Increase in domestic violence, increase in unpaid activities in the home, greater exposure to the virus and insecurity... The Covid-19 crisis has highlighted, in recent months, the persistent inequalities between men and women (see EUROPE 12470/16).
The debates and discussion with Equality Commissioner Helena Dalli at the European Parliament’s Committee on Women's Rights (FEMM) on Monday 25 May therefore focused on gender inequalities in the light of the pandemic.
The meeting opened with the presentation of an own-initiative report on the theme ‘The gender perspective in the Covid-19 crisis and post-crisis period’.
It addresses issues such as the over-representation of women in the health sector, domestic violence, access to education, exposure to insecurity and mental disorders, as detailed by Frances Fitzgerald (EPP, Ireland), who is responsible for this report.
FEMM Committee Chair Evelyn Regner (S&D, Austria), for her part, stressed the importance of also considering the many cases of single mothers hit hard by the crisis. Like many of her colleagues, she also called for greater financial resources to be mobilised.
Revising the gender equality strategy
The MEPs also called for the disproportionate impact of the pandemic to be taken into account in the EU gender equality strategy presented by the Commission in early March (see EUROPE 12440/7).
“We cannot pretend that nothing has happened”, said French MEP Irène Tolleret, shadow rapporteur on this dossier for the Renew Europe group. This is also the position of rapporteur Maria Noichl (S&D, Germany), who stressed that the strategy should be open to continuous change over the next 5 years.
“Vera Jourova and I met with representatives of civil society to discuss the consequences of this crisis for the different communities and I can confirm that the future strategy will take up all the challenges that we have seen emerge”, Mrs Dalli said, although she said it would take time.
The Commissioner has also committed to ‘consider projects’ to support vulnerable populations most at risk (see EUROPE 12465/12).
Finally, to those MEPs who expressed concern about meeting the deadlines set for implementing the strategy, Helena Dalli assured that work in this direction had continued despite the crisis.
The Commission, she said, also hopes to be able to launch its LGBTI strategy and present its binding measures on pay transparency by the end of the year (see EUROPE 12440/7). (Original version in French by Agathe Cherki)