Female Workers Moving Up in Europe. [Seattle Post Intelligencer] The effect of women on the European labor market has increased significantly over the past 10 years, but more work is needed to close the wide gender gap in pay that continues to exist, a European Union report said Tuesday. A survey of 30,000 workers within the 25 EU member states as well as Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, Norway, Switzerland and Turkey found that although the number of female bosses had risen to nearly 25% over the past decade, half of female workers were in the bottom third of the income scale, compared with 20% of men. "The proportion of workers whose immediate boss is a woman has consistently increased over the last 10 years," said the report by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions.

EU Report Says More Work Needed to Reduce Gender Gap in European Labor Market. [The Associated Press] The impact of women on the European labor market has increased significantly over the last 10 years, but more work is needed to close the wide gender gap in pay that continues to exist, a European Union report said Tuesday. A survey of 30,000 workers within the 25 EU member states as well as Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, Norway Switzerland and Turkey found that while the number of female bosses had risen to nearly 25% over the past decade, half of women workers were in the bottom third of the income scale compared with 20% of men. "The proportion of workers whose immediate boss is a woman has consistently increased over the last 10 years," said the report by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions. However, it added that "women are particularly underrepresented in the upper third of the income scale, across all countries."

Members Invited to Women's Events. [BECTU Magazine, UK] BECTU is inviting its women members to attend two events in the coming weeks. First is the annual "Reclaim the Night" march in London, organized by the London Feminist Network to draw attention to violence against women. It takes place on Saturday November 25, starting at 6 p.m. in Central London. Marchers will assemble at Trafalgar Square, and proceed to the University of London Students' Union in Malet Street. Organizers hope that a good turnout will help to publicize the alarming level of assaults and rapes on women in the UK - the British Crime Survey estimates that as many as 300,000 suffer violence each year, with 47,000 being raped.

Proportion of Female Directors at UK's Top Companies Falls to 10%. [PersonnelToday.com, UK] The number of female-held directorships in FTSE 100 companies has fallen over the past year, according to a report from Cranfield School of Management. The 2006 Female FTSE report showed the number of female board directors is down from 121 in 2005 to 117 in 2006 – just 10% of the total number of directorships available. More worrying is the new information gathered on the next tier of senior personnel. Of the FTSE 100 companies, only 53 companies have women on their executive committee (the senior team chaired by the CEO), 30 have all male committees and the rest do not reveal their senior executive team. Companies with the highest percentage of female board directors include pharmaceuticals giant Astra-Zeneca, British Airways and Lloyds TSB.

Women Lose Out as Best 'Chap' Still Lands the Top Job. [ic Wales, United Kingdom] The contribution women could make to leadership in business is curtailed by a cocktail of sexism and ignorance, according to major research underway at the University of Glamorgan. Job applicants who exhibit stereotypical male leadership traits still do best in the interview process, according to researchers Lyn Daunton and Gloria Moss. This means, they argue, that industry is missing out on the motivational and other distinctive skills many women offer. Ignorance about the effect these skills can have on a business, they believe, is resulting in jobs going to less qualified candidates. Ms Daunton said, "Society has a view that a leader needs to be white, middle class and male."

Action Urged Over Abuse of Women. [BBC News, UK] The government is not doing enough to tackle the problems of violence towards women in the UK, a coalition of charities has warned. A report by the End Violence Against Women Campaign said government work to combat the problem was "patchy" and suffered from a lack of resources. It added women who need support face a "postcode lottery" over services. Women's minister Meg Munn said the report failed to acknowledge "real progress" made by the government. The report comes at the same time as a separate one which criticizes the government for failing to provide homeless women with the help they need.

Discipline Fears as Female Teachers Outnumber Male Peers by 12 to 1. [This is London, UK] Teaching is fast becoming an all-female profession with women outnumbering men in the classroom as much as 13 to one, dramatic new figures revealed today. The number of male teachers has plummeted to an all-time low, threatening a classroom discipline crisis as a generation of boys misses out on authority role models. In parts of the country worst-hit by the male recruitment slump, fewer than 10% of primary teachers are men. In Reading, just 38 primary teachers are male compared with 478 women. But the decline has been particularly marked in secondary schools, fuelling fears of rising misbehaviour among disaffected teenage boys whose lives lack male authority figures.

