The Diversity Conference held on 'Addressing LGBTI in the Workplace' last Tuesday in Luxembourg-Kirchberg has prompted an examination of equality amongst various demographics in the Grand Duchy.
A study conducted by the Equality for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex People in Europe (ILGA-Europe) organisation in May 2015 gave Luxembourg an overall score of 43% in terms of its national legal and policy human rights situation for LGBTI people, placing it 18th amongst 49 European countries. This placement appears both reflective of and contrary to the historic vote of 2014 when the Chamber of Deputies voted significantly in favour of marriage equality, leading Luxembourg's openly gay Prime Minister, Xavier Bettel, to become the first EU leader to marry a same-sex partner.
Despite this achievement, Luxembourg's score of 43% meant that it paled in comparison with neighbouring Belgium's ranking of 83%, as well as France and Germany at 56% and 65%, respectively. It however fared better than a majority of Eastern European and several Mediterranean countries, as well as Ireland, whose score of 40% was found at extreme odds with that of its UK neighbour at 86%. That being said, Luxembourg does appear to have made significant progress in this field, with its number 18 spot in the May 2015 country ranking indicating a leap of 10 places upwards since 2014.
In terms of male/female equality, Luxembourg was placed 28th out of 142 countries worldwide in the World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap 2014 Report with an overall score of 0.733 out of a possible 1. The Nordic countries unsuprisingly held the top five spots, with Iceland claiming first place with a score of 0.8594. The UK's ranking placed it not far in the list from the Grand Duchy, in 26th place.
The Global Gender 2014 Report was determined based on several components under the main themes of Economic Participation and Opportunity; Educational Attainment; Health and Survival; and Political Empowerment. It was in the latter category that some of the most significant disparity between the sexes was discovered, with 28 women in Parliament against 72 men and a 0.36 female-to-male ratio for ministerial positions, as well as a historical record of only male heads of state in the last fifty years. In terms of Economic Participation and Opportunity, only 19 female legislators, senior officials and managers existed against 82 male, although the estimated earned income was determined to be equal at 40,000 PPP US$ each.
An International Labour Organisation (ILO) report from 2014 which examined parental leave law and practices around the world determined that Luxembourg at the time offered 16 weeks fully-paid maternity leave against less than 1 week of the equivalent offer for paternity leave, or 26 weeks parental leave for either parent. Luxembourg did not make it into UK-based Citation's top ten best countries in 2015 for either maternity or paternity leave, the latter of which was once again reigned over by Iceland.
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