Stella’s seventh Town Hall Discussion was held on September 11th in Hotel Lirak, Tetovo. The event was organized in cooperation with our local rtner, Women’s Forum of Tetovo. One local television station covered the iscussion that involved around twenty women of different ages and various ethnic, religious, and educational backgrounds.

The key speakers were Merita Maksuti, a human rights, social equality, and environmental activist and Ana Vasileva, a feminist and activist for women’s rights. Merita Maksuti shared personal details of her life, from her childhood and explained what it is like to be raised in very difficult conditions of war. She spoke about the many obstacles that she faced during her education and development of her career. ‘There are various kinds of discrimination in the Macedonian society, not only on ethnic, religious or gender base, there is discrimination within these groups too’- she explained. She emphasized that it is hard to find motivation and to fight all the way to achieve your goal, but you should never give up.

Ana Vasileva talked about her experience with the Juruks, an ethnic group that lives in several villages around Shtip. As she has done a lot of research concerning this ethnic minority, she pointed out that the women and girls from this ethnic group do not have any rights like education, free choice of partner, and they are not allowed to have a career or job outside their house. ‘There is a deep systematic and cultural discrimination in the state and we are keeping them instead of breaking them,’ she pointed out. The participants shared a lot of examples where a man got the job despite the fact that for the same position many women had better qualifications, knowledge, and experience. They also gave many examples where women were dismissed from their job, or were forced to quit by the owner of the company just because they got pregnant. ‘It is common for women to get questions on a job interview for your relationship status or whether you will soon be pregnant,’ stated one of the participants.

One women shared a very shocking story about sexual harassment on her previous job. ‘I was sexually harassed by the head of the company, and he demanded from me to be with him if I wanted to get a working contract decision,’ she confessed. She wanted to file a complaint in the court, but she did not receive any support from colleagues and family, and at the end, she withdrew the court appeal and left the company. The discussion ended with motivation for all women facing sexual harassment at any level to look for support from their colleagues, report the harassments to the superiors and the authorities, and file a court appeal. The Town Hall Discussion proved to be an important and unique venue where women feel safe and have the supportive environment to share personal stories and open up about issues that are very sensitive to discuss.

Stella held a Town Hall Discussion in Gostivar on September 6th, supported by the Center for Women’s Rights ‘ETIKA’.

Vesna Popovska was the first speaker. She is an activist and part of the first generation of PhD students at the Military Academy in Skopje. She talked about her motivation to get educated in the field of military studies and choose a profession where more than 90% of employees are men. ‘I faced a lot of obstacles during my education, many people were questioning my decision to get this kind of education and my parents and family were shocked by this decision,’ she explained. ‘Despite the lack of support from family and friends I remained strong in the decision to prove that women can effectively and efficiently do every task in the army as well as men can,’ she added.

Albulena Karaga, a feminist and peace activist that helped many women and children who have gone through the horror of war was the second speaker. She shared her views on gender equality in the Macedonian society and the stereotype that people have about careers for men and women.

The presentations were followed by a lively and honest debate on the challenges that women face. ‘Not having a daily center that can take care of children with disabilities is a very crucial systematic problem that mothers face and the main reason for women to quit their job,’ stated a mother of a child with disabilities. ‘At the same time, the social services funds cannot meet the needs of the children and we have to work,’ she added.

Another woman participating in the discussion worked in the police force and in the army. She shared her personal story and views on the situation of women that work in these institutions that are mainly considered as institutions ruled by men. Although they are respected by their fellow male colleagues, in many situations women face more difficulties during their careers simply due to their gender.

‘It is a very hard to be a woman in politics, when politics are ruled by men,’ stated a member of the Council of the Municipality of Gostivar. She stated that at the beginning of her career in politics, she was very enthusiastic and ‘was running around with all kinds of proposals and projects that can be realized in the municipality,’ but she received little to no support from her colleagues because of her gender, she emphasized.

In June, Stella held a THD in Strumica, organised with the support of our local partner ‘The Center of Communities of the Municipality of Strumica’.

Svetlana Mazgaloska Vucetikj, a former Member of Parliament, a gender equality coach and a mother of a child with disabilities talked about the systematic obstacles that she faced with the education of her son. ‘Support among partners is the driving force for having a success within the family, as well for building successful professional careers of both partners’- she pointed out. She emphasized that gender equality is primarily due to the traditional stereotypes developed in a society. ‘All stereotypes related to women are drawn from the tradition of the people that is very difficult to eradicate having in mind they are embedded as a social norm’- she stressed.

Biljana Bajraktarova -a teacher, a career adviser and chair of the career center in one high school in Strumica- made a compelling case that ’women must fight for their dreams and through supporting each other they can pursue every dream they want’. She agreed that traditionally accepted norms are the biggest obstacles the community faces. For example, if young married couples acquire property, the property is registered as belonging only to the man, not to the couple or only to the woman. She also emphasized that there were cases where families with one daughter did not leave all their property to their daughter but to the groom.

