The European Parliament’s committees on women’s rights (FEMM) and justice (LIBE) on Wednesday 14 July backed a draft resolution calling for gender-based violence to be added to the EU crime list (see EUROPE 12726/25).
The text, submitted by Malin Björk (The Left, Sweden) and Diana Riba i Giner (Greens/EFA, Spain), argues that this list of crimes to be “combated on a common basis” should be extended to violence against women, girls and LGBTIQ+ people, both offline and online, because of their gender.
In particular, the rapporteurs note that denying safe and legal abortion is a form of gender-based violence (see EUROPE 12748/12) and identify femicide as “the most extreme form” of such violence.
With this text, they intend to put pressure on the European Commission to honour its commitments: the extension of the list to “all forms of hate crimes and hate speech” based on gender had indeed been promised by President Ursula von der Leyen herself in her last State of the Union speech (see EUROPE 12561/3).
The draft resolution also calls on the Commission to use this new area of crime as a basis for a directive to prevent and combat gender violence.
Such a directive should, according to MEPs, ensure that the provisions of the Istanbul Convention are finally implemented (see EUROPE 12609/5) and encourage states to better care for victims of gender violence.
“We need strong legislation, but we also need to invest in women’s shelters, in education and in healthcare”, said Malin Björk on Wednesday.
The draft resolution, approved by 53 votes in favour, 18 against and 24 abstentions, will be put to the vote at the plenary in September. (Original version in French by Agathe Cherki)