Females Who Avoid Garage Visits 'Risk Their Women's Car Insurance'. [Kwik Fit Insurance, UK] Millions of female motorists are risking lives and their women's car insurance premiums by driving faulty cars because they do not want to visit a garage, a survey has shown. A study by Sheilas' Wheels entitled Girls & Garages found that 30% of women have been driving faulty and potentially unroadworthy vehicles because they are averse to visiting a garage. Respondents stated the main reason for not wanting to go to a garage was because the atmosphere is too 'blokey'. Jacky Brown, spokesperson for Sheilas' Wheels, said: "It's astounding that so many women motorists are potentially putting their lives on the line by driving around in cars that they know have a fault, just to avoid visiting a garage. "With over 14 million female drivers behind the wheel on UK roads, it makes sense that their specific needs are met." Of those questioned, 20% said they would rather take a trip to the doctors than find out if their car needs servicing.

Female Staff Sergeant Among UK Basra Dead. [InTheNews.co.uk, UK] The names of the four British troops who were killed when their boat patrol was targeted by insurgents in southern Iraq have been released by defence officials. All four were killed on Sunday when the boat they were travelling in was attacked with a bomb near a pontoon bridge in the Shatt Al-Arab waterway, which cuts through Basra. And today, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has revealed that one of those killed was 34-year-old Staff Sergeant Sharron Elliott of the Intelligence Corps, who becomes only the second female member of the UK forces to die in Iraq.

First Female British Soldier to Die in Iraq Committed Suicide. [International Herald Tribune, France] The first female British soldier to die in Iraq killed herself the day after she was reprimanded for getting drunk while in uniform, an inquest jury found Tuesday. Staff Sgt. Denise Rose, 34, who was a military police investigator working on probes of British soldiers' deaths in the Gulf, was found dead with a gunshot wound to her mouth in October 2004, at an army base in Basra, southern Iraq. She had told her boss, Capt. Philip Neville, earlier that day that he might be getting a phone call about her drinking from a senior officer who had reprimanded her, Neville said Monday at an inquest into Rose's death at Oxford Coroner's Court. "She seemed embarrassed because she felt she had let herself down," he testified. Rose was found dead later that day, with a pistol in her lap.

Report: French Students Turn to Sex Trade. [United Press International] A French university students' union says an increasing number of women in France are funding their education through the sex trade. SUD-Etudiant union said 40,000 students, nearly 2% of all French university students, are involved in so-called hostess work, freelance work for escort agencies or street prostitution, Britain's The Independent reported Tuesday. The union said a sample survey carried out at Paul Sabatier University in Toulouse found that 545 of 30,000 students had at one point been involved in the sex trade.

Female Consumers Drive Nutricosmetics Market. [CosmeticsDesign-Europe.com, France] Recent Euromonitor report has suggested that it is the image conscious female consumer that is driving the recent sales surge in beauty supplements, a surge that looks set to continue with persisting emphasis being placed on personal appearance and well being by the media. The report states that the current body obsessed society looks set to drive the nutricosmetics industry, with manufacturers feeling the pressure to develop new product lines to meet increasing consumer demands for ‘beauty from within'.

Women Fans Helped Reduce Violence at World Cup, Organizers Say. [Bloomberg] Higher-than-expected numbers of female soccer fans helped reduce levels of hooliganism at this year's World Cup in Germany, a trend that may continue at the 2008 European Championship, organizers said. The Berlin Senate said violence in the city was less severe than anticipated because more women than foreseen were among the 3 million people who attended the 64 matches and the 2 million tourists who traveled to Germany during the tournament. ``The real problem of the World Cup was going to be how we'd cope, but there were no incidents worth mentioning,'' Senate spokesman Michael Donnermeyer told the International Football Arena conference in Zurich this week. ``The attendance of women had a de-escalating effect.''

