Meeting in plenary session on Thursday 19 December, MEPs adopted their recommendation on the EU’s priorities for the 69th session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women. Voted in with 322 votes in favour, 163 against and 46 abstentions, the text aims to consolidate the European Union’s commitment to implementing the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (BPfA) on gender equality, whose thirtieth anniversary will coincide with the next global meeting on women’s rights, to be held in March in New York.
In particular, MEPs are calling on the European Union to take a leading role - working to support partner countries in combating gender discrimination and setting an example by promoting equality - at a time when these issues are facing increasing rejection, thirty years after the Beijing Declaration, identified by MEPs as an international charter of women’s rights.
The MEPs condemned the growing influence of anti-rights movements, which are “attempts to reduce, restrict or remove existing protections for gender equality”.
Combating gender-based violence online and offline has been identified as a major challenge. Faced with this threat which has many aspects - online, offline, domestic, sexual, physical, psychological or economic violence - all EU Member States are called upon to ratify the Istanbul Convention on preventing and combating violence against women as soon as possible. The recommendation also highlights the link between online gender-based violence and women’s mental health.
In addition, the definition of rape based on consent, promoted as a universal standard throughout the EU, remains a demand of MEPs, who failed, in the face of resistance from the Council of the EU, to include it in the European directive against gender-based violence, which came into force this year (see EUROPE 13431/33).
Also, in order to ensure better equal opportunities in all areas of life, MEPs are calling for gender mainstreaming and gender budgeting in all relevant EU policy areas, as well as improved collection of sex-disaggregated data on equality, which should also contribute to better policy-making.
Faced with women’s economic insecurity, the text calls for action to be taken against systemic causes, particularly in rural areas. The parliamentarians are demanding that equal pay and pensions be implemented, and greater visibility in political leadership positions and in entrepreneurship.
In terms of health care, the text calls for all women to have access to health services, including reproductive health services, contraception and safe and legal abortion.
Read the recommendation: https://aeur.eu/f/ewf (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)