CESI calls for resolute and swift EU action to combat violence against women
2021-07-29 02:27
As a requested opinion of the Court of Justice of EU on legal procedures in the EU’s ratification of the Istanbul Convention is still dearly awaited, CESI calls for resolute and swift EU action to combat violence against women.
In a recent resolution, CESI expresses deep concerns about the continued prevalence of harassment and violence against women, both in domestic and occupational life. The resolution specifies in particular:
- The Covid pandemic has meant disproportional adverse consequences for women and further aggravated equality challenges which women had been facing long before already. In particular, latest figures seem to confirm that domestic violence against women have increased significantly. Lockdowns to prevent the spread of Covid–19 trapped many women at home, being particular vulnerable to violence and abuse. Several countries saw spikes in domestic violence reports.
- Apart from violence being a blatant disrespect of fundamental human rights of women, it also impacts on their occupational life. Women who face violence, stress and anxiety at home are less likely to be able to properly focus on their jobs and career. Thereby domestic violence has a direct impact also on further deepened economic and financial inequalities.
- In Europe, this situation may be further aggravated by the announcement of the Turkish government in March 2021 to withdraw from the Council of Europe Istanbul Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, because it could give further incentives to governments of EU Member States to step out as well.
In this vein, CESI calls:
- on the EU institutions and the Member States acting in the Council to make an new effort to finalise the accession of the EU to the Istanbul Convention.
- on the European Commission, in case unanimity decision is required for this in the Council and that this is impossible to reach, to translate the essence of the Istanbul Convention into a proposal for an EU directive to be then adopted under the ordinary legislative procedure with qualified majority voting in the Council.
- on the European Commission to fully implement the current EU Gender Equality strategy, in particular via the financing of topical research and data compilation by the European Gender Equality Institute (EIGE) as well as capacity–building and awareness–raising campaigns in relation to the fourth priority field on combating gender–based violence and protecting and supporting victims.
The full resolution is available here.
