“Politics is not only a man’s world.”

On Monday, 25 September 2023, MEP Irena Joveva MEP and a number of other Slovenian women politicians were invited to a roundtable organised as part of the EWA project – Empowering Women in Active Society. During the event, the participants spoke about the challenges women face when entering politics, the importance of women’s political representation and, last but not least, encouraging young women to become more involved in public and political life. In this context, Joveva emphasised that “politics is not and should not be only a man’s world”.

The roundtable began with the participants answering a question posed by artificial intelligence: what is the reason, and above all the inspiration, for entering politics? Joveva answered that when she was offered the opportunity to actively engage in shaping policies and adopting decisions, she simply could say no. She knew she would never go back to being a journalist, but if she had been happy with the MEPs in the former composition of European Parliament, she would not have decided to enter the political arena at all, because she would not have had to, she added.

“I have found that changing the world through different means is difficult. Even though none of us here can change it alone, there are things that can be done. I think that each one of us present here today is a good role model for women in our individual area of activity.”

She also shared a more personal inspiration, which convinced her that the decision was right: “On the very day of the European elections, 26 May 2019, I had been due to give birth. But I’d had a miscarriage some time before. Unfortunately, but in the end, this served as my inspiration. You can attribute this to the universe, to coincidence, whatever, the fact is that it happened. Today I have a two-year-old child. Everything happened as it was inevitably meant to. I have done a lot and I believe I can do a lot more.”

When asked about the key strengths and skills that have helped her in politics, she highlighted her communication skills, as well as the experience she gained in journalism. This is why she chose to focus on the media in her work as an MEP, including on the European Media Freedom Act, which the European Parliament will be adopting at its next plenary session. General life experience has also proven to be useful, she added: “If you have a desire and a goal, many things are possible. My success is solely due to my own efforts. I started from scratch.”

While Joveva does not believe she faces any gender-related disadvantage in her position at the European Parliament, she does encounter unequal treatment in the realm of social media and certain media outlets:

“Or in the media that do not deserve the name. They always come up with something. It doesn’t really matter what the substance is or what I want to say, the comments are always the same. Related to my gender, origin, appearance. I’m sure there would be less of that if I were a man.”

Joveva is also convinced that her male colleagues do not get asked as many questions about how they manage to juggle their work and family life. Although she doesn’t mind them, she stressed that such working arrangements need increasingly to be regarded as ordinary, because she is “neither the first nor the last new mother with a job, whatever it may be.”

Finally, the MEP told the young students and all women who are hesitant about taking an active part in politics that they need to be much more confident, curious, persistent and dare to show who they are.

“Politics is not and should not be only a man’s world. Don’t base your decision on whether to enter politics on that. Get actively involved. Because you can do it. You have what it takes.”