The fight for gender equality presents the emancipation of Montenegrin society, Deputy Prime Minister of Montenegro Zoran Pazin said at a conference at which the “Gender Equality Index for Montenegro” was presented, held at the Ramada Hotel in Podgorica.
Deputy Prime Minister of Montenegro Zoran Pazin announced that modern Montenegro is defined by the Constitution as a community of free and equal citizens, which is why the principle of equality before the law, including gender equality, is and must be an integral part of all our laws and all our policies. Speaking at the presentation of the Gender Equality Index, the fight for full gender equality is an important part of the overall emancipation of Montenegrin society, said Pazin.
“It is clear that our society today needs more understanding and more cooperation based on values that unite us, regardless of all our differences and particularities. First and foremost, it is the strengthening and protection of universal human rights and freedoms, including the advancement of the position and rights of women in Montenegrin society,”said Pazin.
All social actors who pursue this valuable social mission and who advocate equality before the law and full gender equality will have a sincere ally and support in the Government of Montenegro, concluded Pazin.
“Yet we must be aware that we are living in a time where the backward ideologies of the past times are often seductively promoted to the public as true values. Equally, the democratic development of society and the fight for equal rights of all are being presented as a weakness of our society and an alleged betrayal of tradition,”said Pazin.
He recalled that in his monumental work, the General Property Code for the Principality of Montenegro, Valtazar Bogisic still resolutely rejected all social prejudices about inequality of rights. “He called them a ‘wicked custom’ which he says is ‘never hard, never lawful’, leaving us a truly valuable legacy and emancipatory legal tradition to which we still have a great debt today.” One of these “evil customs” is certainly to justify and represent the unequal position of women in society. The Gender Equality Index for Montenegro warns that the fight for equality and equal opportunities for all in Montenegrin society has not been fully won, Pazin said.
“If there are areas in which women, or half of our point of view, do not have equal opportunities and do not enjoy equal rights, it means that as a society we do not use all our opportunities and do not create with full force new social and economic value. It is the responsibility of today’s generation of Montenegrin citizens to completely eradicate this social injustice and thereby unleash the full development potential of our society,”said Pazin.
On the example of the Women’s Political Network, Montenegrin society has had the opportunity to convince itself that universal human values of freedom and equality are older than all differences and particularities, said Pazin.
He said that courageous and wise women gathered around the Women’s Political Network showed that, and in the face of major political differences, the interest of Montenegrin society and the protection of common values is what brings us together and on which we can and must build a common future.
