Brussels, 08/10/2013 (Agence Europe) - The European Parliament has launched an attack on “gendercide” and, on 8 October, adopted a resolution to tackle the “deliberate and gender-based mass killing of people belonging to a particular sex”. “Femicide” is the most visible form as recent estimates suggest there are approximately 200 million women “missing” from the world's population. These missing women have been the victims of selective abortions, infanticide or child neglect. The resolution drafted by Antigoni Papadopoulou (S&D, Cyprus) calls for financial support for awareness-raising and education campaigns, and integrated health services to empower women to be responsible for their own lives. The resolution calls on member states to ban any sex selective practice.
MEPs say that gendercide can be found often in patriarchal societies. Distortion of the sex ratio between men and women can lead to other problems, such as forced marriages and sexual exploitation, MEPs note. (MD/transl.fl)