Brussels, 01/10/2013 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 30 September, 19 European countries decided to pool their efforts to develop, “genuine equality between men and women”.
Nineteen European countries from the “equal opportunities” network met in Brussels for the first time, during an international conference organised by the Belgian minister Joëlle Milquet (home affairs) and the French minister for women's rights, Najat Vallaud-Belkacem.
The “European network of ministers responsible for women's rights and equal opportunities” made a commitment to include women's rights at the centre of national, European and international agendas, as well as at the heart of the post-2015 development agenda. These countries, including Belgium, are signatories to the United Nations Convention against the trafficking and exploitation of human beings (abolitionist) and are also determined to tackle the trafficking of human beings, including those used in prostitution, by stepping up the fight against those profiting from prostitution and those involved in trafficking.
The French minister for women's rights, Najat Vaullaud-Belkacem, proposed measures facilitating the seizing of goods, assets and property belonging to those benefiting from prostitution.
According to European Commission data, between 2008 and 2010 there were almost 24,000 victims of human trafficking in Europe.
On Monday, 49 MEPs met at the European Parliament (see other article on women in this news letter) to demand the abolition of prostitution and signed the “Brussels appeal for a Europe without prostitution” set up by the “European women's lobby”. (SP/trans.fl)