Laying the foundations for gender equality in the cultural sector

- Cultural transformation in the direction of gender parity is needed in the cultural sector, structural solutions are necessary - Distorted competition in the cultural sector must be corrected in terms of gender parity - The obligation stated in the Basic Law Article 3 (2) must be applied structurally to amendments of laws (for example, the Film Subsidies Act (FFG)) as well as to guidelines for public funding of culture and awarding of prizes, and is to be taken into account in (cultural) personnel decisions - Anonymised application processes, flexible quotas and the removal of age limits are, inter alia, effective measures to achieve greater gender parity in the cultural sector - Empirical surveys (for example, the Kulturwirtschaftsbericht (Cultural Industries Report)) must take gender and generational nuances into account; gender pay gaps and pay equity are pivotal Transcript of the public hearing before the German Bundestag Committee on Cultural and Media Affairs: http://www.bundestag.de/blob/401200/5e4f95f61ee8e0c0a11ac442825d458d/protokoll-data.pdf Exemplary data on gender equality in the cultural sector: - 2010 study on the publishing industry: 80 per cent female, only 16 per cent of management at publishing companies are women - 2010-2013 diversity report by the Bundesverband Regie e.V. (Federal Association for Film Directing), 2014 second report on diversity in directing by the Bundesverband Regie e.V. - 2013 income gap according to information provided by the Artists’ Social Insurance Fund (KSK): Male artists and writers earn a yearly average of 21,427 EUR, compared to 15,955 EUR for female artists and writers - Film and cinema as of 2014: Women direct 19 per cent of German motion pictures (2010-13: 22 per cent); in 2014 there were no women directors of films with budgets above 5 million EUR (2010-13: 10 per cent). The majority of cinema-goers are women. - 2000-2014 Berliner Theatertreffen: 17 of 140 theatre performances directed by women - 2015 North Rhine-Westphalia study on women in art and culture, on behalf of the Culture Office for Women: Positive trend since 2000 in gender parity in awards, scholarships, jury composition; no parity in, for example, acquisition of art works, solo exhibitions; with the exception of museums, little presence of women in leadership roles, especially at academies of art and music, theatres, and philharmonic orchestras (zero!) - First half of 2016: Publication of an investigation about women in the cultural and media industries (German Cultural Council, with funding from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media) - Voluntary 20 per cent quota for certain broadcasting slots and hours implemented at the Association of Public Broadcasting Corporations in Federal Republic of Germany (ARD) - Gender equality in the composition of decision-making bodies at the FFA German Federal Film Board - Reference to implementation of gender equality included in amendment of Film Subsidies Act