects of the pandemic and the containment mea-
sures, and identify points for specific intervention.  

•  Harness this opportunity to ensure that women are more present in sectors where they 
have traditionally been underrepresented, such as the digital sector, artificial intelligence, 
ICT and science, technology engineering and mathematics (STEM).

3  
Explanatory statement to the Report on gender perspective 
in the COVID-19 crisis and post-crisis period 
(2020/2121(INI)), 20 November 2020.

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1.7 Good practices on gender budgeting 

Gender budgeting (Austria) | CCS| legislation | performance-based budgeting

Gender budgeting, enshrined in the Austrian Federal Constitution since 2009, is applied to 
the federal, state and community budgets. Detailed regulations on the result-oriented ad- 
ministration are laid down in the Federal Organic Budget Act 2013. In Austria, each ministry 
has to define a maximum of 5 outcomes per budget chapter (part of the annual budget 
decision in Parliament) of which at least 1 has to be a gender outcome. Gender budgeting 
provides information on gender effects of the public expenditures and revenues. Conse-
quently, the special needs of men and women are taken into account and the public 
expenditures are being restructured accordingly to bring forward the effective equality of 
men and women.
Further information: (in German) www.imag-gmb.at/gender-budgeting/was-ist-gb.html; 
(in German and English) http://blog.imag-gendermainstreaming.at/index.php/en/
home-2/#pll_switcher

Law on the principles of good governance (Belgium) | CCS | law | good governance  
& subsidies

The Arts Decree of 13 December 2013 of the Flemish Government contains provisions 
regulating the supervision of the use of grants. The subsidy recipient (any art organisation 
applying for a subsidy) must meet the subsidy conditions together with the additional 
conditions applicable to a recipient of a grant. If the grant recipient receives an operating 
grant, it must, among other things, be a ‘professional organisation’ and apply the principles 
of good governance, for example the organisation should function within a framework of 
mutual control and balance, thus have internal rules and the code of ethics, as well as strive 
for gender balance on its board. 
Further  information:  https://www.vlaanderen.be/publicaties/subsidiegids-projecten- 
gelijkekansenbeleid-2020-2024 

Equal opportunities for men and women in public procurement (Belgium) | research

The Institute for the equality of women is the autonomous Belgian federal public institution 
responsible for guaranteeing and promoting gender equality, and to combat any form of 
gender-based discrimination and inequality by developing and implementing a fitting legal 
framework, structures, strategies, tools and actions. It developed various guides on gender 
mainstreaming, budgeting, etc. In one of its publication the possibilities to adopt gender 
equality criteria in public procurement was examined and further actions proposed.
Further information: https://igvm-iefh.belgium.be/sites/default/files/downloads/20%20-%20
Public%20procurement%20contracts.pdf

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1.8 Good practices on gender mainstreaming 

National cultural institutions gender equality policy (Ireland) | CCS | gender 
mainstreaming

Since the end of 2018, the development of a gender-equality policy is a mandatory require-
ment for all national cultural institutions of the state. Such a requirement was triggered by 
the #WakingTheFeminists, the powerful national movement on gender equality in theatre 
in Ireland. The aim of this policy is to significantly improve the profile and representation 
of women across several sectors, particularly in male-dominated sectors like classical music, 
theatre, film and heritage.
Further information: Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sports and Media 

Diversity arts culture (Germany, Regional) | CCS | consulting | diversity

This was founded in 2017 by the Senate Department for Culture and Europe to ensure that 
Berlin’s cultural sector better reflects the city’s diversity. It is a design and consultation 
office aiming to encourage and support diversity-focused structural change within Berlin’s 
cultural sector. Since 2019 it has been part of the Foundation for Cultural Education and 
Cultural Consultation. 
Further  information:  https://diversity-arts-culture.berlin/diversity-arts-culture/das- 
projektbuero

GEARING-Roles (Estonia) | arts education institutions | gender equality plans

The Estonian Research Council, together with 9 partners from 7 European countries, is 
running a 4-year coordination and support action project, the main goal of which is to launch 
gender equality plans (GEPs) at 6 partnering institutions. The project also includes a creative 
field and study of gender equality in higher education, including Estonian Academy of Music 
and Theatre and Estonian Art Academy. The methodology used throughout the project is 
based on the GEAR tool (Gender Equality in Academia and Research) previously developed 
by EIGE. The project aims to achieve structural change in terms of gender equality in the 
partnering GEP-implementing organisations (in their internal policies and organisational 
culture). For that, it is necessary to learn to better recognise gender inequality and discrim-
ination, understand and value the benefits gender equality brings, encourage women 
choosing research careers and support their career advancements, increase the proportion 
of women in decision-making and giving greater consideration to women’s needs in deci-
sions, but also include gender aspects in curricula as well as in research methodologies.
Further  information:  https://www.etag.ee/en/gearing-roles-project-will-challenge- 
and-transform-gender-roles-and-identities-linked-to-professional-careers-in-research/ 

Gender mainstreaming policy (Sweden) | education | art & cultural schools |  
cultural policies 

In Sweden, gender equality is accentuated in the Education Act, which states that gender 
equality should reach and direct all levels of the Swedish education system. The standards 
are gradually being integrated into education from pre-school age onwards through the use 
of teaching methods that challenge traditional gender roles. Gender equality in academia 
has seen a positive development: the number of female professors in Sweden is 28 %, one 
of the highest in Europe.   

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Gender mainstreaming in government agencies (Sweden) | art & cultural institutions

Governmental agencies participate in a specific programme on gender mainstreaming through 
the means of gender mainstreaming action plans. They have to foresee their actions, learning 
experiences and mainstream gender equality in their ordinary activities, for example in control 
processes. Most of the cultural government agencies focused on goals to reach equal distri-
bution of power and influence within the cultural field. They also worked on their communication 
(to make sure that women and men are equally represented in seminars, pictures, etc.), equal 
treatment of women and men (for example, if one gender gets more help in the application 
process), educating the staff, and also on mapping how power, influence and resources are 
allocated, for instance in their grants. Some examples of results from the cultural sector are: 
1) the Public Art Agency has reduced the underrepresentation of works by women in the 
authority’s art collections (among other things, by making targeted purchases of works by 
older female artists and by having a more even gender distribution among the artists in the 
new art collections that the authority puts together); 2) the Swedish Performing Arts Agency 
electric music studio has increased the proportion of studio hours used by women from 36 % 
in 2014 to 47 % in 2018; 3) the Music and Theatre Library lends more orchestral works by 
female composers, and the authority’s note database has been given a more equal repertoire 
by the authority having made available works by 160 female composers. Evaluation of the 
programme showed the extensive work carried out by the governmental agencies and several 
achievements on gender equality. However, the results have been better in authorities that 
used the programme as a tool for improving the quality of ordinary operations.
Further information: http://www.statskontoret.se/globalassets/publikationer/2019/201914.pdf

Slovenian Film Centre (Slovenia) | audiovisual | funding opportunities

In 2018, the Slovenian Film Centre (SFC) started to introduce gender mainstreaming in its 
activities by commissioning the Study on the representation of female authors in the period 
1995-2017 and allocating its funds based on gender, which had showed gender disparities. 
In its Multiannual Strategy 2020-2024, the SFC foresees collecting statistics of supported 
film projects disaggregated by gender (director, script, producer), striving for gender parity in 
selection committees (at least one out of three being female members), raising awareness 
on unconscious gender bias among selection committees, introducing a possibility to opt for 
justified costs for childcare (both preschool and school age) when calculating the expected 
total film production costs, and publishing Slovenian female authors, directors, scriptwriters 
and producers. The SFC aims to achieve a 50/50 gender ratio of members in decision-making 
agency structures, have a higher share of women artists, less gender-biased topics, more 
diverse stories on screen, and more visibility to female authors, directors, scriptwriters and 
producers as well as role models for female students. The results are evaluated annually. 
Further  information:  https://www.film-center.si/en/news/7585/negligible-representation- 
of-women-in-the-film-sector/

United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) Culture Committee report on cultural 
policies, gender equality and sustainable development (Global) | CCS | research 

Under the leadership of Farida Shaheed, former UN Special Rapporteur in the field of Cultural 
Rights, the UCLG Committee on Culture is writing a report on ‘The Role of Culture in Achieving 
Gender Equality’, to be published in November 2021. It will include a brief explanation on 
the need to make more explicit the interconnections of the four dimensions of development 
(social, cultural, economic and environmental), and on the need to place gender equality as 
an explicit consideration in cultural policies. It will be structured around key policy areas: (i) 
Measures for women/non-binary identity persons in decision-making bodies, (ii) Measures 
to ensure women’s presence in public narratives, eliminate gender stereotypes and trans-
form representation and role models, (iii) Access for women to the labor market in the CCS, 
(iv) Ensuring (public) spaces that encourage women’s participation in cultural events and in 
city life as a whole (v) Policies to make the city safe and accessible for all genders.

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2

KEY CHALLENGES AND RECOMMENDATIONS

2.1 Gender stereotypes

2.1.1 Recommendations

Research and data

To policy-makers and funding institutions at local, national and EU levels:

•  Promote research on the role of stereotypes, role models and representation in society 

by allocating funding for these research topics.

•  Promote research on the role of the CCS in shaping the values, attitudes, needs and 
interests of women and men, analysing aspects such as equal access, visibility and 
participation in the field of culture.

•  Support content analysis in search engines, social networks and media in general, for 
example how are women represented, major gender stereotypes, etc. Make this data 
publicly available.

•  Promote research and monitoring tools to detect stereotypes in new digital services 

offered in the CCS.

•  Promote historical research on female artists and creators who may not be remembered as 
much as their male contemporaries, in spite of their talent, significance or even success.
•  Apply measures to eradicate gender-bias in artificial intelligence and technology.
•  Collect and analyse data on women working in digital culture and creative sectors to 

inform policy making.

Education as a means to combat stereotypes

To policy-makers and funding institutions at local, national and EU levels:

• 

Implement gender mainstreaming in the entire education system from pre-school to 
university level by:
>  establishing standards of teaching methods that challenge traditionally attributed 

gender roles, promote anti-discrimination and intersectional perspectives;

>  revising teaching and study materials through an intersectional and gender lens, and 
making necessary changes to promote gender equality (e.g. altering the curriculum, 
content of textbooks, digital materials, etc.) and intersectionality.

•  Adopt and/or strengthen policies to empower women and girls; ensure their effective 

participation and equal opportunities to work in the (digital) CCS.

To cultural and creative sectors:

•  Fully implement the Council of Europe’s Recommendation CM/Rec(2007)13 on gender 

mainstreaming in education.

•  Use the potential of culture and arts to combat stereotypes, and promote gender equality 

and positive role models.

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To the education sector:

•  Raise awareness on gender stereotypes among teachers, people providing guidance and 
counselling (e.g. tutors, advisors, after-school care workers), and students of cultural 
and creative subjects:
>  For students: include general stereotypes, discrimination and sexual harassment 
awareness courses, in both formal and non-formal educational programmes. These 
courses should be validated with credits to ensure that they are attended. 

>  For teachers: provide teachers with training in gender responsive and transformative 
pedagogies. Enable teachers to build specific skills and competences themselves  
so they can reproduce gender mainstreaming in their own teaching. Promote and 
co-fund  teacher  networks  in  order  to  share  best  practices  between  different 
establishments.

