A new voice was heard in the European Parliament on Tuesday 7 April calling for support for victims of domestic violence, whose situation has been further aggravated in this time of health crisis.
Evelyn Regner (S&D, Austria), Chair of Parliament’s Committee on Women’s Rights (FEMM), urged EU leaders to “tackle this problem with determination”.
Several MEPs from the Greens/EFA group, and then from the Renew Europe group, had already called on the President of the EU Council, Charles Michel, the President of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the Commissioner for Equality, Helena Dalli (see EUROPE 12451/17 and 12457/17).
Globally, as in some EU countries, a one-third increase in cases of domestic violence was indeed observed in the week following the introduction of the containment measures.
“Women and sometimes children in unsafe homes are facing a particularly gruelling stress test. We, therefore, must now pay particular attention to this issue and expand our actions to stop violence against women”, said Mrs Regner.
The Chairwoman of the FEMM Committee calls on the EU Member States to create more places in protection centres and to actively communicate where and how they can help the people concerned.
“This must also include simple ways to contact and to alert the police, such as text messages or online chats, and the use of code words with doctors or pharmacists”, she suggests.
Evelyn Regner lastly calls on the EU to financially support the measures put in place by the Member States and to help them to communicate. (Original version in French by Agathe Cherki)