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PES Women 2006 annual conference took place in Copenhagen on 24 May.

Over 100 people gathered to Copenhagen - from 27 countries across Europe and many people from all over Denmark - to attend the PES Women conference on the hot topic of women, religion and culture. The leader of the Danish Social Democratic party, Helle Thorning-Schmidt gave the introductory speech about the clash of cultures and women becoming the pawns in this clash. She also addressed the issue of violence against women which is still prevalent in our societies, with many women losing their lives at their hands of their partners. The first panel discussed the harmful role of extreme interpretations of religion and how these groups are trying to roll back the progress of women's rights. The second panel was about the role of Muslim women in their communities and the racism and multiple discrimination (on the grounds of their gender and ethnic origin).

On the first panel, there were speakers from Poland, Spain, Belgium and Italy - countries in which the role of the church is very strong. Ensuring welfare, in which working and living conditions of everyone are constantly and sustainably improved, is the answer that social democrats should deliver to combat the false comfort of preserving the status quo, which is what conservatives offer as life security. The way to achieve this, in opinion of all the speakers, is not easy. The implication of the separation or non-separation of the church and religion is not to be underestimated in this regard. Both speakers and participants agreed on the need to focus on three issues - how to ensure secular state, how to embrace the believers of different religions also within left and last, but not least, what kind of a roadmap to draw and how to sustain the struggle to reach gender equality in all spheres of life.

See the programme