Iratxe García Pérez urges for a European effort against gender violence

Author: Maria Dominguez Hervas

Brussels, november 25 - During the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, on November 25^th, Iratxe García Pérez, chair of the Women’s Rights and Gender Equality Committee (FEMM), and Dimitrios Papadimoulis, the Vice-president of the European Parliament responsible for gender equality and diversity agreed on the fact that Europe has still a long way to go before ending with cruelty against women. During the conference on the elimination of violence against women organized in Strasburg by the FEMM committee, Pérez García urged EU institutions and Member States to commit and to take measures at European level in order to prevent the violation of women’s rights.

Even nowadays, 25 years after the United Nations launched the International Day of the elimination of Violence against women, “machismo kills.” The chair of the FEMM committee, Iratxe García Pérez, highlighted during the International Conference held the 25^th November in Strasburg that half of the world’s population is vulnerable face to an unequal society that still tolerates macho violence in its diverse forms. According to the 2014 report issued by the Agency of Fundamental Rights, at least 9 million women living in the 28 member states have suffered physical, sexual or psychological violence at work, at home or in the public space. For García Pérez, this is an extensive human rights violation that the EU institutions must not overlook. Greater efforts at European level must be made in order to end with “one of the largest social plagues that exists in the world at this moment.”

The Women’s Rights and Gender Equality Committee, claims for the need of a European Directive to guide member states’ legislation to prevent the violation of women’s fundamental rights. However, the European Commission excuses the lack of a concrete strategy against gender violence arguing that Europe has not competences to legislate on this topic.

In order to elaborate a European strategy against gender violence, García Pérez states, it is fundamental to establish common standards to recognize and act upon gender violence. At present, the Treaty of the European Union contemplates two terms: “victims of trafficking” and “victims of sexual violence,” but it does not include the more global notion of “victims of gender violence”. For Iratxe García Pérez this lack of wording hides the reality of millions of women and girls around the world who suffer diverse abuses for the mere fact of being women. García Pérez recommends, thus, including the notion of “victims of gender violence” in order for Europe to impulse member states’ actions to prevent this human rights’ violation.

Also, during the events organized on Wednesday, 25^th November, the Women’s Rights and Gender Equality Committee asked for the creation of a European Observatory on Gender Violence. This institution would provide with objective data based on recognizable criteria about the impact of gender violence in all the EU countries; which would enable a proper evaluation of the situation and goals of each member state as well as a consequential evaluation of the measures undertaken to prevent this social phenomenon. Present statements like the higher frequency of violence against women in Northern countries than in Southern member states could be verified thanks to uniform criteria to compare statistics and the affectivity of legislation.

Conversely, Dimitrios Papadimoulis, Vice-president of the European Parliament responsible for gender equality and diversity, pinpointed during the Conference the need for creating real synergies between the European Parliament, the Council of Europe and the United Nations in order to achieve optimal results in the fight against gender violence. Moreover, before creating new organizations, he rather sees as a priority to increase EU funding for existing agencies and structures concerned by the eradication of gender violence and for public awareness campaign.