•  Develop and implement new and active communication strategies at the level of tertiary 
education to attract students towards careers from which they could feel excluded due 
to gender norms, in spite of their interest. For example, encourage boys to try the harp 
or girls to play the drums.

•  Provide courses on culture within curricula of gender studies programmes and gender 

studies courses within cultural and creative study programmes.

•  Ensure that all classes and curricula pertaining to arts and culture include works made 
by women artists and researchers. A minimal female representation must be defined 
and enforced in all educational sectors.

•  All schools preparing for professions in the CCS should aim for equal gender represen-
tation among professors as well as among guest artists and professionals. Diversity is 
crucial when it comes to giving students an idea of what professional and cultural fields 
might and should look like. 

•  Encourage girls and women to follow STEM (science, technology, engineering, maths) 
training and careers if they are so inclined. Many emerging and future professions, 
including within the CCS, depend on the knowledge of and taste for technical and tech-
nological tools.

Giving due visibility

To cultural and creative sectors:

•  Acquire and exhibit artworks and cultural products made by and about women throughout 
history. Set realistic goals to ensure gender parity in presenting artworks and cultural 
products in museums, art galleries, etc.

Providing equal opportunities through funding

To policy-makers and funding institutions at local, national and EU levels:

•  Provide specific funding to cultural and creative products and productions that question 

gender identities and stereotypes4. 

•  Develop specific programmes for and/or allocate funds to art and cultural projects aiming 

to challenge gender stereotypes as well as providing support for them.

•  Consider examining all funded projects and productions through the prism of (inter- 

sectional) stereotypes, without limiting artistic freedom.

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4  
Some OMC experts raised the question of  
respecting artistic freedom in this regard.  
However, other experts believe that this suggestion  
does not exclude providing funding to projects  
that do not focus specifically on promotion  
of gender equality and therefore do not  
hinder the artistic freedom. 

2.1.2 Good practices

Women’s portraying (France) | music, visual arts | cultural heritage | gender stereotypes

The Opéra national de Paris launched an investigation into its own repertoire in 2019 through 
the prism of diversity. They questioned whether marginalised groups could be portrayed 
today in the same way they were a few centuries ago. They are working with professionals 
and researchers to examine these developments.

A taskforce of 13 major French museums is currently studying the ways in which women 
artists are often presented in and throughout their collections. For example, the task force 
is analysing whether the descriptions of female artists tend to focus on personal rather 
than aesthetic details, or whether their first name tends to be used. The task force will 
propose solutions based on its findings. Meanwhile three museums from the town of Rouen 
have adopted a charter for gender equality of museum practices. 
Further information: https://framemuseums.org/new/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Rouen-
Museums-Charter-for-Gender-Equality-in-Museums-English-version.pdf

Manus Festet (Denmark) | audiovisual | fighting gender stereotypes

Several initiatives have been launched to raise awareness of gender stereotypes in Danish 
films and TV series. In one notable case, the Danish Playwrights’ and Screenwriters’ Guild 
(Danske Dramatikere) got the public’s attention with ManusFestet85, a satirical guide  
pointing out 40 gender clichés in Danish films and TV series. 
Further information: https://federationscreenwriters.eu/manus-festet-the-danish-manifesto- 
for-gender-equality/

The roadmap to equality in the arts (Netherlands) | art and cultural education

The coalition advocates for equality, solidarity and diversity on every level, and address the 
under-representation and misrepresentation of women artists, women artists of colour, 
non-binary and gender-queer artists. The initiative addresses the lack of data collection and 
monitoring (an overview of the situation in the visual arts in terms of income, parental leave, 
pensions, art education, exhibitions, public collections, grants and residencies, etc.) and poor 
implementation of the system of reporting racism, discrimination or harassment. Founded 
in 2019, this informal coalition consists of artists, educators, researchers, designers, cura-
tors, critics, activists, lawyers and one art school, ArtEZ. 
Further information: https://studiumgenerale.artez.nl/nl/agenda/the+roadmap+to+equality 
+in+the+arts+in+the+netherlands/?fbclid=IwAR1JEd37rWM6aObM8OgmoTrnG_D_VjlPhu_
wEnVMkmNVEgUCpwnKu9aSVmY 

ARTGORA. Creative industries for an equal Baltic (International) | CCS | raising awareness

Artgora project (2018/2019) aimed to reduce discrimination and empower women in the 
creative industries. It brought together partner institutions from the Baltic Sea and Eastern 
Partnership regions (Sweden, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Georgia, Ukraine and Germany) 
to share experience and promote mutual cooperation in solving common problems through 
art and culture. The project also raised awareness of the role of culture in promoting gender 
equality. To this end a variety of audiovisual means, including the digital series of Talk Real | 
Art Real show and online publications, were produced and disseminated. Best practices were 
shared among the participants and in April 2019 the Regional Forum in Riga, Latvia took place. 
The participants of the project developed and generated innovative solutions and project ideas 
for potential regional cooperation.
Further information: http://gap.lt/en/projektai/artgora-creative-industries-for-an-equal-bal-
tic/; http://gap.lt/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/ArtGora-Publication-final-med-res.pdf

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MusicaFemina International Symposium (Hungary) | music | female visibility |  
gender roles

The symposium was held in 2019 for researchers, music professionals and local commu-
nities in central and eastern Europe to explore relations of gender and musical practice in 
four interrelated programmes. ‘Gender and Creativity in Music Worlds’, a 2-day conference, 
included lectures, panel discussions and roundtable discussions on the role of gender in 
music education, the relations between gender and music in central and eastern Europe, 
and issues of gender within the music industry. At the roundtable discussions, performers, 
composers and managers addressed issues of creativity from a gender perspective. The 
discussions were followed by a special edition of ‘Ladyfest Budapest Extra’, an underground 
event, in Három Holló Café, where all-female bands from Germany, Poland and Hungary 
performed. The symposium was part of MusicaFemina – Women-made music, a Creative 
Europe Cooperation Project funded by the European Union. 
Further information: https://gender.ceu.edu/musicafemina-budapest-8-9-january-2020

Onassis Stegi (Greece) | arts & culture| fighting gender stereotypes through art and  
cultural events

Onassis Stegi is a foundation in Athens, Greece, adhering to the values of open society, 
equal access to education and, above all, constant and collective curiosity. It supports various 
events, festivals and projects that are culturally relevant to topics of gender and sex. For 
example, the Body Politics Festival, the World Aids Day event ‘I’m positive’, the podcast ‘Sex 
education’ or a talk by the Guerilla Girls. 
Further information: https://www.onassis.org

Art+Feminism (Malta) | arts | gender stereotypes | female visibility

Art+Feminism is an annual worldwide edit-a-thon to add content to Wikipedia about female 
artists. Alexandra Pace and Nicole Bearman introduced a Malta edition at Blitz in Valletta 
in 2018, with support from Wikimedia Community Malta, which integrated it into the annual 
Wiki Loves Art initiative. Further information: http://wikimalta.org/wiki/Art%2BFeminism

Tallinn Feminist Forum (TALFF) (Estonia) | CCS| women‘s forum | gender stereotypes

A meeting place for those who care about women’s and minorities’ rights in Estonia and in 
neighbouring countries. At the forum it was discussed how to create a sustainable and 
caring social movement and build the society we ourselves want to live in. The first forum 
took place in 2019 and the next forum will take place online in autumn 2021. The forum 
puts extra focus also on gender perspectives and gender equality in the context of the 
creative scene. Further information: https://talff.feministeerium.ee/en/front-page/

Monitoring of women’s representation in RAI programme (Italy) | media |  
gender stereotypes

Italian national public broadcaster service RAI monitors women’s representation on television 
programmes, in accordance with the ethical code and priority objectives of real and non- 
stereotypical representation of the multiplicity of women’s roles in the world, with full 
respect for the dignity and cultural advancement of women, and so contributing to the 
removal of obstacles that restrict equal opportunities. Different research institutes conduct 
the annual monitoring, including Osservatorio di Pavia. 
Further information: https://www.osservatorio.it/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/159307247 
1021_Monitoraggio-della-Figura-Femminile_2019_Analisi-dei-contenuti.pdf

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Science and Gender (Malta) | gender stereotypes | arts as a learning tool 
– Undermining stereotypes through robotics and engineering

For this project, 15 students were given tuition in engineering and robotics through drama 
and performance. Drama was used to help encourage participants to explore their gender 
identity and the social expectations of that perceived identity. The students participated 
actively during robotics workshops to create their own robots and make them function by 
coding computer programs. Drama and sociological-oriented sessions ran in parallel where 
the focus was on gender stereotypes, gender-role expectations and how they impact on  
a girl’s future. Identity and self-expression were explored in storytelling workshops where 
the students were encouraged to challenge social expectations of being less likely to work 
in science-based careers. Eventually, students brought the drama and robotics together by 
deciding on the script and narrative of their story. 
Further  information:  https://www.artscouncilmalta.org/projects/science-and-gender- 
undermining-stereotypes-through-robotics-and-engineering

SPHE – Social personal and health education curriculum (Ireland) | education

SPHE implementation commenced in schools in Ireland in 2003. The subject is introduced 
to students from primary school (aged approximately 5) and continues right through to the 
end of senior school (aged approximately 18). The curriculum framework for SPHE in the 
senior cycle is an enabling curriculum. The framework is built around five areas of learning. 
These areas of learning focus on what is important for students in the senior cycle to know, 
understand and be able to do in order to make and maintain healthy lifestyle decisions. The 
five areas of learning are: mental health, gender studies, substance use, relationships and 
sexuality education, and physical activity and nutrition. 
Further information: https://www.curriculumonline.ie/Senior-cycle/SPHE/

EsFem (Slovakia) | gender stereotypes | education

This is an independent, feminist non-governmental organisation committed to supporting 
women’s and children’s rights. It is actively engaged in combating all forms of discrimination 
against women, in particular gender stereotypes, and improving equal opportunities for 
women and men. EsFem pursues these goals primarily by training teachers and holding 
workshops in schools, and by developing methodical teaching materials; textbooks and sex 
education in schools are analysed. Its initiative ‘Girls can do it’ supports non-traditional 
career choices of women in vocational education. EsFem also prepared a brief study in 
which it examined the impact of horizontal segregation in secondary vocational education 
on women’s employment opportunities in Slovakia. 
Further information: http://esfem.sk/portfolios/girls-can-do-it/

General course on gender equality (Italy) | promotion of gender equality | education

The University of Padua, aiming to promote equal opportunities and gender equality in the 
educational process, has introduced a general, interdisciplinary course on gender equality. 
‘Gender, knowledge and social justice’ is based on the topics presented in the Gender Equality 
Index, which is produced annually by EIGE. The course is accessible to all its students and 
technical and administrative staff, and is also included in the curriculum of the study pro-
gramme ‘Sociology of cultural and communication processes’. 
Further information: https://www.unipd.it/generi-saperi-giustizia-sociale

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Training course ‘Visual Storytelling from A to Z’ (Bulgaria) | arts and education | gender 
stereotypes