Portlaoise’s Only Female Fire Fighter. [Laois Nationalist, Ireland] For most children a visit to a fire station is something they might do once or twice in their lives as part of a school trip. But children attending the Rise and Shine Montessori school in Dun Masc in Portlaoise can go one better, boasting the fact that they have a real live fire fighter teaching them every day. When Mary Territt embarked on a new calling she did not think that she would go down in the history books. Mary, is the first ever female fire fighter based in Portlaoise Fire Station. Originally from Cork, Mary has been living in Portlaoise for the past 15 years and is married to Noel Territt. She is the proprietor of Rise and Shine and it was for this reason that she partly joined the service recently.

Refs Chief Backs Female Official. [Irish Examiner, Ireland] Amy Rayner, the assistant referee targeted by Luton manager Mike Newell, has received the full backing of referees’ chief Neale Barry. Rayner angered Newell after running the line during Luton’s 3-2 defeat to QPR, with the Hatters boss describing her appearance as “tokenism for the politically-correct idiots”. But Barry, the Football Association’s head of senior referee development, said: “Female referees and assistant referees are a very important part of the game and deserve proper respect. “They do a very demanding job very well, in often difficult circumstances.

Irish Sex Trade Boom. [Gridskipper] After years of subsisting on downmarket massage parlors and saunas, Dublin has moved to the center of the European sex scene with the advent of laws that legally allow people from the new accession states to live and work in Ireland. With the arrival of thousands of new workers -- especially from Poland and the Baltic States -- in construction, retail, and hospitality, there has also occurred a complete revamping of the Irish sex industry. Hundreds of stunningly beautiful women from Eastern Europe have decided it is safer and better to live and work in Dublin, where they can be legally resident rather than risk being trafficked somewhere else. These women consider being legal migrants better than risking criminal traffickers taking them somewhere were they can be easily abused and exploited due to illegal immigrant status. Therefore, Dublin is attracting some of the best and most affordable women in Europe.

Time Has Come for Women to Lead Institutions. [Agenzia Giornalistica Italia, Italy] Speaking at a conference celebrating the 60th anniversary of right to vote for women organized by Rome's 'Tor Vergata' University, the President of the Republic, Giorgio Napoliotano, said that the time has come for women to take leading posts within the major institutions. "I think that Miriam Mafai, who spoke earlier this morning, was right when she said that if a democracy is working properly and democratic procedures are in place within our political parties, then women can obtain the recognition they deserve". "Therefore, this is the path to follow and could prove more effective than other means" Napolitano said. "It seems to me that what we need here is not new laws, but changes to the democratic lives of the parties which propose their candidatures" Napolitano continued. "In Italy there are some positive examples of women who have reached also senior positions within the government; yet, these are limited in number" the President said.

Female Entrepreneurs Increasing, +18,000 in a Year. [Agenzia Giornalistica Italia, Italy] Women's desire for business is starting to find footholds in typically "male" sectors: 8,000 more lady-led businesses were founded between June 2005 and June 2006 in the real estate sector, 3,000 construction companies and 1,000 transport companies, adding to the 1,200,000 lady-led Italian businesses. The number of "pink" businesses working in the generation and distribution of electricity grew by 12.06% and those working in the construction sector grew by 7.8%. The "army" is growing more and more (18,000 more female businesses than last year), with a greater concentration and a higher growth rate in the South. The statistics were announced by Unioncamere-Retecamere's Observatory for female entrepreneurship at the meeting of the 100 Committees for female entrepreneurship. Even though women are starting to move into mainly male sectors, the sectors with higher female representation are trade (31.64%) and agriculture (22.41%), followed by real estate and manufacturing (10.72% and 10.37% respectively), while the sectors with the highest female representation are public, social and private services (49.00pct) and health (41.33pct), followed by tourism and education (33.6pct and 32.58pct respectively).

