THE POSITION
OF WOMEN
IN THE FAMILY
Urszula Nowakowska
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THE POSITION
OF WOMEN Urszula Nowakowska
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INTRODUCTION The role of women in Polish history has always been significant. Polish women have not only been mothers and wives - confined to the kitchen and household - but also the guardians of Polish traditions and national identity; they have played an important social and political role. The history of Poland has been uneasy and difficult: while men where fighting for independence, women were running family businesses and teaching children to become good and patriotic Poles. The so-called POLISH MOTHER is a symbol of strength and devotion. She was expected to give up her personal aspirations and interests for the sake of the family and the nation. Heroism and martyrdom have always been considered Polish national traits. The expectations resulting from this national mythology, however, have never been gender neutral: men were expected to prove themselves heroes in the event of war or other such difficult periods of history; women were supposed to be heroines in every day life. Women who realize that these two roles are too difficult to reconcile, even for a heroine, hardly ever blame the lack of partnership with their husbands for their difficulties. Rather, they blame the political situation or economic hardship. The symbolic meaning of the Polish Mother is still alive. Women are still expected to sacrifice their personal aspirations - their husband's professional careers and their children's needs always have priority. Many women still accept the role of Polish Mother, who heroically and eagerly undertakes the dual burden of professional life combined with household duties. The myth of the "Polish Mother" is connected to the strong belief deeply rooted in the Polish society that Polish women wield a lot of power at home. The strong position of women in the family result from the "natural" division of social roles between women and men and shall compensate for their lack of power in public life. In a sense, this sentiment holds true, but the power exclusively results from the hard work and responsibilities men "grant" to women because they do not like to share the household duties. If women play an important role in the family, they do so because men have given women the space they did not want to occupy. Instead of cooking, cleaning, or shopping, men prefer to do things which can bring more prestige and money, or which are simply more enjoyable. Housework is not a source of real power, but rather a commission to perform work others do not want to do. Women are entrusted with the responsibility for housework and childcare, but if men disapprove of the way the work is done, they often use their powerful position within the family to make their dissatisfaction known. Society also commonly believes that Polish women value marriage and a happy family life above all else. This argument is thus often used to argue that women should stay at home and take care of the family, since it is natural and in accordance with their values. Studies show, however, that woman (87%) and men (80%) value the family almost equally. Professional careers occupy a less prominent place in the value systems of both gender groups. Nevertheless, the fact that family is such a high priority for men leads nobody to the conclusion that in it is them who should take care of housework and children. Although marriage and family are important for most Poles, and the Catholic Church stresses the sanctity of the traditional family in its teachings, Poland has witnessed a visible decline in the number of marriages and increase of de facto families (informal relationships) in recent years. This change results from demographic trends as well as from the characteristic features of the transitional period and changing aspirations of the Polish society.
Most women are employed
and reconcile professional and family life. Statistics show that
more and more women feel that, although they would like to have
a family, they do not want to give up their professional careers.
Both the old and the new constitutions contain provisions concerning maternity and marriage. Article 79 of the former Constitution stated that "the Republic of Poland takes care of marriage, maternity and family. Families with many children are under special protection of the government." This article guaranteed the rights and duties related to alimony, the equality between children born into marriage and those born out-of-wedlock, and that the Republic of Poland pursue a policy to improve the quality of housing. The new Constitution contains several references to the family. Article 18 of the general provision states that "Marriage, being a union of a man and a woman, as well as the family, motherhood and parenthood, shall be placed under the protection and care of the Republic of Poland." This article's original version referred to marriage generally. However, pressure from the Catholic Church increased when one constitutional draft forbade discrimination based on sexual orientation (this provision was later removed). The Women's Rights Center (WRC) lobbied for replacing the word "maternity" with "parenthood," which is more compatible to the idea of equality. The amendment was adopted, although the word "maternity" remained. Thus, the change resulted in bizarre wording: "maternity" is separated from "parenthood." The Center successfully advocated also for the introduction of the provision on equal rights for men and women in family life (Article33).
The next article, which refers
to the family, has been included in the chapter on economic, social,
and cultural freedoms and rights:
Article 71 1. The State, in its social and economic policy, shall take into account the good of the family. Families, finding themselves in difficult material and social circumstances, particularly those with many children or a single parent, shall have the right to special assistance from public authorities.
2. A mother, before and after
giving birth, shall have the right to special assistance from
public authorities, to the extent specified by statute.
Articles 48 and 72 refer specifically
to the rights of children:
Article 48 1. Parents shall have the right to rear their children in accordance with their own convictions. Such upbringing shall respect the degree of maturity of a child as well as his freedom of conscience, belief, and convictions.
2. Limitation or deprivation
of parental rights may be effected only in the instances specified
by statute and only on the basis of a final court judgment
Article 72
1. The Republic of Poland shall
ensure protection of the rights of the child. Everyone shall have
the right to demand organs of public authority to defend children
against violence, cruelty, exploitation, and actions, which undermine
their moral sense. 2. A child deprived of parental care shall have the right to care and assistance provided by public authorities.
3. Organs of public authority
and persons responsible for children, in the course of establishing
the rights of a child, shall consider and, insofar as possible,
give priority to the views of the child.
In the course of the works on
the new Constitution, the opposition, mainly right wing parties,
criticized these provisions because the large amount of rights
and freedom granted to children limits parental rights. Poland,
who submitted numerous reservations to the Convention on Children
Rights, including those concerning a child's right to express
her or his opinion, is criticized by the UN Committee for Children's
Rights (January 1995). The inconsistency of our legislation with
the requirements of the Convention is visible mainly in the regulations
concerning a child's right to know his or her genetic origin,
the right to express his or her own will, protection against the
abuse as well as political rights and freedoms of children.
