On the 17 of November 2006 at Vauban University of Nimes (Southern France) was held the fourth forum under the joint project, named “Young Women are Building Bridges for EU”. The forum was held within the framework the International University Cooperation and Solidarity Week, organized between 13 and 17 of November 2006 in the universities of Montpellier, Perpignan and Nimes.

The forum, organized by CEDIFF (France) was attended by  the representatives of the partner organizations – CWSP (Bulgaria) and Flying Broom (Turkey), students and professors from the University of Nimes, as well as by representatives of the Delegated Ministry of Social Cooperation and Parity and the Parity and Professional Equality Mission to the Ministry of Transport and Tourism. Social workers, journalists and representatives of nongovernmental organizations from the region of Languedoc-Roussillion also took active part.

The participants of the forum were informed about the already performed project activities and achieved results. The documentary, shot under the project and a presentation of the inquiry results conducted by the partner organizations were shown and the floor was given to the participants for opinions and discussions. 

The main discussion topic in France, as well as in Bulgaria and in Turkey, was that obviously there is still a need for change of the young generations’ mentality. A common fact for the three countries is that students prefer not to speak about their private lives. They do not comment their intimate partnerships and this is one of the most important fields where questions should be raised openly. Living in non-wedded partnership or in marriage should be seen as an equal allocation of duties and responsibilities in the common household and an opportunity to start overcoming gender stereotypes were some of the comments of the NGOs representatives. France is one of the founders of the EU but this fact is not of high importance as far as gender equality is concerned, commented the media representatives. There is still a lot to be done regarding women’s career development as well as their personal free time. There is still a tendency for young generations to follow standards and roles in their private lives established by their mothers and fathers, especially in marriage. Breaking stereotypes in private life is a precondition to overcome stereotypes existing in the public life and it should start as soon as possible. More visible and active participation of women in politics and representation in high level positions is more and more supported by French society. An example for that was given by students with the victory of the candidate for President Segolene Royal (Socialist Party) at the preliminary elections, announced on the same day – 17 of November 2006.

The forum’s organizers gave the excellent opportunity to the participants to watch the Paul Zadjerman film “Women start to meddle with…” presenting the history of French feminism movement. The film discusses the women’s roles of good mothers and wives and at the same time of workers, their fight for rights to decide on how many children to have, when to start their professional carrier and how to use their leisure time.

The film puts the accent on the most commonly used gender stereotypes in French society and naturally provokes discussions on the change of mentality and the role of the family and the education system. Most participants agreed that gender equality education programs should be included at all levels of formal education. Feminization of the education sphere and the influence of women teachers on the boys’ school development was the other aspect, discussed by the participants. 

Stereotypes and consumer oriented thinking impede democracy, was the opinion of the representative of the organization European House of Montpellier (Maison de l’Europe de Montpellier). He added that the results of the inquiries showed that young people were not concerned much of topics out of their every day life. They should be much more open to discuss subjects related to legislation and policy making which will help the promotion of democracy in France and will add value to gender equality legislation. However, it is a matter of fact that there are few young people who know the national legislation and consider this effective. Some examples that the newly enacted legislation on the right to choose the family name in France is not really applicable were given by the students.  

The participants in the forum agreed on the important role of the executive power for the promotion of the newly enacted legislation. They agreed on the importance of public consultations before the adoption of amendments in gender equality legislation. 

The students from the University of Nimes agreed that there are few well informed people on the evolution and mechanisms of the EU legislation and policies’ influence on the national gender equality legislation. However it is of high importance for them to have the possibility and access to information on their daily problems related to discrimination and gender inequality. In this respect Mrs. Christa Dumas, representative of the Mission on Gender Equality, based in the Paul Valerie University in Montpellier presented a pilot project financed by the European Social Fund (ESF). As a result of the project the Mission was created to give consultations to students at the university, to investigate possible solutions of conflict situations between the university administration, students and professors. One of its key objectives is to collect statistics and make surveys on the scope of inequalities, the sexual abuse and the prostitution of young people in France. The Mission organizes regular information and prevention campaigns against sexual abuse and sexism. In 2005, the Mission received funds from the University of Montpellier on the grounds of a regional agreement engaging the local government’s to act together for the promotion of equality of boys and girls and women and men in the education system. As a result of similar projects, financed by the ESF a network of research centers based in Montpellier, Toulouse, Tours, Lion, Lilles and Reims was established to collect statistics and make surveys and assist the effective lobbying of women NGOs in the region.