Germany shows the way towards women empowerment

Germany shows the way towards women empowerment

The draft legislation seeks to make presence of at least one woman in the executive boards of big companies mandatory

The German cabinet has taken the initiative to go beyond the lip service and walk the talk towards much-touted women empowerment. The country's federal Cabinet has decided to give the women their place under the sun by passing draft legislation making it mandatory for all large companies of the country of having at least one woman in the company's executive board. The draft legislation was approved by the federal Cabinet on 6 January.

Incidentally, the federal cabinet has a fair representation of women with seven out of 16 ministers being women.

The draft law, if approved by Germany's parliament Bundestag, would make it compulsory for all stock-exchange listed companies with an executive board of three or more persons to have at least one woman in the board. There are at least 70 such companies in the country with 31 of them having no women on their management board.

The proposed law was jointly drafted by the Ministry of Justice and Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth. The proposed law is meant to amend and augment Germany's existing laws.

Previously, an 'Act on Equal Participation of Women and Men regarding Leadership Positions within the Sectors of Private Economy and Public Service' was introduced in 2015. It required the presence of 30 per cent women in decision-making positions in the board of a company. It helped substantially increased women's participation but had fallen short of the 30 per cent target. However, the overall participation of women in decision making roles in big companies has so far remained low, forcing the Cabinet of coming out with a practical legislation that replaces the mandatory 30 per cent to a minimum of one woman in the executive board of a big listed company.

Interestingly, Germany is among the few countries where women enjoy the upper hand in sex ratio. At present, Germany has an estimated population of 83 million with women outnumbering men by a slender margin.

Franziska Giffey Germany's minister for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth, termed the proposed law as a milestone for women. She was quoted as saying that she hoped that it would put an end to women-free boardrooms and give women their due position in modern society.