Most of the provisions
of the Family Code are gender neutral. Some refer to the gender
equality principle in marriage relationships, some other provisions
governing family life are discriminatory and reinforce patriarchal
and traditional values. Among the provisions, which are more or
less, directly discriminating can mention those referring to the
age limit eligible for marriage and the surname of spouses and
children. It should also be noted that the rules, which are gender
neutral on their face, are in practice implemented in a way, which
discriminate against women. The judges who apply and interpret
the law frequently follow commonly accepted stereotypes in their
rulings. Marriage The only marriages recognized by the Family Code are heterosexual marriages. Article 1 states that: marriage is concluded when a woman and a man attest at the same time and place, that they are entering into the marriage". For a year it has also been possible to have only a church marriage with legal effects. A priest is obliged to report marriages concluded in church to the registrar's office. Against common opinion, the provisions of the Family Code concerning marriage are not fully gender neutral. As an example we could quote the article which states the minimum ages at which men and women can marry. Still recently the provisions identified two different age requirements for women and men, respectively, 18 and 21 years. By court decision the limits could be lowered to 16 years for women and 18 for men. This clearly gender discriminating rule was changed in 1999. At the moment the age minimum age requirement for marriage is 18 years for both sexes (Article 10 par. 1 of the Family Code). The Family Court can lower the age limit for women to 16. The fact that this possibility is available only to women discriminates directly against young men and, indirectly, against young women. To allow women to get married at the age lower than men gives a clear message that a marriage and family are women's priorities rather than economic independence and education. If a young woman is pregnant she should get married in order to give her child a father and a surname. On the other hand a man should get some education and become independent before he can get married. A young man under 18 does not have to feel responsible for a child he conceived. The law requires him neither to recognize the child nor to give him or her his surname. And the cases when young men under 18 are fathers are not so rare. Such a patriarchal reasoning - though weakened - still remains in the wording of the provision identifying the age limit eligible for marriage. According to research conducted by Prof. M. Fuszara, Director of the Warsaw University Gender Studies Department, the majority of society accepts the courts' decisions to grant permission for underage marriages; no one wants to impose any obstacles on these young people. In 1998, following the decisions of the Family Court, 2,600 women between 16 - 17 years got married. The marriages of underage women accounted for 6.3% of the total number of marriages and they were usually concluded because of pregnancy.
The data of public Microinventory
of 1995 show that in the group of women above 15 ca. 20% are single,
ca. 60% are married, 16% are widowed and 4% are divorced. Compared
to the year 1988, the percentage of widows and divorced women
increased slightly with simultaneous decrease of the portion of
married women. The above refers equally to both urban and rural
population, although the percentage of divorced women is lower
in rural areas.
Table 1. Women at the age of 15 and more
by marital status, 1988 and 1995.
*the data does not include people
of unknown age and marital status.
In 1998 209,000 marriages
were contracted, i.e., 32% less than in 1980. The decrease in
the number of contracted marriages has been observed for several
years. In 1980 almost 10 new marriages were recorded per 1,000
of people while in 1998 there were only 5 marriages within the
same group of population. Since 1995 the number of marriages dissolved
by a divorce or spouse's death has outnumbered new marriages.
In the group of 216,700 marriages almost 21% represented divorced
couples and 59% dissolved as a result of spouse's death.
Table 2 Marriages contracted between
1980 - 1998
Table 3. Women by age groups on the day of
contracting a marriage, 1980 -1998
Women's surnames Contrary to generally accepted opinion, the provisions concerning the surname of the spouses do not fully reflect the principle of equality. If a woman wishes to keep her family name or add her husband's surname to her own, the Family Code (Article 25) requires her to declare her intentions at the time of contracting marriage. If she does not make such a declaration, she automatically assumes her husband's name upon marriage. The husband, on the other hand, is entitled to add his wife's name to his own or take his wife's name by declaration, but only on condition that his wife also retains her family name. Although most perceive this regulation as giving each spouse an equal opportunity to change their surnames, it is indeed not equal because the provision's construction gives priority to men's family names. The husband may take his wife's name only if his wife retains it. In Poland, the wife customarily takes her husband's name. If she decides to keep her family name, she usually does so for practical reasons, for example, if she is known under her name in her profession, or she does not like her husband's name. At present, this question is not perceived as a gender equality issue in Poland.
This provision may seem to discriminate
against men, but on the contrary, women's surnames are treated
as less important, as women automatically assume their husbands'
names if a suitable declaration is not made. One may consider
this discriminatory provision a minor issues, but it certainly
reinforces stereotypes influences the thinking and power relations
in the family.
Children's surnames:
Under the Family Code (Article 88) children take the surnames of their fathers, regardless of whether they are born before or after the marriage. The child of a married couple bears the name of his or her father unless the spouses, while contracting the marriage, declare that their prospective children shall bear their mother's name. If the parents are not married and the father acknowledges his paternity, the child will carry the father's name unless the father makes a statement, and the mother consents, that the child may take the mother's family name (Article 89.1). These two provisions clearly discriminate against women by valuing the father's name over the mother's. The wording of Article 89.1 deprives the woman of the right to decide what name her child will carry. The language used by the legislator's shows that they did not even consider that a woman might wish her child to carry her family name.
If a man's paternity must be
proved in court, the woman may decide the name the child carries
(Article 89.2). A child thirteen years old or older must agree
to decision. However, at birth, children born out of wedlock
retain their mother's name only if the father is unknown (Article
89.3). In light of how society treats children born out of wedlock,
especially in small towns and villages, mothers usually make every
effort to give the child the father's surname, even if the father
does not fulfill his parental duties.
Family Responsibilities:
Equality between spouses in the Family Law reflects Constitutional principle of equality between men and women in family life. Spousal equality includes sharing responsibility for the home and property, earning a living, and making important decisions together. Each spouse has a right to an equal portion of the marital property, and both spouses must make decisions regarding the property. Article 23 of the Family Code states that "spouses shall have equal rights and responsibilities in marriage. They are each obligated to cohabitation (including a physical relationship), mutual help, and faithfulness, as well as to cooperation for the sake of the family." The Code (Article 27) states that each spouse is obliged to contribute to the satisfaction of family needs according to his or her financial and property earnings. Financial support is treated here on an equal footing as childcare and other household duties. This provision should be perceived as advantageous for women, who are primarily responsible for childcare and family. However, women are often unaware of the provision and are vulnerable to their husband's accusations that if they do not work outside the home, none of the marital property will belong to them. The Family Code also imposes equal rights and obligations on both parents in relation to the child (Article 93.1 and Article 97). The results of a Public Opinion Polling Center survey confirm that 55% of women would like to see a partnership model of marriage, where women and men equally share home and family responsibilities. The same study shows, however, that a high percentage of women stated a preference for a traditional family model (30%) with 15% preferring the mixed model, where both spouses work outside home but the husband works more in the company while the wife is more involved in household duties. Despite this legal provision and the fact that the majority of women opt for a model of family based on partnership, the outcome of public opinion polls shows that the principle of equality is not implemented in practice, particularly in the area of household duties. Stereotypical and traditional roles still dominate in Polish families. Women carry out the overwhelming majority of household and family duties, including