The Commissioner-designate for Equality, Helena Dalli, reaffirmed on Thursday 21 November, at the annual conference of PES Women, that the fight against gender violence was one of her “major priorities”. A few days before the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, Mrs Dalli described the EU's commitment in this area as “important and pressing”.
The Commissioner-designate assured that she would work towards the EU's ratification of the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women.
“We really must engage a constructive dialog with the Member States who have refrained from ratifying the Convention and convince them to do so. During Malta’s Presidency (of the Council of the EU) I had pushed for the signature of the European Union of the Convention and we managed to do that. So now I'm hoping that we'll go to the other level”, she told EUROPE.
Helena Dalli also recalled that she would propose adding violence against women to the list of criminal offences defined in the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU (see EUROPE 12298/18).
These announcements echo the demands made by the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) to Mrs Dalli and Mrs von der Leyen in a letter dated 21 November. The ETUC also calls for increased support for women who are victims of gender violence “if the Convention remains blocked in the European Council”. It also calls for the ratification by all Member States of the International Labour Organization Convention on violence and harassment at work.
Cyberviolence and gender pay gap. Helena Dalli said that developing concrete measures against the cyberviolence of women “will certainly be an important element of (her) work”. She mentioned the possibility of initiating a dialogue with social networking platforms, NGOs and national authorities “to develop the best possible means of protecting female internet users”.
The future Commissioner also confirmed to EUROPE that she intends to fight against income inequalities between men and women. Measures regarding transparency of remuneration should be proposed during the first 100 days of her term of office.
European responsibility. Commission Vice-President Federica Mogherini deplored, in a statement on Friday 22 November, that women are not safe anywhere, not even in their homes. It is the responsibility of the EU and the international community to “keep our commitment to preventing all acts of violence against women”, she said.
Mrs Mogherini recalled that in Europe, one in three women has experienced physical and/or sexual violence and that nearly all victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation within the EU are women. (Original version in French by Agathe Cherki, intern)