Brussels, 03/02/2012 (Agence Europe) - At its plenary session in Brussels on Thursday 2 February, the European Parliament adopted two resolutions in favour of clear support to women who suffer violence and those caught in situations of armed conflict. The MEPs adopted the recommendations of their rapporteur, Norica Nicolai (ALDE, Romania), who proposed that the European Union reinforce the presence of women in peace negotiations and set in place a special representative of the EU for women, peace and security. The MEPs would like the image of women as key players in reconciliation processes to be superimposed over the image of women as victims of war, through rape used as a weapon of war, a practice strongly condemned by the MEPs. “Female soldiers who take part in patrols on an equal footing with men send a strong image to local women”, Nicolai explained. She pleaded for women to be able to take advantage of social benefits to make an army career more attractive to them. The MEPs also expressed their commitment to the Daphne programme, the only European programme which aims to combat violence against women, children and adolescents. In their adoption of the report by Regina Bastos (EPP, Portugal) the MEPs hope that the programme will keep funding unchanged from 2014. This would make it possible, for example, to improve prevention of new forms of violence related to the use of social networks, to eradicate crimes of honour or genital mutilation. (MD/transl.fl)