childcare. By contrast, society still perceives men predominately as the main breadwinners, not expected to share the household responsibilities equally. If a man shares some of the household responsibilities, his wife is perceived as lucky and the relationship is called a partnership. However, the way in which questions concerning the household are asked shows very clearly whose primarily responsibility it is. People do not ask how couples share family responsibilities, but if the husband or children help the woman in her duties. Statistics show that women working outside the home do only a little less housework than those who stay at home. This small difference exists when husbands or other family members help fulfill what are still seen as their tasks. The household duties women are primarily responsible for include preparing meals, washing dishes, mending clothes, and keeping the house clean. In rural families, children work with their mothers more often in this so-called "women's work," while fathers do the farm work. The division of household responsibilities amongst village families is clearer than in urban families. The statistics show that the dominant model of the family remains very traditional. However, according to public opinion polls, the number of men "helping" in the home is increasing. Even though Polish women aim for partnership in marriage, they cannot escape the expectation that they must fulfill traditional household duties when they return from work. According to an interesting research conducted in 1996 by the Center for Public and Social Research in Warsaw, the most educated and financially secure adult women are usually bear the sole responsibility for the household work. Perpetuating the stereotypes, the media portray professional women as ordinary wives who maintain their traditional work at home, while minimizing their work in the public sphere. This situation occurred with Poland's only woman Prime Minister and with the current Chair of the National Bank, who previously ran for President. Although the former Prime Minister has never been married and has no children did influence the way she was presented. Portraying successful women as 'ordinary women' who do not forget their main duties, such as cooking, cleaning, looking after children indicates how strong the stereotype is and how much we believe that the household and the family are woman's primary responsibilities. There are few, if any, television programs or interviews portraying men in their home environment, cooking or doing other household work. Surprisingly less educated, low income women share housework with their children more often than professional women. Comparing statistics from 1993 to 1996, the percentage of women's time spent on household duties has increased, especially on tasks men formally assisted with (doing heavy work, dealing with administrative duties, taking out the trash). It seems that Polish women are progressive in their words but traditional in practice. At home the traditional division of roles prevails. Women, regardless of residence, age, or level of education, mainly do the housework. Husbands make greater contributions to domestic duties in larger towns and cities and when the wife has a higher education, but traditional gender roles dominate even in families where the wife runs her own business. The Polish "partnership model" allows women to pursue their own career and make a larger contribution to the family income, but does not necessarily translate into the husband's greater participation in domestic duties. The legal obligation to support the family financially also often goes unfulfilled by married men. Although no official statistics are available, experience at the WRC has shown that women commonly seek court decisions to force their husbands to help support the family. Women are often unaware that they may claim general support from their husband, in addition to child support. Women commonly seek child support in court before getting a divorce, hoping that the marriage could be saved. If the husband stubbornly refuses to fulfill his obligation to provide financial support, he can be sentenced to jail for up to three years (Article 209 of the Penal Code).
According to the Supreme
Court ruling concerning an existing legal obligation for a married
couple to cohabit, including sexual relations, any agreement that
would exclude mutual cohabitation is currently illegal. This
provision supports the common belief that it is a wife's marital
obligation to have sex with her husband. Therefore, although
marital rape is punishable in Poland, women rarely press charges
against their husbands. Many women are unaware they have the
right to refuse sex and that it is a crime when their husband
forces sexual act. Nonetheless, marital rape is, of course, difficult
to prove and prosecutors tend to classify all kinds of violence
in the family under the same article on domestic violence, which
provides for milder penalties. Divorce: Pursuant to Article 56 of the Family and Guardianship Code, the grounds for a divorce is an complete and irretrievable breakdown of marriage (physical, spiritual, and economic) which has to be determined by the court. Under the Code, the spouses are deprived of their right to decide whether the marriage has dissolved. The court has a legal obligation to interfere in the private sphere, and despite the "complete and irretrievable disintegration of the matrimonial life," it can decide not to grant a divorce. Pursuant to Article 56 (2)(3), the court may refuse to grant a divorce in three situations: 1. the minor children's best interests may be endangered; 2. the spouse seeking the divorce is exclusively guilty of the break-up of the m marriage (unless the other spouse consent or the refusal is in conflicts with the principles of community life);
3. the divorce is in conflicts
with the principles of community life. Children's interest is understood by the court in a conservative way; it is assumed that children brought up in the so called complete family - independently of its quality - have better development opportunities than when they are brought up solely by the mother. The court may refuse a divorce if the evidence shows that, as a consequence, a child will lose family support. Such refusals based on the child's interest are not exceptional.
The judgement concerning the
breakdown of marriage and fault is always subjective. Before making
final decision, the court is obliged to listen to both parties.
The spouse who is blamed for the breakdown is the one repeatedly
avoiding fulfilling his or her obligations. Legally guaranteed
equality is, unfortunately, not enough to protect the judges against
the influence of social stereotypes referring to traditional division
of roles in a marriage. The studies and experiences of the Women's
Rights Center indicate that - despite equality provisions in the
Constitution and the Family Law - divorce proceedings and court
decisions reflect stereotype views on woman and man's roles in
a family. The courts are still dominated by the patriarchal model
of social relations. Women are frequently asked whether they fulfil
their household duties properly while men be usually asked about
being addicted to alcohol. Sometimes, when husband is dissatisfied
with the housekeeping (she does not cook or clean, etc.) or the
wife refuses sexual cohabitation, the courts blame woman for the
breakdown. The Women's Rights Center has encountered a case when
the divorce was not given because the court decided that there
was cohabitation between the spouse while what the court interpreted
as 'cohabitation' was in fact a repeated rape. Table 4. Dissolved marriages, 1980 - 1998 (Kobieta w Polsce w okresie transformacji spo³eczno-ekonomicznej. Warszawa 1999.)
*the division between urban and
rural areas does not include cases when the petition for divorce
was filed by people who live abroad.
Detailed questioning by the court
makes divorce cases last very long, for several months or even
years. The time from filing the petition for divorce until a lawful
decision is made gets longer.
Table 5. Divorces in 1997 by
the period between filing a petition and a valid decision (Demographic
Yearbook 1998. GUS. Warszawa)
Since most spouses continue to live together during the divorce proceedings, the lengthy procedure often creates more tension and leads to acts of violence against women. Women are often forced to flee their home and stay with their parents or in a shelter. Unfortunately, very few shelters exist in Poland, causing difficulty for women wishing to leave. Also, Polish law does not provide for protection orders or injunctions to provide better protection for victims of domestic violence. It is commonly believed that careful and thorough evaluation of divorce cases is in the interest of women. However, because women are the ones usually seeking a divorce and because violence in the family is one of the main, contributing factors, a woman's right to freedom and personal safety is violated by depriving them of the right to dissolve a marriage. Women's freedom to decide about their private lives is also restricted by the high cost of divorce proceedings and the long distances they often must travel to get to the court. In 1990, the jurisdiction over divorce cases was transferred from the local to the higher courts. The length of the divorce proceedings, as well as an increase in cost, often constitute a barrier for women and discourages them from going forward with their cases.
Most of the divorce cases end
without stating the fault. The percentage of such divorces increases,
as the proceedings are less complicated and significantly shorter.
