Just a few days before International Women’s Day, the European Parliament’s Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality (FEMM) organised an interparliamentary meeting on ‘Strengthening the agenda for women, peace and security - defending women’s rights in defence, security and peace-building’.
At a time when conflicts are multiplying, the speakers were keen to point out that women are still the first victims of war and the forgotten victims of peace and security processes.
The Chair of the FEMM Committee, Lina Gálvez (S&D, Spanish), condemned a situation that continues: “Women and girls have always been the majority of victims of war. The majority of victims of rape and other gender-based sexual violence. Women are often at the centre of wars, in the worst possible way, but they are often on the sidelines when it comes to building peace and taking decisions at the highest political level”.
This was echoed by the President of the Parliament, Roberta Metsola, in a video address. “Despite their suffering, women are all too often excluded from the decision-making tables. This is not just an injustice, it weakens security”, she stressed.
The figures bear this out, according to Jonna Naumanen, Senior Adviser for Gender Equality and the Women, Peace and Security Programme at the European External Action Service: only 9.6% of peace negotiators are women, and women account for only 26.6% of the signatories to peace agreements.
“Peace agreements will never be sustainable if the perpetrators of rape are not brought to justice. Sexual violence has effects long after peace agreements have been signed”, argued Lina Gálvez.
The Polish Minister for Equality, Katarzyna Kotula, reiterated that the protection of women is not a secondary issue, citing the example of Ukraine in particular.
For her part, Dutch Lieutenant-General Elanor Boekholt-O’Sullivan denounced a military model that excludes women. “The door has been opened for us, but the doorway is designed for someone else. It’s time to retire this male standard”, she pointed out.
And to illustrate: “For years, our bullet-proof vests were perfectly suited to a 1.80 metre tall man with broad shoulders. For a woman, it was like a suffocating corset”.
The European Commissioner for Equality called for a collective responsibility to protect women’s rights, noting that “there is a backlash almost everywhere in the world”.
She stressed that Europe must not relax its efforts: “The world around us is changing at the speed of light (...). But in this context, human rights and women’s rights in particular must be our guide”. (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)