On the International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia (IDAHOT), the European Union reaffirms its strong commitment to respect, protect and fulfil the full and equal enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) persons. Across the world, over 2 billion people live in countries where homosexuality is […]
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Countries with legislated quotas could achieve gender balance in parliaments by 2026, those without may take close to 20 years
Over the last 20 years, gender balance (quota of at least 40 % of each gender) has improved in EU Member States’ parliaments. And the application of legislative quotas that aims to ensure a minimum proportion of each gender among candidates has played a key role. In fact, evidence suggests that the application of legislative […]
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How is gender-based violence addressed in the EU?
Gender-based and domestic violence remain common in Europe, especially affecting women and girls. The EU is taking measures to put an end to it. Most EU countries have laws tackling violence against someone because of gender or sexual orientation, but the lack of a common definition of gender-based violence and common rules to address the […]
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European Union calling for the immediate re-opening of secondary schools for girls
The European Union and its member states, together with international partners, have condemned the decision of the Taliban to deny until further notice secondary level education for over one million Afghan girls. This is a blatant violation of the fundamental right to education for all children, enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and […]
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European Parliament to host “Afghan Women Days”
Parliament’s “Afghan Women Days” kicked off with a high-level conference this week. This event will gather MEPs, prominent Afghan women who were finalists for Parliament’s 2021 Sakharov Prize, Commission and United Nations representatives as well as representatives of other international organisations, to address and cast light on the extremely worrying situation for women in Afghanistan […]
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Femicide: Name it, count it, end it!
Femicide is the killing of women and girls because of their gender. It can include intentional homicides, such as the killing of women by their current or former partners, as well as unintentional killings, such as the death of a woman undergoing an unsafe abortion. According to official data gathered by EIGE, 444 women across […]
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Gender Equality Index 2021: Fragile gains, big losses
The EU scores 68 points out of 100 in the Gender Equality Index, released today by the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE). This is a microscopic increase of just 0.6 points since last year’s edition. “Europe has made fragile gains in gender equality. But big losses are emerging as a result of the […]
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Gender-based cyberviolence: harmonised sanctions and victim support
Seven out of ten women have experienced cyber-stalking Need for a common criminal law definition to ensure convergence of national and EU level EU-wide sanctions in line with standards set out in Istanbul Convention A minimum level of protection and reparation for victims On Tuesday, December 1, the committees on Civil Liberties and Women’s Rights […]
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The impact of the European Convention on Human Rights
Freedom from violence against women The Council of Europe has published a new “Freedom from violence against women” section of its dedicated website highlighting the impact of the European Convention on Human Rights, as part of the 16 days of activism against gender-based violence. The new section includes twelve case studies showing how judgments from the European Court of Human […]
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