Social circus – getting in on the act

When it comes to social protection, the EU has some of the strongest laws on the books. But many Europeans don’t know their rights and so don’t exercise them. For example, women continue to earn 15% less than men and are less likely to have top jobs. The EU is striving to close this gender gap, however, people must be made aware of their rights first.

The EU has therefore launched a campaign to raise awareness of social rights. During 2009, cities across Europe will be staging circus-themed events about social rights.The campaign is inspired by “social circus”, an educational movement that uses circus arts as a teaching tool to help troubled youths. For example, the theatre company involved in the event in Lisbon works with school dropouts.

The campaign covers nine areas from work-related issues like equal treatment of men and women on the job to more general concerns like social exclusion, poverty and diversity. A series of posters and videos created for the campaign shows circus performers in situations that illustrate social rights.

By treating such weighty matters in a light-hearted way, the EU hopes that the message will reach everyone from schoolchildren to pensioners.

EU social policy and corresponding legislation affects the way we live and work – entitling us to equal treatment at work, regardless of our age, health, sex, race or beliefs and enabling us to keep our pension rights even after a move to a different EU country.

Social rights have traditionally received less attention than other human rights, but they have been high on the EU's agenda in recent years.