Latvia: public campaign on gender equality

Ministry of Welfare launched the campaign on gender equality ?And how do you think??. Within framework of this campaign both on TV and printed press were seen advertisements that invited anyone to ask if one agrees with percepts popular in public on division of responsibilities by women and men in everyday life. 67% of Latvian inhabitants think that the care for home shall be undertaken by a woman, while 86% regard that the main breadwinner shall be directly a man ? these are views that everyone itself may evaluate within framework of the advertising campaign. There is still the part of people under influence of traditional stereotypes that have set in over the years do not feel secure enough in order to change their doings and habits. An aim of this campaign was to make everyone to think why the traditional division of roles in contemporary society is or is not appropriate in every particular situation. Gender equality experts of the Ministry of Welfare believe that one of the major problems currently in Latvia is the so-called ?double amount of work? ? women work both paid work and unpaid work at home. Experts emphasize ? if work responsibilities are divided equally then a woman is not overloaded and she may spend much more time for self-realization as well as for making a career. While a man ? the main family breadwinner ? in the ad is symbolically depicted as a ?magician? who has to know how to ?conjure up a money? otherwise he will not be regarded as a valuable man but the loser. Experts denote that a high amount of work for men at paid work and a desire to be a lucky man is one of the reasons why in our country there are high indicators directly among men who are addicts of alcohol and drugs as well as a great number of committed suicides. Data show that in 2004 of 100 000 inhabitants 45 men have committed suicide whereas women ? almost 5 times less. While the diagnosis ?alcoholism? in 2005 is diagnosed for 22328 men and 5320 women. More info at www.im.gov.lv