The project, supported by Erasmus+ Programme, under KA1, Youth workers mobility, aims 
at bringing self-awareness at the participants, on their own identity and perception as human 
beings, not as objects of stereotypes based on their gender. This issue is very common in 
young people, raised in environments filled with thoughts like masculinity is for boys and 
emotions are for girls. The youth needs to raise their gender literacy to achieve better 
self-understanding and confidence. Now in the era of technology, young people spend more 
time online, where many issues are projected in the web showing the need of raising the 
media literacy in young people. The world of media and social networks is becoming more 
and more visual, so the need to distinguish between the good and bad examples of media 
provocations is pretty urgent too. The program of the training activity is organized in building 
up thematic modules to provide new information, enhance knowledge and develop the skills 
of participants, and enable participants to share in a safe and creative environment. The 
program also includes meetings with experts on visual arts as well as visiting several asso-
ciations who will share their own practises and who are experts in the field of gender equality 
and will further contribute to the learning and development process.
Further information: https://cvs-bg.org/projects/visual-storytelling-az/?lang=en

CID | Fraen an Gender (Luxembourg) | CCS | visibility | gender stereotypes

CID | Fraen an Gender is a place for everyone who is interested in feminism, gender issues, 
equality between all genders and speaking out against gender stereotypes. It aims to make 
the cultural activities of women in the past and present visible, to promote and to document 
them, for instance with the women’s music project Euterpe from which the library of books 
on female art and culture, and the catalogue of female composers were developed. 
Further information: https://cid-fg.lu/kultur/

Bulgarian Fund for women (Bulgaria) | visual arts | gender stereotypes

Bulgarian Fund for Women (BFW) is the only indigenous donor in Bulgaria that raises funds 
and gives grants to local NGOs working to advance women’s and girls’ rights, eliminate 
gender stereotypes, gender-based violence and discrimination, achieve gender equality in 
all spheres of life and make a social change. In 2019 BFW invited female artists of all areas 
of contemporary visual arts do propose projects for new artworks that deal with the ‘women’s 
issues’, from the place of women in the art system to their role in society, equality, the labor 
market, maternity, etc. The initiative is called ‘ЕVERYTHING IS JUST FINE’ and the aim was 
to provoke a debate on women’s role in art and society nowadays. The call’s goal was to 
encourage female artists to be more conscious about being women and to address issues 
that are important for women – family and workplace affirmation, maternity, stereotypes 
related to physical appearance, equal representation in the areas of power, the art market, 
museum collections. The participants were invited to express their position through the 
means of art – to confirm or deny the need for feminism today in Bulgaria.
Further information: https://bgfundforwomen.org/en/ 

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2.2 Sexual harassment 

2.2.1 Recommendations

Monitoring, research and data

To policy-makers and funding institutions at local, national and EU levels:

•  Encourage reporting and collect comparable data about sexual harassment across  

different CCS.

•  Support comparative studies of sexual harassment and violence across EU Member 

States and encourage the development of intercultural research projects.

•  Promote intersectional perspectives that include (experiences of) marginalised groups, 
both in relation to assessing the effectiveness of preventative measures and in relation 
to prevalence.

Simplifying structures & ensuring accessibility of support

To policy-makers and funding institutions at local, national and EU levels:

•  Investigate and adjust the regulatory environment (public procurement, funding of the 
cultural sector, etc.) where necessary, in order to enable public cultural institutions to 
take a more active role in the prevention of sexual harassment and violence in the CCS.
•  Establish a contact point or use existing structures to act as a contact point and mediator 

on sexual harassment and violence within the CCS.

•  Encourage communication between such contact points in different Member States to 
facilitate reporting in case of incidents occurring to artists while touring or on a residency 
abroad.

To cultural and creative sectors:

•  Prepare clear, visible and standardised methods/guidelines in case of sexual harassment 
or violence with clear action plans, detailed policies and rules, e.g. who should the victim 
report to and who is responsible for investigating the allegations. Monitor their imple-
mentation continuously.

•  Adopt codes of conduct, which describe inappropriate behaviour in a clear and detailed 
manner, and workplace guides, which set principles for the prevention of sexual harass-
ment and violence. Apply them in practice.

•  Appoint a contact point to provide anonymous and free consultations for the victims of 
sexual harassment and violence. Ensure that the victim(s) can seek help from an outside 
party as well. 

•  Ensure the right of the victim(s) to remain anonymous if they wish.
•  Monitor how the sexual harassment and violence prevention policy is being implemented 
at the workplace. Register, report and investigate cases. Adopt necessary sanctions (both 
legal and disciplinary) against sexual abusers, including making sure that verbal and 
behavioural violence be understood as unacceptable.  

•  Work with trade unions within the framework of social dialogue concerning the prevention 

of sexual harassment and violence in the workplace.

Education as a means to prevent sexual harassment

To policy-makers at local, national and EU levels:

•  Education on sexual behaviour and sexual harassment should be introduced as man-
datory  in  the  curriculum,  beginning  in  early  childhood  education  and  reoccurring 
continuously throughout the school and academic career.

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To cultural and creative sectors:

•  Share information on sexual harassment and violence and how to prevent it on your 

website. Ensure that this information is easily accessible and up to date.

•  Organise regular (e.g. once a year) training on the identification and prevention of sexual 

harassment and violence for representatives of the CCS.

•  Involve men in projects and training programmes that educate them and enable them 
to better understand the nature and injustice of sexual harassment. Incorporate them 
into preventative measures.

To the education sector:

•  Standardise definitions of different types of sexual harassment and sexual violence.
•  Promote quantitative research on sexual harassment at workplaces using random sam-

pling, control groups, longitudinal cohorts, and a longer follow-up period.

•  Focus future research on preventative work and the effects of preventative measures.

2.2.2 Good practices

Contact point for sexual violence in culture and media (Belgium, regional) | CCS | 
counselling, investigation

In the region of Flanders, victims, perpetrators and bystanders of gender-related sexual 
transgressive behaviour, violence and harassment at work are able to contact the contact 
point (ombudsperson) and ask for advice or mediation. The ombudsperson has the power 
to supervise both the informal procedure (psychological intervention/reconciliation) and the 
formal procedure (written notice to the employer, investigation, interviewing people involved). 
However, firstly it is checked whether the person making a report has attempted to raise 
the problem within the organisation, structure or partnership where it occurred. The intention 
is to solve situations insofar as possible at the source. The ombudsperson can also support 
the person making a report by investigating an external procedure. In the event of an external 
procedure, the person making a report may turn to the Inspectorate for Welfare at Work 
(Toezicht op het Welzijn op het Werk) or the courts. Anyone who has or has had a working 
relationship, in whatever form, within one of the sub-sectors concerned can contact the 
ombudsperson. This includes both permanent and temporary employees, the self-employed 
and volunteers. A similar contact point exists in the Netherlands.

Disclosure office for undesirable behaviour (Netherlands) | performing arts, film & TV, 
art education, museums | counselling, mediation

Persons working within the performing arts, film & TV sector, art education and all museums 
can contact the disclosure office to report undesirable behaviour such as intimidation, sexual 
intimidation, bullying, aggression and use of violence, and discrimination. They will be lis-
tened to and receive advice on how to act in a particular situation, contact mediation services, 
receive support in filling the formal complaint or in reporting to the police. Moreover, there 
is a template agreement on undesirable behaviour that is intended for everyone working 
in the performing arts and/or audiovisual media sectors, including film and TV, art education 
and all museums. All organisations that signed this agreement are stating that they fully 
support it and that they do not tolerate the undesirable behaviour as set out in the agree-
ment. The disclosure office supplements the agreement on behalf of those who are unable 
to be party to it, perhaps because they are ‘in between jobs’, for example, or fail to qualify 
as reporting individuals within the organisation in question, or wish to be listened to/report 
to someone else. 
Further information: https://mores.online/en/home/

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Speak up & call it out (Ireland) | performing arts | code of conduct

This is a national initiative led by the Irish Theatre Institute and supported by the Department 
of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht. Following the events and revelations of 2017/18 of 
the abuse of power, and in line with similar calls to take action in theatre sectors across 
other countries, the Irish theatre launched an initiative with the aim of bringing about a 
cultural change in behaviour. Speak Up and Call It Out gathered together the Irish theatre 
sector – actors, writers, directors, designers, technicians, production and stage managers, 
independent producers and administrators as well as theatre collectives and the major 
theatre organisations, venues and performing arts festivals – to collaborate through art 
and take responsibility and action to eliminate the abuse of power, and build a safe and 
dignified environment for all working within the sector. As a result, the Code of Behaviour 
for Irish theatre practitioners, makers and presenters was created. 
Further information: https://www.irishtheatreinstitute.ie/publications.aspx

Code of ethics and good practice (Poland) | audiovisual | code of conduct

The Women in Film (Kobiety Filmu) Association developed the code of ethics that was 
intended mainly for, but not only, the Polish audiovisual industry. It is a document indicating 
a set of good practices, professional ethics and possible ways to solve problems, for example 
in the field of gender-equality policy, mobbing and (sexual) harassment. The code can be 
implemented within an organisation, school, production house, acting agency, a TV station, 
media house, a film set, etc. The Women in Film Association also offers advice on imple-
menting the code in practice. 
Further information: https://kobietyfilmu.pl/projekty/?fbclid=IwAR3eXMLBUAZiE6QM5Rxan 
QQ6_7P8RbYC6C2U-by9SW2DamII3vgBWHvwkkA

16 days campaign and mini film festival (Romania) | raising awareness through arts

Since 1991, the 16 days campaign in Cluj (Campania 16 Zile în Cluj), which was originally 
focused on the city of Cluj-Napoca and the Romanian context, has been held in approxi-
mately 187 countries with 6 000 organisations. Over the last 30 years, the 16 days campaign 
has been run with various activities and events that are adapted to the local context. The 
mini film festival, which aimed to raise awareness on gender-based violence and empower 
women, screens 5 films on the key topics of the 16 days campaign: abortion, rape culture, 
women’s empowerment, sexual harassment, women and peace. These screenings are 
accompanied by open discussions or moderated debates involving experts, and the audi-
ences are invited to reflect on the films and give their opinions. 
Further information: http://empower-cluj.eu

Psychological and legal advice and counselling (France) 

All personnel and students from cultural and creative schools are granted free access to  
a confidential counselling call-centre that specialises in psychological help and legal advice. 
After occurrences of sexual violence have been confirmed at a school, a crisis centre is 
organised with the help of the Ministry of Culture, in order to investigate the situation and 
support those affected. All cultural and creative schools also receive financial help to organ-
ise sexual and gender-based violence sensitivity awareness training for their personnel and 
students. Additionally, all (permanent or temporary) employees in the audiovisual, film, 
music or performing arts sectors can call on a (separate) free psychological counselling and 
legal advice hotline to denounce such situations or be supported through one. The hotline 
service has been receiving very few requests, possibly because it opened in June 2020, 
when most performing work had already stopped due to the pandemic.

