On Friday 31 May, the Council of Europe launched its strategy for gender equality 2024-2029, an initiative welcomed by the European branch of the International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA-Europe) and the European Lesbian* Conference (EL*C), respectively representative of the Conference of International Non-Governmental Organisations to the Commission for Gender Equality and observer to the Commission for Gender Equality.
They have worked with Member States and Council of Europe representatives on a plan that commits the Council of Europe to addressing gender equality with an intersectional approach, explicitly including discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation, gender identity and expression and/or biological sex.
The strategy proposes policies to combat violence against women, data collection and specific actions for LBTI women, including access to justice and socio-economic rights. For the first time, the needs of GBTI men are also addressed.
ILGA-Europe and EL*C stress the importance of its implementation in the face of the rise in extreme right-wing and anti-gender discourse, and will continue to work to ensure its application.
Strategy: https://aeur.eu/f/chx (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)