While meeting in plenary session in Strasbourg on Thursday 23 October, MEPs discussed the fight against violence against women and girls.
Representing the Danish Presidency of the Council of the European Union, the Minister for European Affairs, Marie Bjerre, opened the debate by emphasising that “combating violence against women and girls is our shared responsibility”.
She pointed out that the European Parliament and the EU Council had already worked together, notably with the adoption of the directive “combating violence against women and domestic violence ” in 2024 and the directive “on preventing and combating trafficking in human beings and protecting its victims”. However, she also said that “our work is far from complete”.
Furthermore, Marie Bjerre spoke about the conclusions adopted by the EU Council on Friday 17 October, which are based on the three pillars of prevention, early detection and intervention (see EUROPE 13733/1).
The European Commissioner for Energy and Housing, Dan Jørgensen, pointed out that “freedom from gender-based violence is a pillar of (the EU’s) strategy for equality between women and men”. He welcomed the EU’s accession to the Istanbul Convention and the adoption of the first European directive to combat violence against women, which also provides support for mothers who are victims of domestic violence, also providing easier access to suitable accommodation.
The MEPs’ speeches relayed the multifaceted nature of the violence suffered. Abir Al-Sahlani (Renew Europe, Swedish) said: “The EU has a problem of violence, a problem of gender-based violence. It is vast, serious and devastating. It manifests itself online and in real life. It manifests itself at home, in the workplace and in public places”.
And she added that “we need to talk about men... because even if not all men are involved, it’s always a man who is the perpetrator”.
Elżbieta Katarzyna Łukacijewska (EPP, Polish) spoke of “institutional and economic violence” when systems fail to protect mothers: “A woman who gives birth often loses her job, her chance of promotion and her financial independence”.
Marc Angel (S&D, Luxembourgish) condemned “traditional values based on confining women to obedience and motherhood within a patriarchal framework, depriving them of their free choice and their voice”.
Katrin Langensiepen (Greens/EFA, German), made reference to her personal experience with a teacher who limited her skills to her gender, explaining that: “Violence and humiliation don’t just happen openly in the street – and that’s the ultimate in brutality – they happen in the street, with murder and feminicide. And that starts at school”. (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)