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Commission on sexual harassment in the performing arts (Sweden) | performing arts 

Following the #MeToo movement, the employer organisation Svensk Scenkonst and the 
trade union Teaterförbundet appointed the Commission to examine and analyse the under-
lying factors of the culture of silence in the performing arts. In 2018, it produced the report 
‘An Opportunity to Create Change’ and proposed measures to break the culture of silence 
and combat sexual harassment, as well as identifying further tools to move forward: 
increase knowledge and initiate change projects; actualise guidelines and procedures; create 
preconditions for good leadership; consider changes to collective bargaining and other 
agreements; utilise a reparative process in order to move forward. The Commission also 
pointed out the need to explore other measures, for example integrating the prevention of 
sexual harassment into artistic study programmes, review the governing of cultural organ-
isations,  and  deepen  the  understanding  of  the  root  causes  of  the  issue.  The  report  
‘An Opportunity to Create Change’ can be found at https://scenochfilm.se/wp-content/
uploads/2019/09/An_Opportunity_to_Create_Change_report-002.pdf  
In addition, a guide on creating a dialogue within the workplace was created: 
https://teaterforbundet.se/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Discussion_Questions_An_Oppor-
tunity_to_Create_Change.pdf

Safe environment without sexual harassment (Lithuania) | audiovisual | training, 
recommendations, self-commitments 

In 2019, the Lithuanian Film Centre implemented a project that aimed to fight sexual ha- 
rassment in the Lithuanian film industry. In cooperation with the Center for Equality Advance-
ment and the Lithuanian Human Rights Centre, it conducted a survey that revealed the issue 
was prevalent. Following the findings, recommendations to the industry on how to improve 
the situation were developed and training was organised. Now anyone from the industry can 
access information on the prevention of sexual harassment (recommendations, templates for 
self-commitments to prevent discrimination and sexual harassment in working practices, good 
practices, links to the institutions to contact in the event of sexual harassment) on the website 
of the Lithuanian Film Centre, in the column dedicated to a safe working environment. 
Further information (in Lithuanian): http://www.lkc.lt/seksualinio-priekabiavimo-prevencija/

Training on gender equality (Finland) | performing arts

In the aftermath of #MeToo, training on equity, equality and the prevention of sexual harass-
ment for the performing arts was organised by the Finnish Performing Arts Federation in 
collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Culture. It aimed to raise awareness and 
knowledge on the gender equality and relevant Finnish law within the performing arts 
community. 
Further information: http://www.kulttuuriakaikille.fi/en.php

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Cut out of life (Estonia) | contemporary art | exhibition | educational programme

Tallinn Art Hall and artist Flo Kasearu brought gender based violence into focus through  
a popular exhibition. Kasearu’s personal interest in this topic is by no means recent, and did 
not simply rise out of solidarity; rather, it is rooted within her own biography. In 2009, the 
artist’s mother, Margo Orupõld opened a women’s shelter in the city of Pärnu. Over the 
years, through creative workshops and art projects, Kasearu has been engaging with several 
generations of women living in and receiving counselling from the Pärnu Women’s Shelter. 
An educational programme accompanies the exhibition for schools and groups. Tours and 
educational programmes in English, Estonian and Russian will be held on the virtual exhi-
bition platform via Zoom. 
Further information: https://www.kunstihoone.ee/en/programme/flo-kasearu-cut-out-of-life/ 

Play it for change (Cyprus, European) | gender-based violence | education

The Play It for change project aimed to prevent and combat gender-based violence in stu-
dents aged 12 to 18, using audiovisual media and music. Educators had a key role in 
implementing the project’s activities effectively. The media literacy programmes and training 
helped sensitise school children around gender-based violence, as well as enhance their 
critical thinking capacity. Such tools as focus groups, surveys gauging youth behaviour and 
attitudes, questionnaires, informative activities, training sessions, awareness raising, music 
production, as well as a youth music festival, were organised for all the schools participating 
in the project in November 2019. Students took an interactive role, with both teachers and 
the rest of the school community: they taught and were taught, they sensitised and became 
sensitised in order to recognise and prevent gender-based violence (GBV) in the school 
environment and society as a whole. The project was supported under the European Com-
mission’s Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme, and 6 European countries (Cyprus, 
Spain, Croatia, Greece, Poland and Slovenia) took part in it in 2018 and 2019.
Further information: http://playitforchange.org/

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2.3 Equal access to the labour market and  

the gender pay gap 

2.3.1 Recommendations

Closing the gender pay gap

To policy-makers at local, national and EU levels:

•  Collect gender disaggregated data on a national and supranational level, ideally using 
agreed sets of common indicators. Due to the urgent need for reliable data on gender 
employment patterns in the CCS at a pan-European level, provide guidance for the CCS 
on what data they should collect and how by 2023.

•  Make data on pay scales available, transparent and comparable, as a mandatory require-

ment in the public sector.

•  Commission more detailed research on the gender pay gap and care gap in the CCS with 
a particular emphasis on the challenges faced by freelance workers with regards to this.
•  Implement the new Pay Transparency Directive and make sure it applies comprehensively 

across the CCS.

•  Make pay equality and transparency a condition of all public funding for the CCS.
•  Enforce pay gap reporting. Make gender reporting of activities mandatory while enforcing 

the transparency of artists’ fees.

To cultural and creative sectors:

•  Make key data relating to employees and pay scales broken down by gender, particularly 

at senior level, publicly available and easily accessible.

•  Enforce the ‘equal pay for equal work’ principle, regardless of gender.

Recognising the value and equal distribution of unpaid care work and respecting 
the work-life balance

To policy-makers at local, national and EU levels:

•  Develop  a  proactive  communications  campaign,  utilising  creative  practitioners,  to 
challenge gendered stereotypes around parenting and care work. Promote positive models 
of shared care work and achieving an optimum work-life balance.
•  All EU Member States should ensure universal affordable childcare.
•  EU Member States must implement the EU Directive on Work Life Balance5 in national 

legislation within the stipulated timeline, until 2022.

•  National governments should develop proactive policies and measures to support the 
security of freelance workers with family care responsibilities in sustaining viable careers 
in the CCS (e.g. via tailored subsidies, pension rights, etc.).

•  Develop and test innovative measures and approaches aimed at accommodating women 

on extended maternity/ parental leave to return actively to the CCS workforce.

•  National policy bodies should develop an award/recognition mark for cultural institutions 

and organisations that demonstrate the best family-friendly policies and practice.

•  The Creative Europe programme and the funding schemes at national and local levels 

should ensure the eligibility of childcare costs in project proposals.

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5 
Further details from EC Directorate for Employment, Social 
Affairs & Inclusion: https://ec.europa.eu/social/main.
jsp?catId=1311&langId=en

To cultural and creative sectors:

•  Review and revise existing employment policies and practices to ensure they are family- 
friendly, offer flexible opportunities to engage in care work and achieve an effective 
work-life balance.

•  Draw on positive learning from the COVID-19 pandemic in terms of the opportunities 
afforded by remote working – flexible hours, blended working models – to inform new 
measures to support artists and workers in the art sector with caring responsibilities.
•  Provide child-friendly platforms and opportunities for artists to showcase their work, 
network with other artists, and engage in professional development opportunities, includ-
ing artist residencies.

•  Devise new measures to factor in family-friendly support (such as the provision of child-

care costs) in funding opportunities for artists.

Empowering, protecting, and supporting older CCS workers

To policy-makers at local, national and EU levels:

•  Develop new and flexible models of pension benefit systems to take into account the 

less orthodox nature of working structures in the CCS.

•  Promote life-long learning to facilitate career changes and broadening the skills portfolio 

for women, including by accessing professions typically considered ‘male’.

•  Secure structured pension benefits. Extend pension coverage to self-employed and 

non-standard forms of employment.

•  Develop new models of pension benefit structures and introduce flexible retirement 

options. 

•  Introduce minimum pension schemes to protect older women from poverty.
•  Introduce flexible pathways to retirement through a combination of employment and 

pension.

•  Increase the employment rates of older people.
•  Promote later retirement.

Ending segregation of the job market

To policy-makers at all levels and to the cultural and creative sectors:

• 

Implement general recommendations and recommendations on eradicating gender stereo- 
types, women’s access to decision-making and work-life balance provided within this report. 
Gender equality policies, the fight against gender stereotypes, resources to combine paid 
work, care work and private life, and equal access to leadership positions are critical  
elements to end labour segregation, both horizontal and vertical, by gender in the CCS.
•  Coordinate with the education sector to ensure that awareness raising campaigns about 
gendered segregation and pay gaps in the CCS are comprehensively incorporated into 
the formal education system.

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2.3.2 Good practices

Impala - Independent Music Companies Association, Diversity and inclusion charter 
(pan-European) | music | diversity & inclusion

Promoting a diverse and inclusive European independent music sector is a key priority for 
IMPALA’s task force which has been in place since summer 2020. On 21st October 2020, 
IMPALA has adopted a Diversity and Inclusion Charter setting out a series of twelve commit-
ments for the organisation, which it will report on annually.  The aim of IMPALA’s charter is 
to promote diversity and inclusion in the European independent music sector. IMPALA’s focus 
is to implement a structured approach around the protected characteristics covered by the 
EU charter of fundamental rights. IMPALA’s work includes developing a charter, surveying 
members, offering training to members as well as practical tips. IMPALA’s diversity survey 
will map best practices, local developments and projects regarding diversity and inclusion in 
the independent music sector in Europe. IMPALA’s aim is to understand the position of diversity 
and inclusion in different countries and what tools exist or could be useful in the future.  
Further information: https://impalamusic.org/impala-diversity-and-inclusion-charter/

Deutscher Kulturrat (Germany) | mentorship, networking & empowerment

The Women in Culture and Media project office was launched in 2017 and extended to 3 more 
years in 2020. The project is based on the study of the homonymous name, which was 
conducted by the German Cultural Council. The Deutsche Kulturrat produces data reports and 
runs a mentoring programme for the CCS, in particular to empower women to benefit from 
the knowledge and network of more senior peers. It invites representatives of all female 
associations of the CCS to regularly meet for networking. Within these networking meetings, 
association  representatives  exchange  market  knowledge  and  ideas  for  potential 
cooperation.
Further information: https://www.kulturrat.de/thema/frauen-in-kultur-medien/

K&K – Bündnis Kunst und Kind München (Germany) | visual arts | artists with children

This is an initiative for visual artists with children, which was founded in February 2018 in 
Munich and now has more than 100 members (both female and male). K&K wants to 
improve the working conditions of artists with children and stand up for their interests, so 
the group networks and works together on projects, as well as bundling and archiving 
information. K&K holds regular discursive meetings with guests who give lectures on the 
subject of art and children, and who discuss them with the participants. They organise joint 
exhibitions, symposia and political campaigns, also in cooperation with partner organisations 
from Hamburg and Berlin.
Further information: http://www.kundk.xyz; www.kunstundkind.berlin 

Contest for family-friendly firms (Estonia) | cultural places

This competition raises awareness of family-friendly corporate culture and gives welcome 
publicity to the winners. Companies are evaluated both by their management and their 
employees through a company employee survey and a report from the company. Three 
awards are made each year: to the overall winner, the family-friendliest company and the 
employee-friendliest company. The initiative has had an impact by promoting good practices 
in companies and in public places like museums, events and cafés.
Further information: https://eige.europa.eu/gender-mainstreaming/good-practices/estonia/
contest-family-friendly-firms

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The Mothership project (Ireland) | visual arts | parenting artists

The Mothership project is a network of parenting visual artists in Ireland, which aims to 
support parenting artists in the development of their practice and to encourage arts organ-
isations to make the art world a more inclusive place for artists with children. Parenting 
artists (in the main women) share accounts of barriers to sustaining or progressing a viable 
career alongside having care responsibilities. Through networking, hosting learning events 
and action research they have explored the issues faced by parenting artists in trying to 
sustain a viable career alongside having care responsibilities; and they have actively advo-
cated for proactive steps by arts institutions in addressing these issues. Since 2018 they 
have undertaken research into the lives of parenting artists, most recently conducting  
a survey on the impact of the COVID pandemic on parenting artists.
Further information: https://themothershipproject.wordpress.com

Ballon Rouge (France) | audio-visual | parenting artists

The Red Balloon is the name given to an initiative helping parity in the film industry: profes-
sionals – and particularly women – have difficulties in pursuing their careers while dealing with  
childcare issues, especially within the framework of film festival travel. The baby-unfriendly 
nature of the film industry has always been a given but there is a need to reach a better 
work-life balance, for both men and women, to enable a greater participation of parents. 
The Red Balloon provides onsite crèches and services that make attending festivals a more 
manageable experience for parents, allowing them to remain productive.

