Strasbourg, 07/02/2013 (Agence Europe) - On 6 February, MEPs adopted a resolution calling for the elimination and prevention of all kinds of violence against women and girls. The resolution will serve as a reference document for MEPs taking part at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, to be held in New York in March this year.
Patriarchal system. One woman in five in Europe suffers physical violence at least once in her life, and one in ten have suffer sexual violence. Mikael Gastafsson (GUE/NGL, Sweden), who chairs the parliamentary committee on women's rights and gender equality, drafted the resolution with the help of his committee. The day before the vote, he said that this is a problem one hears about every day and it is systematic violation of human rights. He puts this down to the patriarchal nature of society in which men make the decisions that women must comply with.
European measures. The resolution calls for the elimination of discriminatory socio-cultural behaviour which accentuates the subordinate role of women in society. Gustafsson calls on the Commission to put forward proposals and a clear strategy to eliminate violence against women. The resolution also calls for a directive establishing minimum norms and calls on the Union and member states to ratify the Convention of the Council of Europe on preventing and combating violence to women and domestic violence. The resolution also suggests that the Union allocate more resources to the problem, and that it take it into account in its different policies and programmes and also in its foreign policy. The European Union might also support a campaign for heightening awareness of the problem worldwide.
Reding to the fore. The day before the vote, European Commissioner for Fundamental Rights Viviane Reding took part at the parliamentary debate on this subject and set out the various measures already undertaken by the European Commission. She will join the delegation that is to go to New York and trusts that there will be no North/South divide during the United Nations session. She says that “when we are together at the United Nations session, all the Europeans there will make a 'Team Europe'”, that will send out the message: “Here is what we are doing; here is how we can help you; we will help you to help yourselves”. (MD/transl.jl)