Mainstreaming gender in the EU-accession process: the case of the Baltic Republics

Since the early 1990s, the Baltic states have gone through processes of economic transition and liberalization. Although various reports give an overview of gendered impacts of these economic reforms, they fail to elaborate on the more complex relations between gender, citizenship, and social exclusion. This article explores these relations in more detail. The first decade of reforms in the Baltic states resulted in a lack of economic prospects, in particular for women from minority groups and women working in low-pay sectors. This made them increasingly vulnerable to trafficking for sexual purposes: migration to Western Europe was an attractive alternative for those without work, whether through legal or illegal migration channels. The failure to address this issue and other issues effectively cannot be attributed to the European level only. This argues that effective mainstreaming is also hampered by rapid changes in national governments, by political ideologies regarding the role of women, and by a lack of information and expertise within newly established gender-equality units.