Pollastrini Wants Law Setting Quotas For Women In Politics. [Agenzia Giornalistica Italia, Italy] Measures to strengthen equal opportunities between men and women, a program aimed at promoting women's employment, the establishment of the 15th committee, the recognition of de facto couples' civil rights. These are some of the goals that minister for equal opportunities, Barbara Pollastrini of the Left Democrats, has identified as the real priorities of her mandate. In an interview with AGI, the minister explained that her presence in the Prodi government will be conditional on the actual implementation of these goals. "If the government does so, I'll be there to monitor the implementation of some projects which we helped develop. Otherwise, happiness and satisfactions can always be found somewhere else". Pollastrini listed her most urgent requests for the government on which basis, she said, "I'll evaluate the meaning of my function". The minister assumes that "a process of modernization and innovation must take into account the young people and women". Therefore, she calls for "measures and laws that favor" these categories, starting with the budget law. Pollastrini said that after the budget law, and by the end of February, she would like a law setting a quota for women's participation in Italian political institution to be submitted to the Parliament: this law will have to include measures concerning also appointment and promotions of women in public bodies and companies. The minister calls for more skilled female workers and more jobs for women.

Alitalia Female Flight Attendants Allowed to Wear Trousers. [International Herald Tribune, France] Alitalia's female flight attendants will be allowed to swap their traditional skirts for trousers, breaking with half a century of rigid dress code at Italy's flagship carrier, a union said. Following negotiations with unions, Alitalia will offer the new option starting next Wednesday, said Rosanna Ruscito, a representative of the Fit-Cisl union and a flight attendant herself. "We spend our working days traveling from one airport to the other, with great weather differences, snow and freezing temperatures, only wearing a little skirt," she said. "If I go to a warm country, then I prefer the skirt, but if I go to Chicago, Moscow or New York, I want to be free to choose to wear pants" in the winter. Ruscito said Alitalia had so far not allowed its female crew members to wear trousers because it wanted to project "an image of femininity."

Burka Ban Divides Dutch. [National Post, Canada] Recent Dutch elections have been divisive, filled with passion and fear of mounting ethnic tensions. Just five days before the election the outgoing government unveiled a new law banning burkas and other "face-covering clothing." Muslims in the Netherlands were quick to brand the new law, which will be voted on by the incoming parliament, an over-reaction to a marginal problem. Muslims make up just under 6% of the Netherlands' 16 million people, but Muslim organizations estimate only 30 women in the country wear the burka.

Premier Says Abortion Law Will Change Only With Voter Approval. [International Herald Tribune, France] Portugal will only ease its tight abortion laws if Portuguese voters call for such a change in an upcoming referendum, Prime Minister Jose Socrates said Sunday. Portugal's abortion laws are among Europe's most restrictive, allowing the procedure only until the 12th week of pregnancy, and only if a woman has been raped, her health is in danger or the fetus is malformed. President Anibal Cavaco Silva was expected to call a referendum by January 2007 to ask voters if they agreed with legalizing abortion for all women until the 10th week of pregnancy.

Famous Russian Journalist Murdered. [VietNamNet Bridge, Vietnam] Anna Politkovskaya, a famous Russian investigative journalist known for her critical coverage of the war in Chechnya was found killed in Moscow Saturday, Russian news agencies reported. Anna Politkovskaya's body was found in an elevator in an apartment building in the Lesnaya Street. According to preliminary reports, she was shot. A pistol and four bullets were found in the elevator, police officials said. Dmitry Muratov, editor-in-chief of the Novaya Gazeta newspaper, where Politkovskaya worked, said the slaying took place at about 4:30 p.m. (1230 GMT) in her apartment building. A special operation has been launched in the capital to find criminals.

Male and Female Compartments on Russian Trains. [Russia-InfoCenter, Russia] Since the beginning of 2007 Russian railways start to divide train compartments into male and female ones. Firm main-line trains will soon have separate compartments for men and women plus compartments of a mixed type. The innovation is being undertaken to regulate the system of train tickets booking and will concern economic and business-class carriages. The compartment type is also planned to be marked on train tickets but the new system was claimed to not affect the tickets price and booking time. Railway services explain that the innovation was generally caused by complaints of women who expressed worry about sharing a compartment with male strangers. First trains with male and female compartments will appear on several routes December 15 and will later spread over other trains across Russia.

