Gender Equality and Status of Women in the Baltics: A Work in Progress

The Baltic and East European countries share a common communist past and most of them joined the European Union on May 1, 2004. However, they differ greatly in terms of their political, social and economic development. The process of economic and political transformation in the region resulted in massive changes in the lives of people across the region. All the countries in this region to date need active support in one way or another to continue on their way to becoming fully functional European democratic states because the process of institutionalizing democracy is not yet complete. Among all these concerns and challenges of transition, the questions regarding gender equality and the status of women are no exception. This chapter focuses on the status of women in the Baltic states in the post-Soviet era. The chapter attempts to discern what the nature of the life of women under communist regimes was and how it changed after the period of transition. In brief, it attempts to evaluate the impact of transition on the lives of women in the region with a specific focus on the economic and political sphere, and how it has impacted educational achievements, employment, personal choice, freedom and health of women.