The European Parliament’s Committees on Gender Equality (FEMM) and Civil Liberties (LIBE) adopted, on Wednesday 28 June, their position on the directive aimed at combating violence against women, with 71 votes in favour, 5 against and 7 abstentions (see EUROPE 13131/18).
Submitted by Frances Fitzgerald (EPP, Irish) and Evin Incir (S&D, Swedish), the text “strengthens the [European Commission] proposal significantly”, explains the latter. An ambitious text... which differs considerably from that of the Council of the EU.
Extension of crimes
Unlike the Member States, MEPs have extended the list of crimes covered by the legislation.
In addition to rape, they have added sexual assault, with the aim of covering “any non-consensual act of a sexual nature”. They also propose to criminalise intersex genital mutilation, forced sterilisation, forced marriages and sexual harassment “in the world of work”.
However, the text does not include the purchase of sexual services, despite an attempted oral amendment by Malin Björk (The Left, Swedish) and Eugenia Rodríguez Palop (The Left, Spanish) to criminalise “procuring, hiring or enticing another person for the purpose of prostitution [as well as] obtaining profit from the prostitution of another person”. While they have argued that the main aim is to criminalise pimping, the subject of prostitution divides MEPs (see EUROPE 13210/24).
Cyber-violence
An issue close to the heart of the EPP rapporteur (see EUROPE 13197/15), the European Parliament text also clarifies the definitions of cyber-violence.
It considers, for example, that the non-consensual sharing of intimate images or videos may constitute an offence if they are “of a private, personal, sexual or nude nature”, and not only “depicting sexual activities”.
Similarly, it considers that sharing “abusive” content with “other users” (and not a “multitude of users”) or sending unsolicited images of genitals can be considered digital harassment.
Aggravating circumstances
In addition, the text extends the list of aggravating circumstances. The following offences are considered to be aggravating factors: - committed against “a public official, journalist or human rights defender”; - with the aim of “bringing profit or gain”; - committed to “punish victims for their sexual orientation, gender expression, gender identity or sex characteristics, or their skin colour, religion, social origin or political beliefs” (see EUROPE 13200/28); - committed to “preserve or restore the so-called ‘honour’”; - accompanied by particularly degrading acts.
MEPs also added elements that make a victim particularly vulnerable, such as “a victim’s residence status, pregnancy, distress, being a victim of trafficking, or living in retirement, children, or asylum seeker facilities”.
Differences with the EU Council
While the European Parliament’s position also strengthens other aspects of the proposal, notably the protection of victims, it is the extension of offences that is likely to be the subject of the major discussions with the EU Council (see EUROPE 13198/1).
The political agreement negotiated by the Swedish Presidency does not include rape, as some governments state that the EU does not have the power to legislate in this area. For similar reasons, some Member States were also reluctant to include a range of acts of cyber-violence, although they were not successful (see EUROPE 13194/22).
“The (EU) Council’s general approach is very disappointing”, said Frances Fitzgerald ahead of the vote. “We will work with the Spanish Presidency towards a strong Directive, but they should be aware that the inclusion of rape is a red line for the European Parliament, and we call on the Member States to join us in that”.
MEPs voted on this text on the same day as the official ratification of the Istanbul Convention by the EU (see EUROPE 13205/21).
The text will be put to the vote at the plenary session in July, with a view to starting interinstitutional negotiations the following day.
To see the draft report: https://aeur.eu/f/5j0
And the compromise amendments (all adopted): https://aeur.eu/f/7se (Original version in French by Hélène Seynaeve)