Screenshot: Addressing the 2017 Annual Colloquium on Fundamental Rights.“Equality between women and men is one of the European Union's founding values” says the website of the European Commission. Since inclusion of the principle of equal pay for equal work in the Treaty of Rome in 1957, the European Union has made gender equality a priority of its work. Through legislation, gender mainstreaming and specific measures, the Union has achieved great strides in social, economic and political progress for women in Europe.
But did these strides benefit all women? To what extent are considerations of race, religion, class, disability, sexual orientation and gender identity germane to the EU conception of gender equality?
These questions form a critique of European policies from the concept of intersectionality. Originating from black feminists in the US, intersectionality is the awareness that mainstream feminist approaches do not necessarily address the multiple forms of discrimination and oppression faced by some women. Inherent to the concept of intersectionality is the view that a universalist feminist approach is not sufficient to achieving equality for all women. Women are not a homogeneous group, they are not affected by discrimination and misogyny in the same way because of their different backgrounds and profiles. The 2017 Women Who Shape Brussels Power List was described by Politico Editor as inescapably white. Without women of colour in positions of power, the policy is unlikely to change any time soon.