It offers a concrete package of services for families during film festivals, including free 
additional badges for nannies and babies, a dedicated kids’ pavilion, a baby changing and 
breast-feeding corner, priority and easy access for parents with young children and strollers, 
and a map and guide detailing family-oriented services such as certified nannies for after-
hours care, among others.

IN FOCUS (Finland) | audiovisual | incubator | gender labour segregation

This project is an incubator aimed at female filmmakers who are debuting with their first 
feature length fiction film, documentary film or fictional TV series. IN FOCUS is managed 
by Women in Film & Television Finland and it has received funding of EUR 190 000 from 
the Finnish Cultural Foundation. This funding is aimed at projects that increase artistic 
quality, reach new audiences and change existing production models. The incubator was 
launched at the beginning of 2018 and ran until mid-2019. The idea for the incubator came 
from research findings, which revealed that female filmmakers’ projects tend to be hindered 
after the initial script development phase. 
Further information: https://www.wift.fi/nakyvaksi-in-english

Hungarian University of Fine Arts (MKE) (Hungary) | arts education | access to labour market

The university does not count the period spent on parental leave in the allowed time period 
for academic cycles. This means that an assistant professor can remain in their job for  
a longer period if s/he has been on parental leave.

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Codes of conduct (Netherlands)| diversity & inclusion | fair pay and working practice

The Netherlands applies three codes of conduct to the cultural and creative sectors, which 
are based on self-regulation: code diversity & inclusion, fair practice code and code cultural 
governance. Code diversity & inclusion is a code of conduct for equal access for everyone, 
based on four principles: public, partners, personnel and programme. It is conducted by and 
for the Dutch cultural and creative sector on diversity and inclusion, and applies to both 
subsidised and non-subsidised individuals and organisations. The fair practice code is a code 
of conduct for entrepreneurship and working in art, culture and the creative industry. It pro-
motes fair pay and practices, solidarity, transparency and trust through the engagement 
and commitment of the employer and the employee. Code cultural governance is a tool for 
good governance in the cultural sector. The Ministry of Education, Culture and Science 
conditions a part of the subsidy to the endorsement of these three codes. If the institutions 
do not subscribe to the codes according to the principle ‘comply and explain’, they do not 
receive a subsidy. During the period 2017-2020, a subsidy of EUR 800 000 was granted 
for the development and implementation of the code. 
Further information: Code diversity & inclusion: https://codedi.nl/ 
Fair practice code: https://quickscan.fairpracticecode.nl/en/fair-practice-code
Code  cultural  governance:  https://en.unesco.org/creativity/policy-monitoring-platform/
governance-code-culture

Employers’ associations and trade unions (Sweden) | performing arts 
Svensk Scenkonst är and Teaterförbundet

The Swedish Performing Arts Association represents over 100 cultural organisations across 
Sweden within the fields of theatre, music and dance. The association aims to give their 
member organisations the best conditions to carry out and develop their professional artistic 
activities, and to assist them in meeting the expectations and demands placed upon them 
as responsible employers. For example, it supports its members with providing legal and 
organisational advice, running projects for long-term changes together with Teaterförbundet, 
and providing free education in leadership with a gender perspective for freelance producers. 
There is an agreement between all the performing arts institutions via a manifesto for the 
work environment. Teaterförbundet, the trade union, supports and represents its members. 
Further information: https://www.svenskscenkonst.se/; https://teaterforbundet.se/

Murderous sisters (Germany) | literature| labour segregation | empowerment  
Mörderische Schwestern e.V.

The association aims to support German female crime thriller writers. Approximately 500 
female authors from Europe support each other in all areas of thriller writing (editing, giving 
advice on publishing or answering technical questions about forensics or law). The associ-
ation has also been politically engaged recently, especially with regard to questions of 
copyright law. For a few years, Mörderische Schwestern has been awarding EUR 1 500 grants 
for female authors who write crime thrillers in German. It is often women who, because of 
constraints through age or restrictions on residence, are ineligible for traditional grants. The 
Mörderische Schwestern grant gives a voice to underrepresented German crime literature 
by women within publishing houses, the book trade and award ceremonies. Moreover, every 
3 years the network awards the Die goldene Auguste prize to someone who supports women 
in crime literature. Once a year, the Mörderische Schwestern organises public readings and 
specialised meetings, as well as writers‘ weekends and tours. 
Further information: https://www.moerderische-schwestern.eu/start/

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Gabriele Munter Prize 2017 (Germany) | award | women above 40 with kids

This prize was awarded to honour the work of independent women artists over the age of 40, 
promoting women artists with children and women artists aged 40 and older, thus dismantling 
discrimination against this group and increasing the audience for these artists’ work.
Further information: https://www.berlinerfestspiele.de/en/berliner-festspiele/programm/
bfs-gesamtprogramm/programmdetail_14250.html 

WIFT – Women in film and television (International) | audiovisual | gender pay gap |  
role models | equal representation| networking & mentorship

WIFT – Women in film and television – is an international business network for women in the 
film, television and digital media, connecting more than 13 000 women in 40 countries and 
offering them a forum for continuous exchange, collegial support and professional cooperation. 
It is present in 13 EU countries: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, 
France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania and Sweden. For example, WIFT Germany 
is particularly committed to gender equality and equal pay in all areas of the media industry 
(the editorial offices, production companies, in film funding and on set). It also seeks to achieve 
more diverse representations of role models of men and women in film and television. 
Further information: https://www.wifti.net/ ; http://www.wiftg.de/

Royal Decree on wage equality (Spain) | legislation| tackling gender pay gap

The Royal Decree on wage equality enables identifying wage discrimination through trans-
parency  instruments:  a  register  with  disaggregated  information  by  sex,  professional 
classification and type of remuneration; an audit of the company that includes the evaluation 
of job positions and a plan to correct inequalities; and a system for the evaluation of job 
positions that respects the principle of equal pay for equal jobs. The law guarantees the 
right to information on the remuneration scale, and provides a basis for 6-monthly meetings 
to be held between the Ministries of Work and Social Economy and of Equality with the 
social stakeholders to analyse effectiveness in the fight against the wage gap. 
Further information: https://www.lamoncloa.gob.es/lang/en/gobierno/councilministers/pagi-
nas/2020/20201013council.aspx

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2.4 Access to resources and the art market 

2.4.1 Recommendations

Recommended policies should focus on 5 different axes:

Giving due visibility

To policy-makers at local, national and EU levels:

•  Enforce gender parity on publicly-funded programming (e.g. national and local theatres, 
performing arts festivals and events), ensuring similar visibility (among top names, for 
example). Utilise an intersectional lens.

•  Acknowledge and ensure representation of women’s narratives in cultural heritage by 
giving proper recognition to their contribution to the arts, culture, history and society. 
Use cultural heritage to promote the visibility of women. For example, include more 
cultural objects related to women’s lives in national cultural heritage registers as well 
as actively nominate more women-related cultural sites to be included on the UNESCO 
World Heritage List.

•  Collect and analyse data on the visibility of women in the field of arts and culture (e.g. 
participation in programmes and projects, nomination and selection for awards, rep-
resentation in the media, etc.).

•  Promote the visibility of women in the media, for example through standards for pub-
licly-funded media (e.g. zero tolerance of sexism and gender stereotypes, gender parity 
among invited speakers, etc.) and developing support schemes that media entities could 
apply for in order to produce public content promoting female role models in the field 
of arts and culture, as well as challenging gender stereotypes. Freedom of the press 
should, of course, not be impeded.

To the cultural and creative sectors:

•  Enforce gender parity on cultural programming (theatres, galleries, festivals and events) 
ensuring similar visibility (among top names, for example) for women and men. Ensure 
the application of an intersectional approach.

•  Foster research and curatorship on the work of (under-recognised) women artists of 
different generations and times, to raise awareness of their work, of its intrinsic value, 
and of its glaring absence from the collective memory and current patrimony.

•  Enforce gender balance/parity on the purchasing policies of (state-funded) museums 

and galleries and increase their transparency.

•  Develop gender parity targets (from 30 % to 50 %) in nomination and selection of 
artworks for awards, particularly in the most prominent arts and cultural festivals that 
receive the lion’s share of the attention from the public and media. Implement an inter-
sectional approach. Grassroots organisations, women’s networks and public institutions 
should also advocate for such targets.

•  Establish prizes and awards that celebrate women to create media impacts and role 

models for emerging artists.

•  Aim to significantly increase a quality presence and visibility of female characters in 
the media, arts and the CCS overall, as well as use of gender lens techniques to avoid 
gender stereotyping in artworks and cultural products across the cultural and creative 
sectors. For example, gender lens questionnaires or checklists accompanied by training 
could be implemented. This would increase a general awareness of gender stereotypes 
among artists and cultural professionals, and would encourage them not to reproduce 
gender stereotyping in their artworks and cultural products (e.g. encourage rethinking 
the binary portrayal of women and men as well as the space and language attributed 
to female characters, etc.).

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•  Adopt sector-specific industry standards to avoid gender stereotyping and engage prom-
inent figures or companies in the society to promote such standards within relevant 
sectors.

•  Develop and continually expand databases of female experts in arts and culture, and 
share these with media entities to increase women’s representation and visibility in 
media.

To the education sector:

•  Educational curricula pertaining to culture and creation, at basic and advanced levels, 

include works by female artists and researchers;

should:
> 
>  explore the topic of the underrepresentation of women in the arts;
>  develop partnerships with academic institutions to promote special courses on 

gender within the curricula of studies related to culture and the arts;

>  develop partnerships with academic institutions to promote special courses on 

culture within the curricula of gender studies programmes.

Ensuring gender parity and representation

To policy-makers at local, national and EU levels:

•  Ensure parity of male and female experts on the panels for the assessment of applica-
tions to funds. Maintain an intersectional approach, i.e. also include marginalised groups 
such as racialised and/or disabled people.
Implement gender parity within the boards of cultural and funding institutions, prize 
juries and other key roles related to cultural policy and cultural programming.

• 

To the cultural and creative sectors:

• 

Implement equality and parity principles in decision-making roles within public and 
private structures of the CCS by:
>  setting up quotas/targets for women on executive boards and management teams. 