'Bitchology' Helps Russian Women Snare Best Men. [Times of India, India] With the number of eligible bachelors dwindling in Russia, women in the country are now taking lessons in how to snare the man of their dreams. It seem increasing number of Russian women are flocking to "bitch schools" that claim that they can arm the ladies with the competitive edge needed to snare a man, or even bring their own partners to heel. And if there are people who are offended that women are being trained to be 'bitches', well then they need to be aware that in Russia a bitch refers to a woman who is neither strident nor sassy, but demure, manipulative and aware of her own sexuality, and uses all those attributes to get her own way.

Comment: Gillian Bowditch: Why Must Women Advance? [The Sunday Times, UK] Cherie Blair took time out of her whirlwind life last week to fly into Glasgow and address the sisterhood. What we need, she told us, is to raise our aspirations. Aspirations, it transpires, are a bit like hemlines and apparently we are setting them too low. She didn’t say anything about teaming them with white pixie boots or a black Agnès B leather jacket, but she left us in no doubt about the look for which we should be aiming; a cross between Condoleezza Rice and Martha Stewart. The battle for equal rights has a long way to go, the prime minister’s wife told the Global Banking Alliance for Women world summit. (The fact that such an entity exists rather undermines her thesis. Had she been addressing the Global Baking Alliance for Women world summit, I might have seen her point.) Women need an old girls’ network if they are to make it to the top. A belief that the glass ceiling has not yet shattered is curbing their ambitions.

The Top Female Director in Spain. [Typically Spanish, Spain] Isabel Coixet will today be presented with the European Woman Award, by the Spanish Minister for Culture, Carmen Calvo. The award is in recognition for the work of Coixet which is perhaps not as well known outside Spain as that of fellow directors Pedro Almodóvar and Alejandro Almenabar. Born in Barcelona in 1962 and a history graduate from the Barcelona University, all her recent films are true works of art and their popularity outside Spain can only grow, especially as she likes to film in English.  Perhaps it is her grounding work in advertising that has taught her how to reach out and affect her audience. When you leave a Coixet film you have that double whammy of wanting to be quiet for a while, and at the same time discuss what you have just witnessed.

Town Gives Women Equal Footing on Road Signs. [Independent Online, South Africa] A Spanish town council has vowed to banish sexism from street signage by demanding half of all road signs and traffic lights show female figures with skirts and ponytails. Fuenlabrada, which lies south of the capital Madrid, will replace old and damaged road signs and traffic lights with new stock within a year. "In this way the sexism which until now has seen only masculine figures appear in traffic signals will be brought to an end," the town council said in a statement. The council, which said it would ask manufacturers to incorporate female figures in their signs, would not cost taxpayers a penny.

Swedish Women Turn Practice into Dance Club at Four Nations Cup. [SLAM! Sports, Canada] A practice with the Swedish women's hockey team sounds like a night at the dance club. The Swedes have been practising to music at the Four Nations Cup and head coach Peter Elander is the D.J. "We love that. Peter introduced it," veteran forward Maria Rooth said. "It gets a good flow out there. The music gets you moving the puck well." Music is standard at women's hockey games, the NHL and junior men's games, but it's more for the benefit of the spectators than the players. It's a rare to see and hear a team running through a passing drill to the sounds of Fergie's "London Bridge" with no spectators in the building.

Up to 60 People Living Off Skåne Sex Trade. [The Local, Sweden] Police in Skåne believe that between 50 and 60 people in the region are profiting from running the trade in foreign sex slaves. The trade in young women, primarily from eastern Europe, is well-organized and well-established in Skåne, Skånska Dagbladet writes. Most of the women are between 15 and 20, and most frequently come from Slovakia, Romania or Poland. "We're concerned that the trade is here to stay," says Thomas Servin, head of the intelligence unit at the county police headquarters in Malmö. The women and girls are usually lured from poor homes with promises of well-paid work as cleaners or waitresses. When they arrive they are forced into prostitution using threats and violence. The pimps are often natives of their own countries, but Swedes are also involved in the exploitation. They often cooperate with a contact person based in the women's homelands.