In 1994 the number of divorces by mutual consent accounted for
67.8%, in 1995 - 68.3% and in 1996 - 68.6%. The observations of
women-clients of the Women's Rights Center confirm that in many
cases they decide to divorce by mutual consent, even if husband's
fault is clear and evident (e.g. they were abused by their husbands).
They do so in order to get divorced as quickly as possible or
they are under the pressure of their spouses. Also the lawyers
suggest women they should file the petition for a divorce by mutual
consent. A divorce by mutual consent gives a man many significant
benefits; he does not have to cover the entire cost of the proceedings
(only a half of it), the obligation of maintenance in relation
to the ex-wife is limited and his position in terms of the division
of joint property and applying for the possibility to meet the
children is more powerful. In the light of the above we should
admit that statistical data does not fully reflect the real situation
and real causes of divorce. Table 6. Stating fault in divorce proceedings (Demographic Yearbook 1998. GUS. Warszawa)
The reason provided for
no-fault divorce is usually the incompatibility of spouses' personalities.
In fault based divorces, the reasons given in most cases are
adultery, alcoholism, domestic violence, or some other reprehensible
behavior. As the above table indicates, in fault based divorces,
men are much more often the party at fault. Table 7. Divorces in 1997 by reasons of marriage breakdown and fault (Demographic Yearbook. GUS. Warszawa.)
In May 1999, after a long debate, the Polish Parliament adopted the amendment to the Family Code (Law of 21 May, 1999) by which separation as an alternative to divorce was introduced. Many reservations were made in relation to the new provision. Having in mind the teachings of the Catholic Church, which stresses the inviolability of marriage as an institution, feared that the idea of separation was the first step to restrict the right to divorce or make it illegal. The rules governing marital separation are similar to divorce proceedings (the court may refuse separation-invoking children's interests). Decision on separation has in the same legal effects like a divorce except that the separated spouses may not get married again. In deciding upon separation, the court shall decide the division of property and assets, responsibility for children and the obligation of maintenance. However, the new institution may adversely affect the future of women who file for divorce as the new provisions give the judges the right to decide upon separation "if one of the spouses asks for divorce and the other for separation the court grant the separation when the decision upon divorce is not acceptable and the request for separation is fully justified (Article 61.2, 3). Since the regulations concerning separation entered into force in December 1999, there have been no judgements on separation that could show the impact it may have on decisions upon divorce. There may be abuses and refusals to give divorce, depending upon personal beliefs and convictions of a judge. It may happen that a judge refuses to give a divorce in cases filed by women - victims of domestic violence and other forms of abuse - whose husbands do not agree to divorce. The fact that legal prerequisites for separation are less stringent than those for divorce can be an additional argument for separation rather than divorce. Separation can be decided when the marriage breaks down and the court states "a complete breakdown of marriage". For a divorce the breakdown must be not only complete but also irreconcilable. We can expect that many husbands who apply domestic violence will ask for separation invoking religious reasons and the judges will follow this "politically correct" and safer option, even if the petition for divorce is well grounded (I. Porzeziñska, 1999),
The danger is that after the
decision on separation the couple will be obliged to help each
other (a provision different than in the case of obligation of
maintenance in the case of divorce). This, in turn, may be abused
by alcohol addicted husbands who, e.g. as a result of their addiction
cannot maintain themselves.
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| Custodial parent | Mother | Father | Both mother and father | Separately mother and father | Children in care | Foster family |
| 1994 | 14 863 | 797 | 5397 | 314 | 54 | 147 |
| 1995 | 18 191 | 877 | 6785 | 366 | 54 | 162 |
| 1996 | 18 351 | 958 | 7360 | ----- | ----- | -------- |
| 1997 | 19 808 | 977 | 7509 | 387 | 74 | 171 |
The courts' practices follow
the common opinion that children should remain with their mothers;
the overwhelming number of custody decisions in favor of the mother
indicates the court often feels that mothers are the more fit
parent. Non-custodial fathers seeking greater rights in custody
decisions have established the active Committee on the Protection
of Fathers' Rights. The WRC's experience with this Committee,
unfortunately, is that they often use unlawful methods, including
the kidnapping of children, which is later sanctioned by the court..
Fathers from the Association for Protection of Fathers' Rights
complain they are discriminated when deciding upon caring for
children. They provide evidence that the reason for this unfavourable
situation is the fact that women-judges dominate family courts.
In practice, however, fathers rarely ask for entrusting them with
childcare, they want unlimited rights to see the children. The
right to meet the children without everyday effort and responsibility
for bringing them up is the model preferred by most of Polish
men from the Association. They are not interested in a partnership
family model and co-responsibility for bringing up children. In
fact they cherish the values of a traditional, patriarchal family
pattern. They do not understand and do not want to realise that
equal rights to meet children imply equal responsibilities.
Spousal and child support:
Support is defined in Articles 128, 129, 133, and 135 of the Family Code. The Code imposes an obligation to materially support children, an ex-spouse, and close relatives (parents, grandparents, brothers and sisters), although the obligation is limited with respect to members of the family other than children. Out of necessity we shall focus here on obligation of a parent to support children and the obligation of one spouse to support another.
Parents are obligated to financially support their children until they are able to support themselves, unless the children's property is sufficient to cover their needs (Article 133). The amount of child support depends on the justifiable needs of the child entitled to the support, and on the earnings and property income possibilities of the parent. The justifiable needs of the children include such things as food, shelter, clothing, medical costs, and education. The fact that the amount of support depends on earnings possibilities is very progressive and theoretically might help to avoid the situation in which the father chooses a lesser paying job in order to pay less support. In practice, however, the court rarely applies this approach properly. Fathers use all kind of tricks to avoid paying higher support, and the court easily accepts their excuses. An advisory opinion by the Highest Court stated that both parents are obligated to use their income to support the children, regardless of how much they earn. The court stated that a parent may not be relieved of this obligation under any circumstances, unless the parent is incapacitated and not earning any money at all.
The fact that the law (Article 135. §2) considers parental care of a dependent child a mode of support has rarely been taken into consideration. In practice, the court often avoids estimating the value of childcare in money terms when determining support. In fact, the Center dealt with one case where the court refused a woman increased child support on the grounds that she herself could get a better paying job. Although the woman argued that she would be willing to find a better paying job if the father was more involved in the care of the children, the father did not accept the proposal, claiming his work hours prevented him spending time with the child. The female judge was astonished by the mother's demand: how could it be possible to demand that a professional man care for children while he is working? She found it perfectly acceptable, however, for a woman to carry the dual burden of a paid job and work at home.
According to the Ministry of
Justice, the total number of support cases in 1996 was 167,898.
This number includes cases where the court determined the right
to receive support, as well as those cases in which the court
considered an increase in the support received.