Aim for the inclusion of a variety of marginalised groups;

>  setting up a combination of short- and long-term targets for the inclusion of women 
on executive boards and management teams, including specific plans on how and 
when to follow up on progress, and how and when to take action if the expected 
progress does not occur. Reasonable goals could be: minimum of 30 % of under-
represented gender in the short-term, minimum of 40 % in the medium-term and 
around 50 % in the long-term. Aim for the inclusion of a variety of marginalised 
groups and include them in your targets.

• 

• 

Implement regular (e.g. ideally once per year) training sessions on gender issues and 
gender mainstreaming for managers/leaders/supervisors of cultural institutions.
Implement the gender-parity principle when selecting panel speakers for conferences, 
workshops and other events.

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Providing equal opportunities through funding

To funding entities:

• 

• 

Incentivise gender parity in leadership positions of funded entities, e.g. by applying 
gender-balance targets as eligibility for funding. Reasonable goals could be: minimum 
of 30 % of the under-represented gender in the short-term, minimum of 40 % in the 
medium-term, around 50 % in the long-term. Implement an intersectional approach.
Incentivise gender parity on funded projects, e.g. by topping up the score of projects led 
by women or projects that demonstrate gender parity across creative and non-creative 
roles.

•  Target funds for programmes that empower emerging artists and industry professionals, 
and enforce gender parity by ensuring at least 40-50 % of all funding is directed to 
female-led or female-majority projects.

•  Consider establishing sanctions and deadlines in order to incentivise compliance. Finan-
cial sanctions could be applied in cases of non-compliance with the gender-parity goals 
established in the application phase, e.g. possible reclamation of funding.

•  Collect information about the distribution of gender(s) in projects. Gender distribution 

throughout the project must be identified on the application.

•  Take into account the administrative burden by making it as simple as possible for 
cultural entities to report and be eligible, e.g. develop standardised questionnaires and 
checklists on gender-equality policies and practices applied by the beneficiaries.

Female empowerment & promotion of networks

Recommendations to all policy-makers and cultural and creative sectors:

•  Support European and national professional and artistic networks of female artists and 

culture professionals, as well as marginalised groups.

•  Support alumni networks of female artists and culture professionals.
•  Support mentoring programmes and soft skills development and other empowerment 

initiatives in the arts market and CCS.

•  Promote talks, conferences and other events with gender parity and inclusion of mar-

ginalised groups in order to give visibility to possible role models.

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2.4.2 Good practices

Giving due visibility 

#WakingTheFeminists (Ireland) | performing arts | raising awareness |  
gender equality in practice

The campaign was formed in protest against the male-dominated line-up at the Abbey 
Theatre in Dublin for its 2016 centenary programme. It has mobilised women in the arts, 
the media and beyond to publicly question and expose the mechanisms by which they have 
been excluded and marginalised. As a result, Gender Equality in Practice in Irish Theatre 
was introduced to consider the theatre institutions’ own record of programming and sup-
porting women within the sector and identify processes that would ensure gender parity 
and dignity at work in the future. Several metrics for change have been articulated by 
participating theatre organisations with the ultimate target of achieving gender-balanced 
programming by 2023. Theatres, according to their individual needs, have also adopted 
such measures as gender-blind readings for plays and casting, unconscious bias training 
for all staff, achieving equality of gender of board members, targeting 50 % of a new play 
commissions to be allocated to women writers, addition of dignity-at-work clauses to employ-
ees’ charter, re-examination of the female canon, and working with a third-level institution to 
encourage gender parity in areas that do not reflect equality of gender. Moreover, following 
the movement of #WakingTheFeminists, the Minister of Arts asked all national cultural insti-
tutions to have gender policies in place by 2018, to ensure the fair representation of women. 
Further  information:  http://www.wakingthefeminists.org/;  https://thelir.ie/news/gender- 
equality-in-practice-in-irish-theatre

Wom@rts (European) | arts & culture | visibility projects

Wom@rts is a large-scale cooperation and non-profit project co-funded by the Creative 
Europe programme of the European Union. From an interdisciplinary and cross-sectorial 
perspective, Wom@rts pursues women’s equal share presence in the arts and culture, in 
terms of visibility, promotion and access to the market. Between 2018 and 2021, Wom@rts 
partners from 8 European countries implemented a series of activities aimed to foster the 
equal share of women’s presence in the arts, from a multidisciplinary perspective, such as: 
the development of an international online platform to promote women artists; the organ-
isation of artistic residencies in the fields of engraving/printmaking, comics and digital/
lens-based arts (mobility of emerging women artists); the opening and roaming of a com-
memorative exhibition of the 70th anniversary of the publication of Simone de Beauvoir’s 
book The Second Sex; the organisation and coordination of masterclasses, workshops and 
conferences, training courses for creators and cultural entrepreneurs; and the participation 
of women artists and intellectuals in different international cultural festivals, among other 
activities. 
Further information: http://www.womarts.eu/project/

Keychange (European)| music | women empowerment

Keychange is a European talent development programme, which is now also being recog-
nised  as  an  international  campaign  for  gender  equality  in  music.  It  stimulates  artist 
development, exchange, and innovation by creating new international opportunities for 
performance, creative collaboration and capacity building among European female musi-
cians and industry professionals who push the boundaries of their practice. Keychange also 
brings together festivals from across the world in a pledge towards including more women 
by the end of 2022. As a flagship initiative in the music sector it is coordinated by Inferno 
Events GmbH & Co. KG, Germany, and involves 9 other participating organisations from 
Iceland, Italy, Estonia, France, Norway, Ireland, Sweden, Spain and the UK. The project is 
being supported through the Creative Europe programme. 
Further information: https://ec.europa.eu/programmes/creative-europe/projects/ce-project- 
details/#project/607429-CREA-1-2019-1-DE-CULT-COOP2

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Collectif 50/50 (France) | audiovisual | parity and visibility

The organisation Le Deuxième Regard, founded in 2013, was transformed following the 
#MeToo movement in 2018 and became the Collectif 50/50x2020. Created by film and 
audiovisual professionals, 50/50 had its first event at the Cannes Film Festival by gathering 
82 international personalities from the film sector on the red carpet. Led by Cate Blanchett 
and Agnès Varda, they climbed the steps of the Palais des Festivals to denounce the glass 
ceiling which continues to exist: the total number of women directors selected by the Festival 
for the Palme d’Or since its first edition in 1946 is 82 versus 1 688 men. The organisation 
currently brings together more than 1 500 professionals from the French creative, film and 
audiovisual industries. Structured as an action tank, 50/50 is firmly committed to reflect 
upon and fight for equality, parity and diversity in the film and audiovisual industry. The 
Collectif draws up studies, develops actions, creates tools and offers incentives to public 
authorities and the various actors of the sector in order to accelerate and implement change.
Further information: https://collectif5050.com/en/

International Women Photographers Association (France, International) |  
visual arts | visibility

International Women Photographers Association (IWPA) provides a platform for women pho-
tographers and promotes their work to a wide and diverse audience, thus contributing to a 
plurality of vision. Its mission is to encourage and help women photographers gain global 
recognition in order for them to move forward creatively and professionally. The association 
organises the IWPA award, which is open to women photographers from all countries. 
Further information: http://www.iwpa.fr

City of Women (Slovenia) | contemporary arts | festivals, exhibitions,  
workshops, projects

City of Women is a pioneering organisation focusing on gender equality in the arts in Europe. 
It operates in the fields of performing arts, visual arts, intermedia arts, music and cinema. 
Since 1996 the Association has advocated for the recognition, promotion and better con-
ditions of women artists, and for gender equality in the CCS. It strengthens the competences 
of women in the cultural sector, enables international and intergenerational cooperation, 
works against prejudices and stereotypes, and strengthens social cohesion. By doing so, it 
connects the cultural sector with others, such as the social and education sectors. Since 
1995 it has organised an international festival with the homonymous name in Ljubljana, 
Slovenia. Uniting amazing women, gender minorities and marginalised groups from all over 
the world, the festival offers a unique experience blending great artistic endeavours with 
inspiring talks and workshops. It also organises exhibition projects, residency and artist 
development programmes, feminist pedagogy and cultural educational workshops, and 
stimulates regional networking and European cooperation projects, for example to enable 
mobility, audience development and capacity building. City of Women also has a library and 
a digital archive featuring works made by women artists. 
Further information: http://2020.cityofwomen.org/en

Archive Women and Music (Germany) | music | visibility | research

Archive Women and Music has existed since 1978 as an international work group, with  
a seat in Kassel and an archive in Frankfurt am Main. It is an international association of 
female composers, musicians, musicologists, music educators and those interested in or 
making music. The work group focuses on the situation of women in today’s music scene, 
as well as the role of female musicians in the past. It promotes the integration of women 
in many different musical or cultural-political organisations and institutions. The media, 
conferences and concerts point to the absence of female composers, conductors, orchestral 
musicians, musicologists and professors of music. Archive Women and Music also has an 
archive that has become an important point of contact for female interpreters, scientists, 
journalists and students. 
Further information: https://www.archiv-frau-musik.de/en/

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MAV Women in the Visual Arts (Spain) | visual arts | visibility | networking & 
empowerment

Women in the Visual Arts is an association connecting more than 500 professional female 
visual artists in Spain, which promotes the visibility and improvement of opportunities for 
women in the arts. It observes gender equality in the visual arts’ sector, organises MAV 
awards as well as the Biennial of Women in the Visual Arts to increase the visibility and 
recognition of Spanish female artists and related professionals.
Further information: https://mav.org.es/

Vox Feminae Festival (Croatia) | CCS | transdisciplinary international festival

Vox Feminae Festival is an international festival held annually, since 2007, in Zagreb, Croatia. 
The festival aims to promote and increase the visibility of women’s artistic achievements 
through the international competition film programme, exhibitions and performances, as 
well as workshops and educational content. It also aims to dismantle prejudices and dis-
crimination against women and the lesbian, gay, binary, transgender (LGBT) community.
Further information: https://voxfeminae.net/

School of Missing Men (Netherlands) | art and cultural education

The School of Missing Men takes as it starting point the fact that 75 % of students at BEAR 
are women, a normal ratio in art schools across the Netherlands and abroad. How is it then 
that the art-world continues to be, for the most part, male dominated? The goal is to see 
what lessons could be learnt from the current situation, to see it both as a set of systemic 
problems to investigate as well as a series of opportunities to take hold of. Looking into 
social behaviours and the values ascribed to them, as performed in a poignant manner in 
Ahsan’s Shy Radicals, becomes crucial to collectively reflect on troubling existing norms.
Further  information:  https://studiumgenerale.artez.nl/nl/studies/all/people/school+of+ 
missing+men/

50/50 Film Festival (Greece) | audiovisual | gender equality | female visibility

The festival organised since spring 2017, after the adoption of the Council of Europe’s 
Recommendation (CM/Rec(2017)9) on gender equality in the audiovisual sector, aims to 
raise awareness on the under-representation of women in the European audiovisual sector. 
It promotes and highlights gender issues within the film industry such as equal funding and 
access to the labour market, equal pay for equal work, balanced participation in committees 
and boards of the decision-making centres, collection of gender data on the field, the support 
of relevant academic research, etc. The 50/50 film festival has been attracting an increasing 
audience and developing a network of women professionals. 
Further information: http://www.isotita.gr/