Participants of the event shared their own experiences. One woman faced challenges in opening her business that could have been supported through state grants. Yet her application was rejected although she had all the necessary documentation. Another participant, a high school student, pointed that parents still think of careers along gender lines whereby there are male and female professions and that she should choose to study at a faculty that will later bring a ‘woman’s job’ instead of enrolling on a mechanical or technical faculty. An example was followed by a man who had to get used to sweeping the yard while someone else was passing on the street.’ When I swept the yard and would hear someone walking down the street I would threw the broom and pretend to do something else in the yard’- he explained, showing societal pressure for men not to take over housework. The wide consensus among participants followed that there are many traditional norms adopted by the society and have negative impact on women’s educational and career development. The first step in accomplishing gender equality is to break these embedded norms. The fight has to start in the family and should continue in all other social levels.

Stella’s forth Town Hall Discussion took place at the American Corner in Bitola on 1st June in cooperation with Stella’s local partner ‘Sumnal’– Organization for development of the Roma community. Similarly to the previous THD, in Bitola too the debate was focused on questions regarding work and family, such as how the family affects the career development, whether the higher education is equally accessible to all women in the community and other similar issues.

The key speakers were Natasha Petrovska, the Mayor of the Municipality of Bitola, Fatma Bajram Azemovska, President of the CSO ’Sumnal’, and Vesela Bogdanovikj, teacher and winner of the award 50 Best Educators in the World. Around twenty participants of diverse backgrounds took active part in the few hour long discussion.

Natasha Petrovska, shared her story and the difficulties of being a woman in politics as well as her role as a decision-maker. She explained the pressure women face in high positions and how their success or failure is taken as a measurement on whether other women should have similar positions, an issue that men do not face. ‘Family support is the key for success’- she pointed out. ‘I have not received the full support of my family in order to enter the male dominated contest for the mayership and during the election campaign’, she added. However, after her victory and being appointed as Mayor, her husband became the biggest pillar of support, and took over the full responsibilities of taking care of the home and children.

According Fatma Bajram Azemovska women should fight for their dreams no matter the scope and scale of obstacles from the family and the society. ‘I have faced big obstacles from my family when I have decided to continue my education at the University but I decided to fight for my dreams, and started to work and enrolled at the University and graduated with high grades’- she added. Azemovska pointed out that ethnicity is a problem and that women in certain ethnic communities are treated very badly. Through many examples, she explained that many of the Roma women are forbidden to study and build their own career, but she believes that in today’s society the new generations are overcoming this problem primarily through education.

Vesela Bogdanovikj emphasized that the success of any women should be based on the cooperation and support of the partner. ‘My entire success is attributed to the sacrifice of my husband who is often alone at home and needs to take care of both the home and the children and still he is a major support for me and motivator to get even further in my career’- she pointed out.

The presentations were followed by a lively and honest debate on the challenges that women face. ‘I have always wanted to run my own company but I have never had the support of my husband’- one of the participants explained. However, after long persuasion, the husband supported her and she now runs the company with more than 30 employees. After the company’s great success, her husband took almost all home responsibilities and child care. The main conclusion from the debate was a strong consensus that women are capable of achieving everything but that partners, families and society more generally should be more supportive to make those dreams a reality.

After discussions in Bogdanci and Kumanovo, Stella continued raising similar conversations in Shtip about girls’ education, gender equality and economic opportunities for women. The event was held at the American Corner Shtip on 23rd of May and was supported by our local partner the NGO ’EcH’O.

The first speaker was Blagica Kirov who provides free legal aid for marginalized groups and works on a project targeting violence against women. She pointed to the differences in the treatment of women, such as how a woman is valued by her family, among different ethnic groups. For example, Blagica explained that in the Yuruks (‘Јуруци’) community, women are expected to follow mens’ authority. Yuruks are not allowed to do any work other than to fulfill home duties and their right to education is harshly violated. As a parent of two children, Blagica explain that ‘although I want them to be equal and teach them about gender issues, when it comes to house work, unconsciously, I am inclined more to call my daughter’. This practice of gender inequality already develops when children are young, hence Blagica added that ‘education on gender equality starts from early ages of the children in the home and should continue in schools’.

The second speaker was Kristina Ampeva who is part of the organization “Loud textile” which is focused on women’s working rights in the textile industry. According to Ampeva, it has become an accepted norm that despite having high university education, women work in textile industry and this situation deeply discourages women to build and fight for their career. ‘Women in different regions of the state are differently valued by the society and their families have different expectations from them’- she stated out. She explained that women in Shtip are expected to do all the housework, take care of the children and spouses.