The number of support cases is four times as large as the number of divorce cases. The greatest number of cases concerns an increase in the amount of child support. This indicates that even though parents are obligated to support their children, the amount given is often insufficient to provide for basic needs.
Support for spouses and ex-spouses is regulated differently during the marriage and after a divorce. If a husband does not contribute to the family's well-being, the wife can seek a court ruling obligating the husband to support the family financially. The court may order that part of the husband's salary be directly transferred to his wife. Many women are unaware of this option, which is broader than the child support provisions.
Alimony can be granted during the divorce or claimed after the divorce. However, whether the divorce was a fault or no-fault divorce determines the entitlement (Article 60). An ex-spouse who was not found exclusively at fault for the dissolution of the marriage may claim alimony from the other ex-spouse while in the poverty. The spouse found exclusively at fault may be obligated to pay alimony to ex -spouse, also when the divorce caused only a decline in the standard of living of the faultless party. The other difference is that the ex spouse not exclusively at fault is obliged to pay alimony only up to 5 years while the other one has no time limits. Despite the legal possibility of granting alimony for an ex-spouse, the court is not very willing to respond positively to women's requests.
Additionally, both children and ex-spouses face difficulty collecting child support or the alimony established in a court order or agreement. As a result, the ex-spouse or parent acting on behalf of a child must frequently seek enforcement of the court order, a very time consuming process. An ex-spouse obligated to pay alimony is not relieved of the duty merely because the individual is financially unable to pay. To assist women in this situation, the government established a special Alimony Fund, administered by the Social Insurance Office, to temporarily assist women and children until the money can be collected from the former spouse. According to the statistics every fifth child is getting money from the Fund. In order to receive money from the Alimony Fund, the woman must make a formal request to the Office; the amount received doesn't exceed 30% of the average national wage, as determined quarterly by the Ministry of Finance. Theoretically payments made from the Fund should be paid back, i.e. the support is then claimed back from the debtor. In practice, however, the collection rate is very low and constantly decreases. The collection rate from obligated parties dropped from 60% in 1988 to not more than 18% in 1999. Every year the number of people entitled to get payments increases. On 1 January 1999 403,700 people received these benefits and they received in total PLN 61,567,800.00 from the Social Insurance, i.e. PLN 144.53 on average. In 1988 there were less than 115,000 people using the Alimony Fund. The increase is explained by the abolishing of income criterion in 1989.
In August 1999 the government
submitted a draft amendment to the Law on Alimony Fund. It was
adopted by the Parliament on 7 October 1999 and enters into force
on 1 January, 2000. The amendment restores income criterion in
assessing the eligibility. Benefits from the Alimony Fund will
be paid when an average monthly income per family member of the
eligible person obtained in the previous calendar year does not
exceed 60% of average wage announced by the President of GUS (Main
Statistical Office) for retirement purposes. The benefits paid
from the Fund may not exceed 30% of the average wage announced
for retirement purposes. Restoration of income criterion may seem
justified as the State budget should support first of all the
most underprivileged ones. On the other hand, the Alimony Fund
was after all addressed to the poorest groups of the society.
Thus in practical terms the income criterion may change little
except the philosophy of the Alimony Fund. The State partially
gives up the responsibility for the collection of support and
ensuring financial provision to children whose mothers are financially
better of. As court enforcement officers are not effective in
this field, the responsibility for children support will be solely
on the part of the mother. The government - instead of increasing
the collection rate of financial provision from the obligated
parties - is looking for halfway solutions to decrease the burden
of the budget. Luckily, the idea to include the support system
into the social welfare was not executed. Adding more tasks to
overloaded and heavily underfinanced social welfare system could
result in organizational difficulties posing a threat that money
allocated for financial provision would be spent on something
else. Also people eligible for financial support and social benefits
could be deprived of the latter.
Partners:
It is becoming increasingly common in Poland for partners to live together in informal relationships. However, the number of people who choose this lifestyle is still very low compared to the West. The Polish Family Code fails to provide any rights or entitlements for either partner in relation to, for example, property or custody issues.
In fact, the Supreme Court has issued an advisory opinion warning lower courts not to hear these types of cases or consider the property involved the same as that between married couples.
The fact that the court has advised against applying the Family Code in partnership relationships has created confusion about where custody and property disputes of a previous partnership can be settled. As a result, the Civil Code is commonly used to resolve these disputes. For example, under the Civil Code, when one partner dies or is terminally ill, the other partner is entitled to support or maintenance if the court is satisfied that the surviving partner is a "close friend." This term is not defined in the Civil Code, but is included in various articles. For example, the term "close friend" is used in Article 923 §1 ¤ of the Civil Code, which states that a close friend who lived with the deceased is entitled to remain in the shared apartment for a period of three months, counting from the day of the death and provided they lived there together.
Articles 860 to 875 of the Civil Code, which regulate division of property between business partners, are used by the court to intimate partners, due to the lack of a more adequate regulatory mechanism. Theoretically, both partners should be equally entitled to one-half of the partnership property. Upon the partners' separation, if one argues that she or he brought a greater share of property into the partnership and is therefore entitled to more then one-half of the partnership property, he or she bears the burden of proof. If the claim cannot be established, it is assumed that the partners are each entitled to one half.
If the partners have children in common, man must go through an administrative procedure to acknowledge his paternity. If the man acknowledges he is the father, both parents then have equal parental rights, including an equal right to custody and an equal obligation to support the child. If the man refuses to acknowledge his paternity, the woman, as a legal guardian and on behalf of the child, may file a paternity suit against the man in Family Court.
Partner relationships are becoming
increasingly common in Polish society. As a result, it is imperative
that Parliament addresses this growing group of families, and
pass laws regulating these relationships
Citizenship
The principle law in Poland regarding
children's citizenship is the "rule of blood" found
in the Citizenship Law. The rule of blood means that a child
is given Polish citizenship if either of the parents is a Polish
citizen. The law does not provide for gender preferences, as
the question of which parent has Polish citizenship is immaterial.
Only in cases where paternity is in question will the child automatically
take the mother's citizenship. Under private international law,
where paternity is undetermined and the father lives outside Poland,
the court with jurisdiction over the paternity case is in the
region where the child was born. For those children not yet born
(in cases where the mother seeks a paternity determination prior
to birth), the court where the mother lives has jurisdiction.
Under these rules, it easier for a single mother to get a paternity
determination since she can file suit in a local Polish court,
instead of being required to travel to the location of the alleged
father's domicile.
If a Polish man or woman marries
a foreign citizen, their status as a Polish citizen does not change.
If one of the spouses changes his or her citizenship, it does
not affect the other spouse's citizenship status.