Hungarian Women‘s Lobby (Hungary) | cross-sectoral | advocacy & raising awareness | 
networking & empowering

The Hungarian Women’s Lobby is an umbrella organisation dedicated to advocating for 
women’s human rights agenda, and is part of a European network. It recruits, unites and 
represents the interests of Hungarian women’s organisations with a gender equality and 
human rights-based agenda, particularly those that advocate for the rights and equal 
opportunities of women. Among its activities is raising awareness on gender equality in 
society. The organisation carries out various projects, for example training journalists on 
women’s rights. 
Further information: http://noierdek.hu/2/english/; https://eeagrants.org/news/giving-hungarian- 
women-a-voice

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DOMA Art Foundation (Bulgaria) | visual arts | visibility & intersectionality 

In its upcoming project ROMA Queer, which will be implemented with funding through the 
Socially Engaged Arts Programme of National Culture Fund, DOMA Art Foundation is part-
nering with this year’s edition of Sofia Queer Forum. ROMA Queer will focus on Roma women 
and LGBTQ people, that could still be subjects of discrimination, both in the Roma community 
itself and in society as a whole. The curatorial team will work closely with artists and activ-
ists,  incl.  from  the  Roma  and  LGBTQ  communities,  specialists  and  representatives  of 
organisations and will organise public and artistic forums, creative workshops, performances, 
screenings, public discussions and exhibitions, both in Roma neighborhoods and in various 
galleries and independent spaces in the Bulgarian Capital - Sofia. The issues related to 
gender inequality and sexual identities will be explored, also intersecting with the economic 
problems of different ethnic groups. On one hand, the goal of the collaboration is to create 
and strengthen relationships that are functional in the future. This would be a positive 
example of social change through art, which touches upon and addresses social issues. The 
important role of women and their presence in a number of social activities has been well 
maintained in Bulgaria historically, especially in recent decades. These positive national 
specificities have naturally led to the active participation of women in the cultural sector 
as well. This environment creates a harmonious precondition for further stengthening the 
role of women as a conduit between the differences related to gender and interethnic issues 
on the way to the common pursuit of equality.
Further information: https://www.facebook.com/DomaArtFoundation/; 
http://www.domaartfest.com/foundation?lang=2

Access to resources

Austrian Film Institute (Austria) | audiovisual | funding | gender incentive

In Austria, successful films by female directors receive 10 % more automatic support from 
the Austrian Film Institute. The institute aims to increase the number of women as heads of 
departments within the areas of production, direction, script, line production, production man-
agement, camera, editing, script consulting, production design, original score, sound, sound 
design, sound editing, lighting, VFX and animation via automatic funding of EUR 30 000. This 
amount can be reinvested for the script and/or project development of new projects with  
a majority of female participation in at least two of the three main departments: production, 
direction and script writing. This incentive is established through its funding guidelines. The 
assessment of the Gender Incentive 2017/2018 showed that the share of women increased 
in almost each main department that gained gender incentive points. The ultimate aim is to 
achieve a 50/50 gender ratio in the distribution of subsidies in filmmaking. 
Further information: https://equality.filminstitut.at/en/gender 
https://equality.filminstitut.at/en/gender-incentive-2019/

Financial support schemes (Portugal) | audiovisual | funding | gender incentive

Financial support schemes for writing and developing cinematographic and audiovisual works 
managed by the Film and Audiovisual Institute foresee a positive mark-up measure to increase 
the participation of women authors and directors. Government-funded movies whose artistic 
and technical teams are managed by at least 50 % of women receive a bonus in their funding: 
an increase of 10 % in the assessment grading. Funding support is embedded in the General 
Regulation on Financial Assistance Programmes, Annex II and Annex XV.

Financial support scheme (France) | performing arts | funding | gender incentive

Performing arts structures receiving government funding must increase their gender equality 
indicator score, which is calculated, based on the gender ratio among their artistic and technical 
teams, and on the differences in funding and programming between men in women.

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2.5 Access to leadership and decision-making 

positions

2.5.1 Recommendations

Research and data

To policy-makers and policy institutions at local, national and EU levels:

•  Promote research on women’s participation, leadership, barriers and solutions in the 
CCS, for example by supporting specific research programmes on female leadership 
research at universities or research centres.

To the education sector:

•  Carry out research on gender equality and female leadership across the cultural and 

creative industries.

To grassroots organisations in the field of gender equality:

•  Carry out annual media monitoring on gender equality and female leadership in the CCS. 
Share your findings with public institutions, the relevant decision-makers and society.

Ensuring gender parity and representation

To policy-makers and policy institutions at local, national and EU levels:

• 

Introduce time-bound targets of 30-50 % of women on boards or other decision-making 
bodies of the public arts and cultural institutions, and monitor the compliance with these 
targets (incentives systems could be used to encourage institutions). Ensure the inclusion 
of marginalised groups.

•  Ensure gender parity with targets of 30-50 % of women for selection committees dis-
tributing funding, nominating and granting awards and prizes, and recruiting leaders for 
top positions in the public arts and cultural institutions. Marginalised groups should be 
included. Monitor the compliance with these targets.

•  Employ new recruitment mechanisms to support female representation in top positions 
of the public art and cultural institutions, e.g. introduce an anonymous CV review or  
a rotation mechanism on the basis of gender.

To the cultural and creative sectors:

•  Without compromising data security, develop databases of women experts in the CCS 
that can be used for recruitment, cooperation and sharing with the media to increase 
visibility of creative female experts.

Providing equal opportunities through funding

To policy-makers and policy institutions at local, national and EU levels:

• 

• 

Initiate and fund support schemes dedicated to women entrepreneurship and leadership 
programmes. This should include career kick-off programmes that are designed specif- 
ically to support women entrepreneurship, leadership and professional skills in the CCS.
Introduce specific grants for arts and cultural projects that aim to focus on gender issues 
and promote a positive female leadership image in society.

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Female empowerment & promotion of networks

To policy-makers and policy institutions at local, national and EU levels:

•  Training, networking, mentorship, mobility and professional experience (traineeship, 
internship, stage) programmes for female students and professionals should be sup-
ported by EU funds and programmes such as Creative Europe and Erasmus+, as well as 
national budgets. Data on female leadership in the projects funded (but also rejected), 
including the scale and budget of such projects should be collected and analysed. Work 
with an intersectional lens.

•  Encourage women in decision-making and leadership positions to act as role models for 
other women as well as for marginalised persons. In cooperation with the sectors, 
develop targeted communication projects (to the education sector, cultural sector and 
media) to inspire girls and women to pursue ambitious career goals and anchor the 
image of a woman as a leader as a rule among all genders.

•  Encourage men in decision-making positions to promote female leadership in the CCS, 
e.g. introduce and support a programme working with men who mentor women and 
advocate for female leadership. Ensure the men participating have access to and attend 
gender equality and diversity training programmes.

•  Carry out communication campaigns promoting women’s stories of leadership in the 

CCS, including their successful participation in the Creative Europe programme.

•  Support initiatives that stress the value of having older women in positions of leadership 

in the CCS.

To the cultural and creative sectors:

•  Raise awareness on gender stereotypes, including female leadership, within the CCS and 
their umbrella organisations, in particular among decision-makers and their networks. 
The aim should be to dispel biases and expand mindsets, for instance through a gender 
equality initiative award, or training and mentorship programmes. 

•  Create and encourage a supportive environment for female leadership in cultural and 
creative institutions and organisations. Invest in female leadership skills development, 
e.g. through emerging leaders’ programmes.

To the education sector:

•  Raise awareness on gender equality issues among university staff. Encourage university 
staff to be supportive and promote female students in their professional aspirations in 
the CCS. Ensure no early barriers, real or psychological, are created for female students 
to pursue a successful career later on, e.g. through mentoring programmes, networking 
events, and/or courses focused on female students’ career development.

To grassroots organisations in the field of gender equality:

•  Provide your expertise in the development and implementation of female leadership 
and training programmes, as well as in developing recommendations to specific insti-
tutions and organisations in the field of culture. 

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2.5.2 Good practices

ONEofTHREE (Sweden) | audiovisual | women quota

ONEofTHREE is an initiative that started in Sweden in 2014 with the objective of engaging 
more female directors in commercial filmmaking. In every pitch, at least one out of three 
directors should be female. Behind the initiative are the Swedish Film & TV Producers 
Association – Film&TV-Producenterna and the Swedish Association of Communication  
Agencies – Komm. 
Further information: https://oneofthree.se/

Legge Franceschini (Italy) | audiovisual | law | gender equality criteria in funding

In Italy, the new Cinema Law of 2017, Legge Franceschini, introduced encouraging changes 
for women working in the film industry. For the first time gender equality becomes a factor 
in the decision-making process in awarding project development and production support.
Further information: https://www.italianfilmcommissions.it/news/ddl-cinema-franceschini- 
presenta-al-mia-il-provvedimento

Women on board (Denmark, Portugal) | general | reporting | gender targets

In Denmark, all governmental, regional, and municipal organisations with more than 50 
employees are obliged to submit a report on gender equality to the Ministry of Equality 
every third year. In addition, Denmark has a legislation that requires all large Danish cor-
porations to report on the gender balance at management level and in executive boards. 

In Portugal, the regime of balanced representation between women and men in top positions 
(ensuring 33 % quotas for women) has been in place for more than 2 years (Law No 
62/2017). It foresees that listed companies (such as public companies) communicate plans 
for equality every year. As there are no sanctions in place, not all companies are compliant 
or they take a long time to publish information. The law also foresees that the minimum 
threshold of 40 % in the direct and indirect administration of the state and in public higher 
education institutions, and the minimum threshold of 33.3 % in public associations should 
be applied.

