Brussels, 25/11/2014 (Agence Europe) - On the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, Commissioner Vera Jourova assured the MEPs that the issue would be the priority of the gender equality strategy she is to present next year.
This announcement was made during a plenary debate of the European Parliament on the question, on Tuesday 25 November. The president of the parliamentary committee on women's rights and gender equality, Iratxe Garcia Perez (S&D, Spain), expressly called on the Commission to produce a directive to fight this type of violence. She stressed that the European citizens cannot understand why “the EU cannot agree on protecting women when it agreed to protect banks!”. Along with many of her colleagues, she called for greater engagement from the Commission. Commissioner Jourova replied by stressing that a chapter on eliminating this violence would be included in the strategy she is to present in 2015, which will also, for the first time, tackle harassment and cyber violence.
Immediately after this international Day, Jourova and the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Federica Mogherini, and their colleague, the Commissioner for Development Cooperation, Neven Mimica, issued a joint statement in which they stress that fighting violence of this kind is a fundamental pillar of human rights.
The EU is also involved in the campaign for 16 days of activism to end violence based on gender, which was launched by the Secretary General of the United Nations. This will run from 25 November, International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, until 10 December, Human Rights Day. (MD)