Access to the legal system
In every case before the law, the Polish Constitution (Article 45) guarantees every citizen the right to a public hearing in an independent, objective court, without unjustifiable delay. This access to the legal system, however, is limited for the poor as they are mostly unaware of their legal rights and have no access to legal aid. No free legal aid system exists in Poland. In theory, if a citizen requires the legal representation and is unable to afford an attorney, he or she may apply to the court for the appointment of an attorney. The court may appoint an attorney from an assigned counsel list. However, the person in need of assistance must be able to prove that he or she is unable to afford an attorney, and that if she or he were to pay for one, the family would suffer severe financial hardship. Each individual judge decides whether to grant legal representation in court.
Aside from the system's extreme subjectivity and the fact that an individual's rights rely on one judge's decisions, other barriers prevent citizens from obtaining legal assistance. First, many people are unaware of this right, and the judge is not legally obliged to provide those in need with relevant information. Second, in order to obtain legal counsel from the court, one first has to submit a written request. In order to do so, one may need background information about his or her rights and be able to formulate an argument to the court.
This law, in the opinion
of the Women's Rights Center, seriously limits people's access
to justice. The lack of a clear and objective legal aid system
may have negative, discriminatory impact on women because they
usually have a lower income than men and cannot afford a lawyer.
It is not rare in divorce cases to see the man standing with
his lawyer while the woman is on her own. Similar situations occur
in other court cases, for example division of property. As a
result, an obvious inequality is created between women and men's
position in the court.
In 1996 in Poland, there
were 10,533,000 families. Most of them were complete families:
marriages with children - 6,278,000 families, i.e. 59.6% of the
total number. Childless marriages constituted 23.6% of the total
number of families (2,483 K). Majority of them are couples whose
children have already become independent and have their own families
as well as young marriages who do not have children yet and some
per cent include the couples who either do not want to or cannot
have children. Mothers with children are a relatively large group
- 1,580 K families (15% of the total). Among families with children
6,274 K had dependent children at the age of less than 24; the
group was composed of 5,281 K marriages with children, 905 K single
mothers and 88 K single fathers.
Table 9: Single parent families
with dependent children below 24 by parents marital status in
1995
| |||||
|
| |||||
Total | 62,5 | ||||
Mothers with children | 62,0 | ||||
| Married | 59,2 | ||||
| Single | 84,9 | ||||
| Widows | 56,7 | ||||
| Divorced | 59,5 | ||||
Fathers with children | 68,1 | ||||
| Married | 72,8 | ||||
| Single | 82,3 | ||||
| Widows | 56,6 | ||||
| Divorced | 77,2 | ||||
In the eighties and nineties
the birthrate has significantly declined. A reason for this decline
is on one hand caused by demographic trends and parents' decisions
to limit the number of children. In 1998 almost 396,000 children
were born, i.e. by 300,000 less than in 1980 and the birth rate
decreased from 19.6% to 10.2 live births per 1,000. Decreased
number of births refers equally to urban and rural families. An
average age of women who delivered children in 1998 was 26.6 years.
While the average age of women giving birth to their first child
was on average 23.8 and was higher compared to previous years.
Younger women give birth to children in rural areas. If we study
the births by women's education we can observe that women with
university education deliver the first child average at the age
of 27 and the last one when they are 40. Women with primary education
give birth to the first child at the age of 19 and their procreative
capacity continues for the following 20 years. These tendencies
are stable in the recent years.
Table 10: Female fertility
in 1980 - 1998 (Kobieta w Polsce w okresie transformacji spo³eczno-ekonomicznej.
Warszawa 1999)
| Specification | ||||||||
| Total 1990 | ||||||||
| 1995 | ||||||||
| 1996 | ||||||||
| 1997 | ||||||||
| Urban areas 1990 | ||||||||
| 1995 | ||||||||
| 1996 | ||||||||
| 1997 | ||||||||
| Rural areas 1990 | ||||||||
| 1995 | ||||||||
| 1996 | ||||||||
| 1997 | ||||||||
The highest number of children
is characteristic for older women in rural areas. The level of
education also influences the number of children. Women who did
not complete primary schools have on average twice as many children
as women with university education.
Table 11. Women by age groups
and the number of live births (in %) in 1995 (study conducted
under the public Microinventory 1995)
Age | Total | Women by the number of live births | Average number of children | ||||||
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 and more | |||
| Total | 100.0 | 6.7 | 21.6 | 38.6 | 19.2 | 7.8 | 3.2 | 2.9 | 2.24 |
| 15-19years | 100.0 | 33.2 | 59.9 | 5.9 | 0.7 | 0.3 | - | - | 0.75 |
| 20- 24 | 100.0 | 24.8 | 52.4 | 19.1 | 3.1 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 1.03 |
| 25-29 | 100.0 | 10.4 | 38.0 | 37.1 | 10.9 | 2.7 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 1.61 |
| 30-34 | 100.0 | 5.3 | 22.7 | 44.7 | 18.8 | 5.7 | 1.8 | 1.0 | 2.07 |
| 35-39 | 100.0 | 3.9 | 17.6 | 45.4 | 21.4 | 7.5 | 2.5 | 1.7 | 2.27 |
| 40-44 | 100.0 | 3.9 | 17.1 | 44.9 | 20.9 | 8.0 | 2.9 | 2.3 | 2.32 |
| 45-49 | 100.0 | 4.5 | 19.2 | 41.7 | 20.6 | 8.0 | 3.2 | 2.8 | 2.32 |
| 50-54 | 100.0 | 5.2 | 19.0 | 39.5 | 20.6 | 8.7 | 3.6 | 3.4 | 2.37 |
| 55-59 | 100.0 | 5.5 | 16.8 | 36.9 | 21.6 | 10.1 | 4.5 | 4.6 | 2.51 |
| 60-64 | 100.0 | 6.0 | 14.6 | 34.0 | 22.7 | 11.8 | 5.3 | 5.6 | 2.64 |
The change of economic system in Poland and the crisis of the first stage of transformation significantly deteriorated the situation on the labor market and, thus, decreased real income of families. Average income in 1990 was almost by 25 lower compared to 1989. Although the drop in personal income was stopped but still it is by about 20% lower than in 1989. In 1997 some improvement in average financial situation of households was recorded, which was reflected in increased real income and spending. However, the improvement referred mostly to high-income groups, which brought about deeper differentiation of incomes and spending of households. Almost half of the society lives in families where spending is lower than the social minimum that indicates the poverty threshold. In 1998 every sixth person (15.8%) lived in relative poverty (related to the average standard of living in the country) while 5.6% people represented families with spending below the social minimum. The portion of households with income lower than subjective threshold of poverty was around 31% in 1995 - 1998. More than 12% of population lived in households with spending lower than the official poverty threshold.
