Collage Art & E-Learning

Sweden’s gender equality policy is built around the goal that women and men should have the same power to shape society and their own lives. The national framework combines anti-discrimination law with active measures, gender mainstreaming and a broad welfare approach that connects equality with work, family life, education, health and prevention of violence. The WORICA sessions in Umeå showed that women valued this information most when it was connected to concrete places and situations – the home, school, workplace, hospital, public services and public space – and when translated information was available.

Participants also reminded the project that strong systems do not remove every barrier. Women discussed economic inequalities, healthcare costs, labour-market vulnerability and the experience of being a migrant woman. The practical message of the Swedish material is therefore twofold: know the rights and support systems that exist, and also recognise when unequal treatment or exclusion continues in practice.

France has a long legal history in which women’s rights developed gradually from education and economic autonomy to political participation, reproductive rights, workplace equality and protection from violence and harassment. Today, French law protects equal treatment in employment, pay, maternity and parental rights, and provides mechanisms for reporting discrimination and violence. The national report also stresses that immigrant women can still face intersecting inequalities linked to gender, migration status and socio-economic vulnerability.

The French local sessions showed why this distinction between law and lived reality matters. Women compared experiences across countries, discussed gender stereotypes, work and care, and used photo-language to reflect on how they see womanhood and what they want for the next generation. Participants said that talking openly about rights helped them understand their position and gave them knowledge they could also share with their children.

Italy’s legal framework includes constitutional equality, equal pay and employment protections, maternity and parental rights, measures for gender balance in leadership, and strengthened responses to gender-based violence. The national report also describes support such as the 1522 helpline, anti-violence centres and legal assistance. At the same time, it identifies a continuing gap between advanced legal protection and the daily realities of women’s work, care, regional inequality, unstable employment and access to services.

This gap was strongly visible in the WORICA sessions in Campobello di Licata. Women in a rural setting described isolation and a lack of nearby support, while creative activities gave them a rare space to speak together. Fanzines and collage helped turn rights into something they could see, discuss and redefine in their own words. The sessions also showed that knowing a right is only one part of empowerment; women need accessible services and trusted networks when they decide to ask for help.

Spain has a broad legal framework on real and effective equality, equal representation, sexual freedom, equal treatment and non-discrimination, work-life balance, employment, education, health and protection from gender-based violence. Spanish legislation also gives explicit attention to situations in which gender discrimination overlaps with migration, disability and other forms of vulnerability.

The local sessions led by Fractals made this intersectional perspective practical. Women discussed how gender can interact with race, migration status, age, sexual orientation, class and care responsibilities, and they questioned what happens when rights exist but institutions or procedures do not respond to real circumstances. By creating a collective glossary and collage ABC, participants moved beyond an ‘official school’ definition and built meanings from lived experience.

Austria combines constitutional equality with Equal Treatment laws, institutional equality bodies and practical protection services. The national report highlights the Ombudsman for Equal Treatment, the Equal Treatment Commission, Violence Protection Centres, the Austrian Integration Fund and the Public Employment Service, among other structures. Austria also has long-standing gender-mainstreaming measures and rules aimed at improving representation and pay transparency.

In the Austrian WORICA sessions, women compared legal standards with everyday experiences of stereotypes, pay gaps, domestic work, parental leave, workplace opportunities and racial inequality. One of the strongest learning points was that formal equality can still feel incomplete when cultural expectations remain unchanged. Participants also valued concrete information about where to ask for support and how to document discrimination.

Greece’s equality framework is strongly connected to European equality law and includes constitutional equality, equal pay, anti-discrimination protection, measures against domestic and gender-based violence, and institutions such as the General Secretariat for Equality and Human Rights and the Greek Ombudsman. Practical support includes the national network for women experiencing violence, labour-rights channels and mechanisms for trafficking and exploitation.

The Greek material places particular emphasis on practical access: a woman may need interpretation, childcare, transport, legal-status support, safe accommodation or someone to accompany her when approaching a service. The local sessions also showed that safety, economic security, language, belonging, care responsibilities, professional skills and cultural identity are deeply connected. WORICA therefore treats rights information as part of a wider support and inclusion pathway rather than as an isolated list of laws.