PRAGUE: Czech lawmaker Martina Ochodnicka is quitting after a single term, upset with hateful, misogynistic comments and a general lack of support for women politicians.
The 41-year-old deputy head of the right-wing coalition party TOP 09 is one of several women leaving parliament after serving four years, ahead of this weekend's general election.
"Women in Czech politics face unnecessary obstacles," Ochodnicka, who has looked to raise awareness of the attitudes and other issues women face, told AFP.
Rather than over her role as a lawmaker, she was under public scrutiny as a mother of three, said Ochodnicka, who had worked as a village mayor before becoming a lawmaker in 2021.
"You're not a mother enough, or you're a mother too much, or you're not a mother at all. This is something that male politicians don't face," she added.
The 200-seat Czech parliament currently comprises 51 women -- the most in history -- but the 25 percent share is much lower than in neighbouring countries like Austria, Germany or Poland where it exceeds 30 percent.
In the European Union, it ranks eighteenth among 27 members in terms of the number of women in parliament, according to Inter-Parliamentary Union data.
Hostile environment
Like Ochodnicka, Pirate Party lawmaker Klara Kocmanova, 32, said she would also quit after a single term, citing health reasons due to long working hours and parliament work that is "incompatible with personal life".
She added that women politicians were regularly targeted by hate speech, much of it vulgar, on social media.
"People assess their looks, which doesn't happen to men too often. It's something that prevents women from becoming politicians," Kocmanova told AFP.
"It's a cultural pattern that is innate. We nurse these stereotypes of women being the carers and men the workers," she added.
Candidate lists for October's election comprise 3,069 men and 1,400 women from 26 parties, with women under-represented on the lists for regional leadership positions of the main parties.
The parliament is currently headed by a woman, Marketa Pekarova Adamova.
But the Czech Republic, an EU and NATO member of 10.9 million, has never had a woman president or prime minister since it gained independence in 1993 after the split of former Czechoslovakia, long ruled by Moscow-steered communists.
And in the 17-member centre-right coalition government of Prime Minister Petr Fiala, in office since 2021, there are only two women ministers, holding the justice and defence portfolios.
Political analyst Jan Kubacek said that women politicians were still "a rarity" in the Czech political system, which has "created a hostile environment".
"We have no systematic will to... promote women or create a platform for women," Kubacek told AFP.
Glass ceiling
Barbora Urbanova from the centrist junior coalition STAN party said she would run again despite doubts.
"I still feel like I hit a glass ceiling at times as it's not normal for women to be in politics and say their opinions out loud," the 34-year-old told AFP.
She said she often heard insults over her appearance and instructions to stick to the kitchen stove. To raise awareness, Ochodnicka and her colleague shot a video in January telling the public they were quitting and why.
They have also set up a group to assist newcomers and help them adapt to life in parliament, and promote a change in the rules of procedure to shorten working hours.
Current rules allow the opposition to obstruct sessions with long diatribes slowing down the legislative process.
Obstruction champions include billionaire ex-premier Andrej Babis, whose ANO party is tipped to top the election, and far-right leader Tomio Okamura, who spoke for a record-breaking 10 hours and 44 minutes during a January 2024 session.
"The number of extraordinary sessions, sessions lasting until after midnight and the working hours in general should be reduced to make parliament more efficient," Ochodnicka said, hopeful that things will change.
"If politics remain open only to a certain group of people without other groups living in the country being represented, it will be wrong," she said.