Incomes and spending patterns differ regionally. In many regions in Poland where the unemployment rate is high without any measures adopted to activate the enterprise, poverty is particularly wide spread. Poverty threatens mostly the unemployed. They are usually people with low education, unskilled workers. A person threatened with unemployment triples the likelihood of being on the edge of poverty.
People who live on pensions, retirement benefits and work in sectors other than agriculture have stabilized financially and even the number of poor people decreased. Unfortunately, rural areas are more endangered with poverty. Small towns and villages are places with the highest percentage of poor families. In 1998 extreme poverty was the case of 3% people; in large urban centers with the population exceeding 500,000 - average every hundredth person; in towns up to 20,000 inhabitants - every seventeenth person. At the same time in rural areas almost 9% of inhabitants live below the poverty threshold. Their life is very difficult and hard, in many villages there is no running water, gas or telephone as well as nurseries, kindergartens, medical centers and hospitals.
Housing conditions deteriorated. The number of families without a separate apartment increased. In 1995 2.7 m households (22%) lived with families, while in 1988it was true for 2.4 m households. More than 10-m people live in apartments which are far below technical standards, poorly equipped and overcrowded. A considerable group of families have no possibility to improve their housing conditions because their income is too low. Many families and individual people cannot afford the rent.
The change of the system of paying for health services, cultural and leisure activities has made many families give them up as they cannot afford them. The fee for a kindergarten frequently accounts for 30 - 45% of an average salary of a woman with university diploma. Many families cannot offer proper care to children since the parents are overworked but they do not have enough money to use various social services. Few families can afford eating out - even from time to time - going to the cinema or dry cleaners. Very few families can afford having a housekeeper or a baby-sitter.
The last two coalitions devoted much attention to family issues. Each developed its own report on the situation of Polish families and the family policy outlines . In May 1997 the coalition of SLD and PSL (Social Democratic Party and Peasants Party) developed the program of family policy while the coalition of AWS and UW ("Solidarity" Election Alliance and Union of Freedom) presented its family-oriented program in November 1999. General characteristics of the situation of Polish families seem very similar in both reports. However, they differ in terms of the vision of a family, the stress placed by both programs and directions for further actions. The program of the previous coalition was adopted in May and was supposed to be implemented until the year 2005 and partly even until 2010. Due to the short implementation period only a few of its assumptions were realized. The new coalition started from the very beginning but, according to the authors, they "draw from the "Family Policy Program" of 1997". It is a bad practice replicated by governing coalitions and taken to extremes by the current one, to reject everything done by the predecessors. Instead of learning from mistakes and successes, everything is started from scratches. This practice refers not only to the social policy in broad terms but constant changes of approach are noticed by many people also in the field of the stance in the field of family policy.
The present coalition Pro-Family Policy Program realized by the government of Jerzy Buzek is based on the "AWS Pro-Family Policy Program" devised and developed by a group of experts from The Electoral Action "Solidarity" (AWS), headed by the well-known ultra-catholic politician and today's Marshall of the Senate, Mrs. Alicja Grzeœkowiak. Explicitly based on the Vatican Family Rights Charter, this document defines the family as a basic social unit and a natural relationship more fundamental than the state or community, with its own inalienable rights. According to the Program, no law may infringe on the inalienable rights of the family, the fundamental unit of Poland.
The real meaning of this vaguely phrased definition emerges when the goals of the program are analyzed. Its authors intended to, among other policies, introduce the institution of separation (the substitute of a divorce based on Canon Law), ban abortion, enforce Canon Law marriages, restrict minority churches, withdraw sexual education from schools, censor the media, as well as grant family benefits and tax deductions to families with children, particularly many children.
The ultra-Catholic model of the family promoted in the Program has no regard for individual rights or freedoms of family members, as it ignores their needs and interests. The family is understood as a monolithic collective whose abstract interests, defined in practice by the Catholic Church, are considered superior to individual interests, particularly those of women.
Public statements made by its main proponents have reinforced the document's language, the most controversial of whom was the previous Minister for Family Affairs, Kazimierz Kapera (dismissed in August 1999). Some years ago, the then Prime Minister - Jan Krzysztof Bielecki dismissed Kapera, the former head of the Catholic Families Movement, from a ministerial position because of his offensive public declarations about the homosexual minority. On numerous occasions, Kapera defined the institution of marriage as an unbreakable bond, which cannot be terminated in any circumstances. In a series of interviews, he expressed the opinion that abortion cannot be allowed, even in the case of a twelve-year old girl rape victim. In 1998 the minister provoked a public outcry over his critique of the campaign against domestic violence. He argued that the problem is exaggerated and that such campaigns may dissuade young women from marrying.
In August 1999 Kapera resigned under the pressure of liberal groups outraged with his racist statement. The change on the position does not mean the government policy has been liberalized in terms of its approach to women. Kapera was replaced with a person representing equally fundamentalist views, the activist of the Polish Federation of Associations of Catholic Families and the head of the parliamentary Committee for Family - Maria Smereczyñska. It is characteristic that Kapera was forced to resign after he had made a racist statement while his numerous extremely sexist remarks and opinions passed unnoticed.
The Program's formal language and public declarations of ultra-conservative politicians became one of the most visible parts of the governmental policy, particularly in regards to the measures intended to curtail women's rights. The Prime Minister, Jerzy Buzek announced the importance of such pro-family policy, in his expose in November 1997. Polish women didn't have to wait long for concrete steps to be taken to put the Program's provisions into practice.
First, in November 1998, the Government replaced the Office of the Governmental Plenipotentiary for Women and Family Affairs with the Office of Plenipotentiary for Family Affairs. Led by Kazimierz Kapera, the Catholic fundamentalist, the office's first move was to suspend the program, "Against Violence: Towards Equal Opportunities," which was previously developed by the former Polish government and the United Nations Development Program. Next, the Minister of National Education called for the withdrawal of sexual education from schools and the ban on abortion. The ban was introduced with the assistance of the Constitutional Tribunal, which found the right to abortion unconstitutional and incompatible with the principles of the rule of law (!!!).
On 22 January 1998, the Plenipotentiary for Family presented the Guidelines for the Governmental Pro-Family Policy. The Guidelines, based principally on the above-outlined AWS Pro-Family program, were soon followed by the decision to withdraw governmental subsidies on contraceptives, thus making them almost unaffordable for majority of women.