The presentations of Kirov and Ampeva were followed by a lively and honest debate on the challenges that women face. ‘Women in Macedonia face a lot of systematic problems’- as one participant said. Due to the fact that there is no school in Shtip for children with disabilities this woman, had to give up her work and dedicated her life to her child and the home. ‘Even though I had the full support from my entire family to pursue my career, the state failed to provide a proper care system for children with disabilities, and thus influenced not only my decisions, but the lives of many other women in our country’ she added.

Another participant pointed to the harmful gender inequalities that women face at work: ‘I was a member of a working group composed of only men where I was constantly ignored by my colleagues and did not even have a right or space to speak’.

All participants agreed that women should fight on all fronts if they want to raise the awareness for gender equality in the society: they should fight with their families and typically traditional prejudices. All systemic obstacles that women face during education and career should be pointed out in order for the Macedonian society to improve capacities and understand the importance of equality between women and men, and help women achieve the work goals they set for themselves.

The second Town Hall discussion organized by Stella was held in Kumanovo on the 26 of April 2018. Despite the lower attandance comparing to the first event, the debate was fruitful and revealed many gender stereotypes incorporated in our belief system as a society. We believe that change begins within the local community on a macro level and this is the main reason why Stella orginizes these small-scale discussions.

The guest speakers for this discussion where Ljatifa Shikovska, the President of the Association of Ambrela in Shuto Orizari, and Liljana Georgievska, President of the Association of Bankruptcy Workers UNIT. Our first speaker, Ms. Shikovska gave a great speech and examples that disclosed realities not only regarding gender innequality, but ethnic innequlaity as well. She pointed out that even educated women that have higher education are facing obstacles in acheving their career goals due to their dedication to the family and their children or they face obstructions by their husbands and families that believe women do not need to realize their career goals. It appeared from the discussion that we can still find examples of women dedicated to the household that are prohibited to work and develop their careers.

Our second speaker Ms. Georgievska pointed out that from her own experience the life of a woman is a constant battle, not only in the home, but as well in the society, in the educational system, and in the work environment. Almost everywhere women face difficulties and problems in achieving their goals. She encouraged the audience that no matter what kind of systematic obstacles or stereotypes they will face, they should remain strong and fight for their and the rights of other women too.

The discussion that followed after the presentations, brought out the main conclusion. The new generations and the younger families are devoted to divide the work in the households, and with the support of the community they can more often see men that are taking care of their children and doing the cooking or the dishes. This was unimaginable in the past. The speakers assumed that if a woman wants to achieve a successful career she should have a great support from her husband. However, the main point was that women should remain dedicated in achieving a career while not neglecting their family. A woman is brave enough to fight on both fronts having a great success, the visitors concluded.

How do we balance our domestic and work responsibilities?

Are you tired of double standards?

What is your role, and what role does the state play in improving the situation?

These are some of the questions that Stella’s team wants to raise among our citizens. The journey of Stella’s town hall discussions stared on the 24th of April 2018 in the the Cultural Center in Bogdanci. The team has organized the first of many Town Hall discussions dedicated to the question of gender equality in the Macedonian society and problems that women are facing during their education or career development.

Only trough constructive discussion in every community we believe that we can find a solution which can improve the role of women in the Macedonian society, as well as enable uninterrupted access to appropriate higher education. More importantly, we intend to discuss the conditions for developing women’s and girl’s careers while breaking the stereotypes and prejudices deeply infiltrated in the society, as well how to overcome the systematic barriers.

Our first two guest speakers were Bujare Abazi, engeneer for telecommunications and Dragica Gjavochanova, a mathematics professor.

The first speaker Ms. Gjavochanova, demonstrated statistical data about the gender (in)balance in the institutions of Bogdanci as well as on national level. Coming from the education sector, she pointed out that there are more women in this sector employed as teachers, professors, administration etc. Further on she provoked a discussion regarding the professions dominated by male employees and professions dominated by female employees and it emerged that the sectors dominated by women employees are somehow connected with the household. It was rather thought-provoking to see that in politics; only 18% are women including mayors, parliamentarians, ministries and political leaders. However, a glimpse of hope rose from the discussion. It was enhanced that the younger generation is somehow shifting the imbalance. As a proof, the speaker gave a practical example for a factory where most of the employees are male, but the main engineers that are newly employed are female.

The second speaker, Ms. Abazi, shared her personal story and emphasized the obstacles and failures that women face while trying to achieve a balance between the home, their education and career. She pointed out that women are more dedicated to the household than men. Regardless that the younger generations are trying to start a change and shift the standards, even today in our society it is considered shameful for men to change diapers.

The most relevant conclusion from the discussion is that education has the potential to develop more gender balanced communities. Only through a progressive educational system, children could understand gender equality and can contribute to a gender equal society.