Goldrausch Female Artists Project (Germany) | visual arts | career start | confidence 
building

It offers professionalisation programmes for female visual artists. A 1-year postgraduate 
seminar provides the specialised knowledge that is necessary for the complex professional 
life of a freelance artist. The programme addresses female visual artists who have com-
pleted their training and achieved their first work experiences. There are no age restrictions 
and participation is free, thanks to the support of the Berlin Senate and the European Social 
Fund (ESF). The project aims to support 15 participants in their respective professional 
careers through transmitting knowledge and competencies in the course programme, as 
well as public presentations of the artistic work and focused networking opportunities. There 
is a focus on the practical applicability of the respective artistic strategy and thus the 
development of individual career perspectives, as well as the female artists‘ confidence 
within the art public and the art market.
Further information: https://goldrausch.org/de/profil/

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ProQuote Regie (ProQuota Direction) (Germany) | audiovisual | women quota

This is an initiative for equality in film and TV founded by more than 370 female directors 
in Germany. The goal of the initiative is a gender-balanced line-up of all public film-funding 
institutions, and the increase of female directors in the German television programme and 
film production. In Germany, ProQuote demands a broad sociological study about the careers 
and the professional situation of female directors. Additionally, a gender-balanced staffing 
of decision-making bodies of all film-funding institutions should be reached. The plan is 
30 % in 3 years, 42 % in 5 years and 50 % in 10 years. 
Further information: https://www.proquote-regie.de/forderung/ 

Music Industry Women (Germany) | music | mentoring

It was founded in response to the 2013 monitoring report by the Federal Ministry of Economics 
and Technology, which laid bare the data for women in the music industry. Although the music 
industry has a female share of 42.9 % in the category phonogram and music publishing, 
women at the executive level are severely underrepresented. Music Industry Women offers a 
network for women in the music industry, which aims to enhance their visibility and active 
participation. A mentoring programme focuses specifically on women in leading positions and 
women as founders. Music Industry Women also serves as a platform for networking, exchange 
and training.
Further information: https://www.vut.de/vut/gremien/music-industry-women/

FIFTITU% (Austria) | art & culture | counselling | mentorship | career development

This association and networking point for women in art and culture in Upper Austria is 
continuously advocating for better conditions for women in these fields, providing advice 
for artists and creative women (individual or group counselling), organising workshops and 
mentoring programmes. FIFTITU% has its own database, NEW(S)BASE, which provides up-to-
date information on current calls and skills from art, culture and gender studies. It operates 
in all branches of art and culture – fine arts, performing arts, media art, literature, music 
& composition, film, design, architecture, photography, etc. 
Further information: https://fiftitu.at/ 

Women of Public Space Prague 
This is an independent, non-partisan network for women from diverse urban-related pro-
fessions to share and exchange personal and professional experience, and support and 
promote the professional activities of female experts in the fields of architecture, urban 
design, urban planning, community life, education, cultural activities, art, and research 
related to public space/increasing the quality of urban life. It was born in response to the 
lack of leading female experts forming discussions on city development in education, pro-
duction and politics, and poor opportunities for a work-life balance. It aims to map and 
network female experts within the field, promote their professional activities, (co-)organise 
events to exchange experience, advocate for increased representation of female experts in 
public debates, workshops and projects, carry out research and other forms of cooperation 
related to gender issues, and inspire and encourage active female experts in the field. 
Further information: www.wpsprague.com

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Gap & Ciack2 report (Italy) | audiovisual | gender gap research

Following the first report, the DEA report ‘Gap&Ciak2: Women and men in the audiovisual 
industry’ fits into the programme outlined by the regulatory framework of the Recommenda-
tion to Member States CM/Rec (2017) 9 on gender equality in the audiovisual sector. In the 
broader context of Europe and western countries, the report outlines the situation in Italy on 
the basis of existing data, which are rare and not systematic, but nevertheless reveal an 
interesting state of affairs which without doubt could be subject to further investigation: 
around 27 % of the production companies collected in the Filmitalia database count at least 
1 woman among the partners, and of these, in over half of the cases (60 %), the sole proprietor 
is a woman. 
Further information https://www.irpps.cnr.it/en/poges/donne-nelle-professioni-creative- 
il-caso-dellaudiovisivo-in-italia-2

Leadership programme (Sweden) | performing arts | training

The Leadership programme targets women in executive management positions and aims 
to increase women’s representation in top positions in the performing arts. This programme 
is a joint venture between the employer organisation Svensk Scenkonst and the union 
Teaterförbundet for scen och film, financed by those organisations and public funding. Over 
200 women applied for the programme, of which 12 were selected and almost all became 
leaders in the field. 
Further information: www.teaterforbundet.se

Directorate General for Books and Promotion of Reading (Spain) | literature | 
gender balance

DGLFL is a public institution promoting publishing as well as administering and promoting 
libraries in Spain, which aims to achieve a balanced representation of women and men in 
its activities. To achieve gender equality, since 2019 it has applied gender parity both among 
the members of the juries of the awards managed by the DGLFL and Spanish Literature, 
and when composing the grants assessment’s Commission managed by the Directorate 
General. It also seeks to ensure gender balance between male and female writers in its 
activities promoting Spanish literature, for example in debates, panel discussions, meetings 
in high school centres, presentations, etc. 
Further information: https://www.culturaydeporte.gob.es/cultura/libro-bibliotecas.html

WPS Prague (Czech Republic) |architecture & related fields | networking, empowerment, 
advocacy 

MEP-decree (More Equal Participation) (Belgium) | law | gender balance

The MEP decree of 2007 foresees a more gender-balanced representation in advisory and 
administrative bodies of the Flemish Government Advisory and assessment committees 
(including arts and heritage), and boards of government institutions (including the Flemish 
Arts Institutions). The MEP-report of 2018 (in Dutch) can be accessed at: 
https://www.vlaanderen.be/publicaties/mep-rapport-2018

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EWA Network (European) | audiovisual | mentorship & empowerment

European Audiovisual Women’s Network (EWA Network) has been working for a greater 
gender balance since 2013. Among its many activities, EWA Network organises two men-
toring programmes – one for film producers and one for scriptwriters. The scriptwriter’s 
Residency Berlinale programme aims to support the next generation of screenwriting talents 
among members. Members of the EWA network that have written or directed at least one 
feature film (fiction and documentary) that has been distributed in at least one European 
country (theatrically/TV/wide festival trajectory) may participate in this programme, which 
specifically targets women scriptwriters and promotes script consultancy by female script 
consultants. Two selected female scriptwriters receive the opportunity to be mentored by 
a script consultant, to work with her before Berlinale and attend European Film Market at 
the Berlinale. This programme helps the selected female scriptwriters to enter the industry 
with the best script possible and their project strategically positioned. 
Further information: https://www.ewawomen.com/

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2.6 Female entrepreneurship

2.6.1 Recommendations

Giving due visibility

To policy-makers at a local, national and EU levels:

• 

Increase the visibility of female cultural entrepreneurs through raising awareness, for 
example by using information campaigns and promoting female role models.

Ensuring gender parity and representation

To the cultural and creative sectors:

•  Provide fair and transparent entrepreneurship conditions and a level playing field in the 
sector, for example by developing, adopting and promoting self-regulation tools such 
as codes of conduct.

Providing equal opportunities through funding

To policy-makers at local, national and EU levels:

•  Develop support schemes for female cultural entrepreneurs that focus on providing better 
information on access to business-funding opportunities and building skills in accessing 
local and foreign markets, partnership building, intellectual property rights and their mana-
gement, insolvency, digital competences, exploitation of new business models, etc.

•  Ensure proper access to health insurance and social benefits, in particular access to 

maternity leave, for self-employed women in the CCS.

•  Provide ample policies to support the reconciliation of paid work and care work.
•  Develop specific programmes to connect female cultural entrepreneurs with venture 

capitalists, business angels, and/or access to risk capital.

•  Ensure that the gender-smart finance initiative under the InvestEU programme, which 
aims to stimulate funding for female-led companies and funds, is adapted to the spec- 
ificities of the CCS.

•  Launch an EU prize for female cultural entrepreneurs, financing it through the Creative 
Europe programme or through pooling resources from other EU programmes, for example 
Horizon Europe. A special prize for female innovators in the CCS could be established 
as part of the EU Prize for Women Innovators.

•  Reduce the red tape and bureaucracy in access to public financial support.

Female empowerment & promotion of networks

To policy-makers at local, national and EU levels:

• 

Implement policy and awareness-raising measures to reduce the risk aversion factor in 
the  investment  in  cultural  entrepreneurship,  and  in  particular  female  cultural 
entrepreneurship.

To the cultural and creative sectors:

•  Develop support schemes, training and mentorship programmes to empower female 

cultural entrepreneurs, strengthen their business skills and self-confidence.

•  Ensure better access for female cultural entrepreneurs to elite business networks. 
•  Promote female cultural entrepreneur role models.
•  Celebrate female cultural entrepreneurship through awards, prizes, scholarships or 

similar.

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Accessibility, education & information

To policy-makers at local, national and EU levels:

• 

Incorporate, where relevant, a gender perspective into the new EU information tool on 
EU funding opportunities for the CCS. 

• 

•  Use the information contact points, the so-called desks, operating under Creative Europe, 
Erasmus+, CERV and Horizon Europe programmes to develop synergies in the sharing 
of information on the access to EU funding opportunities for the CCS, including those 
targeting or relevant to female cultural entrepreneurs.
Incorporate a gender perspective when developing or updating EU and national policies 
and measures in order to tackle the issues that prevent cultural enterprises from access-
ing finance, primarily by implementing the recommendations provided by the OMC 
Working Group on Access to finance for the cultural and creative sectors (2018).
Integrate a gender perspective into the Cultural and Creative Sector Guarantee Facility, 
or in any similar future mechanisms.

• 

•  Provide female cultural entrepreneurs with concrete opportunities to participate in and 

benefit from the green and digital transformations.

To the education sector:

• 

Introduce an entrepreneurship course in arts, cultural and creative study programmes 
at tertiary education institutions, with due attention to female cultural entrepreneurship, 
including the use of female role models.

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2.6.2 Good practices

Global FemArt (European) | CCS | training

Global FemArt aims to develop specific support for the entrepreneurial development of 
female artists and creatives, through a holistic programme combining online training and 
mentoring. The training programme will enable female artists and creatives to develop their 
understanding of how to run and develop a creative business, as well as strengthening their 
self-confidence and self-efficacy. Global FemArt will also help female artists and creatives 
to take the next steps within their business, encouraging them to move towards a more 
globalised trade. This will be in line with the EU 2020 Strategy for Growth and Jobs, which 
aims to build a cultural sector capable of increasingly contributing to employment and 
growth across Europe. The fully developed eCourse has 6 modules covering a broad range 
of topics and is co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme.
Further information: https://www.globalfemart.eu/ 

MEWEM 2021 (France, European) | music | entrepreneurship | role models

MEWEM is the premier mentorship programme for women in music. Launched in 2018 by 
the FELIN (National Federation of Independent Labels and Distributors), it is dedicated to 
female entrepreneurs with a project in creation and development. Since 2020 the project 
has taken a new step and is deployed at European level under the name MEWEM EUROPA! 
The programme is associated with 5 countries: Germany, Austria, Belgium, Spain and  
Romania, and will thus be able to develop and promote mentoring on a European scale.
Further information: http://fede-felin.org/2021/03/08/edition-2021english/

Books Women/ BücherFrauen (Germany) | literature | networking & mentorship

This is an industry network founded in 1990 and modelled on the Munich version of English 
Women in Publishing. It connects around 950 women who work with books, either as free-
lancers  or  employees.  The  national  organisation  is  divided  into  regional  groups,  and 
independently determines the focus of the regularly-held meetings: specialist lectures with 
regards to the business, as well as business-related questions, for example pension schemes, 
labour organisation or salary negotiations. Moreover, mentoring projects bring together 
young female talents and leading women in the field. The pillars of the industry network 
include putting women into contact with each other, place them with jobs or assignments 
and, especially, to represent women’s interests in the book industry. 
Further information: https://www.buecherfrauen.de/startseite

Mentoring Programme Women in Art WinART (Poland)| CCS | mentorship

WinART was established by the ARTeria Foundation in 2018 to support female artists and 
women running their businesses in the creative sector. The programme supports their per-
sonal and vocational development by developing competences and knowledge to enable 
them to navigate the art market better (including internationally), build their portfolio, and 
run more successful and satisfactory work in the creative industries, including developing 
entrepreneurial competencies. The programme is also focused on developing the soft skills 
of artists and creatives (including finding new pathways and new directions), and their 
knowledge of the legal aspects (copyright). One of the most important elements of this 
programme is networking both inside the CCS and in other sectors. During WinART sessions, 
either individual or in groups, topics discussed include harmful stereotypes and social roles, 
inequality and discrimination. 
Further information: www.fundacja-arteria.org

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