Next, on 21 July 1988, the Council of Ministers adopted a document entitled "Report on the Situation of Polish Families" to which the authors of the pro-family policy refer to as a major contribution to the shaping of governmental policy. The Report, presented as an objective diagnosis, is, in fact, a form of ideological propaganda meant to promote the traditional model of family as a reproductive unit to be maintained against all odds. The Report expresses concern over the growing number of divorces, particularly among 20 to 34 years old, as this age group has the highest reproductive potential. It also claims, by referring to unidentified studies, that some 45% to 70% of young criminal offenders are raised in single-parents families. They do not, however, attempt to explain the causes of the anti-social behavior of the other 30% to 55% who come from two-parent families. Domestic violence, particularly violence against women and its destructive influence on the emotional development of children, is not considered as playing a role in this context. Violence against women is regarded in the report as an exaggerated problem, which should not influence marital decisions of women.
Violence in the family is discussed in a sub-section on children and teenagers and pertains mainly to child beating. Incest or sexual abuse in the family is not discussed at all. In the authors' opinion, the only existing sexual abuse of children occurs in child prostitution, and the abusers are mainly the so-called sex tourists "particularly of German origin." Characteristically, in discussing child prostitution, the report only mentions girls, although it is a well-known fact that the problem concerns male teenagers as well. This one-sidedness further indicates the document is solely ideological propaganda that promotes a stereotyped model of society and the idealized, Catholic model of the family.
The same hidden agenda lurks behind critiques of the press and other media. The report complains that "the picture of reality presented in the media is not complete; it is too negative and may confuse the readers who may even be lead to undermining their system of values." According to the report, the women's press, in dealing with family issues, concentrates too much on pathological phenomena, such as domestic violence or child abuse.
Finally, we want to comment briefly on the section on the Vatican Family Rights Charter, which constitutes an integral part of the report. Although the authors admit that the Charter is not a binding international document, they argue that it may be considered a draft proposal. However, even a basic analysis of the report and the family Charter leads, unavoidably, to the conclusion that the Vatican Family Charter is, in fact, treated as a fundamental law and the real basis for Polish legislation and the governmental family program. Concurrently, the report neglects to mention the 1995 Platform for Action adopted at the UN Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, nor do they refer to the Polish government Program of Action on Behalf of Women 2000.
The next document, the "Pro-family Policy of the State," was adopted by the Council of Ministers on 3 November 1999 and the Prime Minister was authorized to present it in the course of parliamentary works. The new program does not differ considerably from earlier documents, except, perhaps, that it is more focused on demographic and health issues. Its authors are predominantly concerned about the falling number of marriages and births. Their goals are first of all to stop the decline in the number of contracted marriages for the age group 20 - 30, the change of procreation attitudes in order to increase the number of children and the decrease in the number of divorces. These unfavorable changes are, according to the document, the result of the youth's growing educational and professional aspirations, as well as serious economic problems (e.g. only one third of young married couples live in a separate apartment). Thus, apart from standard conservative propaganda, the report proposes to introduce a number of financial and economic measures (tax deductions, affordable housing programs) in order to encourage young people to marry. The Program also suggests a number of measures aimed at improving the health of the family (it is always the health of the family, not its individual members), including introducing financial punitive measures against those who pursue unhealthy life-styles. The Program remains silent when it comes to domestic violence does not offer any remedies. Discussing this subject could distort idealistic vision of a family and create obstacles to the priority goal, i.e. to stop the decline in number of marriages contracted in the age group 20 - 30 and to increase the number of children.
The last significant measure taken in pursuance of the governmental pro-family policy has been the law introducing marital separation referred to in the section discussing divorce issues.
Summing up, the so-called pro-family policy of the government is, in fact, an ultra-conservative ideological campaign aimed at subjugating individual rights and freedoms, particularly women's rights, to the authoritarian doctrine of the Catholic Church. The only measures contained in the pro-family programs that have actually been realized are those aimed at restricting individual rights. All pro-family policy documents contain a long list of financial assistance measures, intended to encourage young men and women to have more children. For the time being, none of them has been realized. On the contrary, numerous foster families (the government is planning to replace all orphanages with foster families) complain that they do not receive the agreed financial assistance in time.
The long-term goals of this policy
are clear. It is an authoritarian model of society in general,
and of the family in particular, the model according to which
the family is an unbreakable bond, superior to the individual
dignity and freedom of its members. Such model disregards individual
suffering, humiliation, and violations of rights and interest
of the family members; what counts is the preservation of each
and every family at any price, in the name of the dogmatic beliefs
of the fundamentalist minority, regardless of internationally
recognized fundamental rights and freedoms. The authors of the
program complain in its introduction that international documents
lack direct legal protection of a family and that family itself
is a notion not uniformly understood in the legislation of various
European Union Member States.
Family and woman's position in it should be perceived in two dimensions. In a symbolic perspective, Polish family is considered an object of worship; it is worshiped as the source of national identity, independence and religious tradition. In real life terms of everyday existence of millions of Poles, the picture of the Polish family is definitely more ambiguous. On the one hand, it gives us the feeling of personal, economic and psychological security. A happy family is the most important lifetime goal declared by majority of Poles and the place where our basic needs are fulfilled. On the other hand, however, family is the main source of threats to personal freedom and independence of its members, particularly women and children. It is in the family where women suffer from psychological and physical violence, family restricts their opportunities for professional and personal self-fulfilment and, finally, family is the reason for their difficult financial situation. These issues are discussed in details in our report.
The State of Poland, however, is not interested in the real well being of the Polish families. Family and its symbolism are used as a tool in ideological and political games aimed at the restoration and reinforcement of patriarchal social relations. This political crusade victimizes, first of all, women, whose rights and freedoms are more and more constrained with simultaneous disregard of their needs and interests. Family as the supra-value subordinates the rights of an individual and is protected by the legislative, executive and judicial powers. Numerous judges, including the members of the Constitutional Tribunal, seem to execute political orders of the ultraconservative governing coalition and the Catholic Church. The evidence is provided e.g. by the shameful ruling of the Constitutional Tribunal who declared the right to abortion for social reasons inconsistent with the principles of the democratic rule of law. The concepts of a family and social roles of men and women, saturated with stereotypes, are clearly visible in the rulings in cases dealing with domestic violence and divorce.
The Government and the Parliament
of the Republic of Poland disregard not only Polish women and
children. Equally disrespectful is their attitude to international
obligations resulting from the instruments of international law
they signed and ratified. The recommendations addressed to the
Polish authorities by the Treaty surveillance bodies of the UN
are not considered important, similarly to the postulates and
appeals by the Polish women representing non-governmental organisations
and some political groupings. There are many indications that
the standard of living and quality of life of the Polish families,
those real life ones with millions of women, men and children,
will suffer for a long time as a result of the policy of
the national authorities who stick to traditional and authoritarian
family model.
Objective:. Provide guarantees
for the implementation of the principle of non-discrimination
and equality between women and men within the framework of national
law and its observance in practice.
Actions to be taken:
Bibliografia :