We will support women who are active in public life through a new initiative

A New Initiative Supports Women Active in Public Life

Published in the Hospodářské noviny magazine PročNe on March 27, 2026.

This is the next logical step in our efforts. Last year, we celebrated the 20th anniversary of TOP Women of the Czech Republic, an initiative dedicated to recognizing and supporting women who are primarily active in business. For a moment, I hesitated, wondering if we had already fulfilled our mission. Over the years, we’ve highlighted hundreds of stories of successful women and pointed out the challenges they face, such as various glass ceilings and unequal pay. But recent societal developments have made it clear to me that we must continue—and even more actively. We’ve somewhat neglected the specific challenges faced by women in public life—whether in politics, the media, the nonprofit sector, or government. They face not only stereotypes but also hate speech, and things aren’t improving much over time; with the rise of social media and populist politics, the situation is actually getting worse. Public discourse has become coarser, and attacks on women are on the rise, including sexualized ones. In 2026, we’ve gone back to somewhere in the 1990s—and perhaps even worse. That is why we are launching [y]nitiative to support women in public life, not just female politicians. In our language, the letter Y is associated with the feminine gender, which is why we’ve adopted it as our symbol.

As a patron of TOP Women of the Czech Republic, I spoke with women in public life who have experience in politics, government, law, and the media, including leading female politicians such as Zuzana Čaputová and Markéta Pekarová Adamová. They left politics because the toxic environment was affecting their health and their families. The discussion about the need to support one another began last year. We want to improve conditions for women who are considering entering the public sphere or are already in it. This includes creating a pool of experts—including men, of course—who will help with all of this. We want to let women know that they have someone to turn to if they are humiliated, intimidated, insulted, or subjected to vulgar attacks simply because they are women. Womanhood, career, and public office should go hand in hand.

In addition to providing direct assistance, we want to systematically document attacks against women. At the same time, thanks to “TOP Women of the Czech Republic,” we have many award-winning women who now want to help others and give back some of their success. We will therefore also offer professional workshops, mentoring, and personal coaching; we are able to provide legal and psychological assistance; and we are considering financial support for economically disadvantaged women, typically in the nonprofit sector, including, for example, a well-deserved sabbatical after completing a phase of their career or when facing the threat of burnout.

This spring. We are finalizing the composition of the board of directors; I will serve as the founder and philanthropist behind the initiative. We have also reached out to Věra Jourová, Klára Šimáčková Laurenčíková, Milena Králíčková, and Jitka Adamčíková, among others, to collaborate with us. We definitely want men in leadership as well. At the same time, we are engaging experts on cyberattacks—primarily on social media—to help us identify seemingly anonymous attackers and report threats of violence to the police.

No, the initiative is apolitical, so there will be no active politicians on the founding committee. I will be happy to serve as the driving force behind ensuring that the platform is truly functional and brings about change. This includes, for example, publishing statistics on attacks against women, which we view as a foundation for discussion and education aimed at fostering a more civilized public debate. On a publicly accessible portal, we will highlight the current situation while offering solutions for women who need guidance on how to deal with various forms of psychological violence and intimidation, or who want to strengthen their skills and resilience for any public role. It is essential to talk about the issue, map it out, and have solutions.

Even experienced people sometimes don’t know how to react to a specific situation—when hateful speech and threats of violence should be reported to the police, or who else has experience with such cases. Or they simply don’t have the time or energy to deal with it; it’s toxic. In addition to the option of reporting attacks and helping victims, we also want to focus on prevention and education, because the spread of hate is becoming normalized. We cannot say that anyone who appears in the public sphere must expect threats and hateful comments. We must not tolerate this, whether it involves women or men.

Yes, we spoke with women working in European institutions, and we also analyzed the activities and experiences of similar institutions around the world. We also monitor trends in society’s attitude toward women. For example, according to a recent Guardian study, there are more young men in Generation Z than in the so-called baby boomer generation who hold traditional views on women’s roles and believe, for instance, that a wife should obey her husband.

I don’t believe the world will ever find the ideal balance, but I will always do everything I can to ensure that men and women are partners and that there are no unhealthy dependencies between them. That means no subordinate or predetermined role for women. At the same time, we are aware that there are initiatives on the Czech market that already support women and focus on various specific topics, such as Forum 50, Women in Media, or Women in Politics, and we look forward to collaborating with them.

I want women to remain visible in the public sphere. On the contrary, I want to see more of them in political office, in the media, and in the leadership of various organizations. I want our country to stop lagging behind in European rankings of women’s representation in public office, as is the case today. I want society to harness their potential. And, of course, I want the public debate to become more civilized.

Although I wish it didn’t have to be a long-term project, I do view it that way. I am prepared to support it through our family foundation, the Bakala Foundation. And I’m a little concerned that, given the state the world and Western society are in right now, this will be a long-term effort.