European & International News

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European & International News
Number of cases of violence against women increasing, warns Council of Europe

Posted on 30 November 2012 |

[Strasbourg, 30 November 2012] “Statistics indicate an increase in the number of cases of violence against women and domestic violence,” the members of the Standing Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) warned at a meeting in Andorra today.
In a unanimously-adopted declaration, they called on member states to continue allocating adequate funding to shelters and assistance programmes for victims of violence, strengthen preventive measures and to sign and (...) Read more
European & International News
168 MEPs already committed to designate 2014 to be the European Year for Reconciling Work and Family Life

Posted on 23 November 2012 |

[Brussels, 23 November 2012] COFACE, the Confederation of Family Organisations in the European Union, together with the European Year 2014 Alliance (of which the EWL is a member), is calling on Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) to join their 168 colleagues who have already signed the Written Declaration 0032/2012.
In support of this Written Declaration co-tabled by MEPs Marian Harkin, Elisabeth Morin-Chartier, Roberta Angelilli and Jutta Steinruck, MEPs affirm that work-life (...) Read more
European & International News
EU study highlights prevalence of sexual violence against women in EU

Posted on 23 November 2012 |

[Brussels, 23 November 2012] Bulgarian women victims of sexual assault are between 100 000 and 120 000, or between 10 and 18 % of women over 18. Only 4% of them reported the abuse; Research by the Scottish government found that in Scotland, 7 out of 10 women will be virtually guaranteed to be asked about their sexual history or character in the course of a rape or attempted rape trial; In Germany, official statistics in 2009 shows there were 7.314 reported cases of rapes, 1255 prosecutions (...) Read more
European & International News
Commission releases viral ‘women on boards’ video clip

Posted on 23 November 2012 |

[Brussels, 23 November 2012] The European Commission last week launched a viral video clip to accompany the announcement of draft EU legislation to promote parity on company boards across the EU. Commissioner Reding’s proposal sets a target of 40% of women on boards by 2020 and calls on the Member States to put in place effective sanctions in cases of non-compliance. Gender Balance on Corporate Boards
Just 1 in 7 board members at Europe’s top companies is a woman. Do we want to wait (...) Read more
European & International News
EU survey on gender-based violence against women: Fieldwork completed, results expected 2013

Posted on 22 November 2012 |

[Brussels, 22 November 2012] The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) has issued a project update (November 2012) on its EU-wide survey on Gender-based violence against women. It announced the completion of the fieldwork, involving personal interviews with a random, representative sample totalling over 40,000 women in the 27 EU countries and Croatia.
The survey aims to give results representative of all women aged 18-74 at the level of each country and at EU level on, (...) Read more
European & International News
#EndVAWinEurope: MEPs call on EU to ratify Council of Europe Convention on violence against women

Posted on 20 November 2012 |

[Brussels, 20 November 2012] Ahead of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on 25 November, Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) gathered in Strasbourg to express their support to the EP written declaration calling on the EU to ratify the Council of Europe Convention on violence against women.
Initiated by five MEPs from the five main political groups in the EP, the written declaration was launched on Tuesday 20 November, in the presence of guests from (...) Read more
European & International News
Parliament’s women’s rights committee adopts draft resolution to eliminate gender stereotypes in the EU

Posted on 16 November 2012 |

[Brussels, 13 November 2012] The European Parliament’s Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality (FEMM) has urged the European Union to work towards the elimination of gender stereotypes. The draft resolution adopted on 06 November states that EU programmes should play a role in eliminating gender stereotypes, especially in the workplace where decision-making positions continue to be dominated by men.
“There are still many gender stereotypes that lead to inequalities between men and (...) Read more
European & International News
Social Platform issues position paper on EU action to combat all forms of bias violence

Posted on 11 November 2012 |

[Brussels, 11 November 2012] The Social Platform, an alliance of representative European federations and networks of non-governmental organisations active in the social sector, of which the European Women’s Lobby is a member, has issued a position paper calling on the EU to take all measures to eliminate all forms of bias violence, including violence against women and girls.
The EWL welcomes this position paper, which acknowledges the structural nature of violence against women and girls: (...) Read more
European & International News
UN Women publishes report of the online discussion on eliminating violence against women and girls

Posted on 10 November 2012 |

[Brussels, 10 November 2012] The EWL welcomes the report of the online discussion organised by UN Women in light of the 57th session of the Commission on the Status of Women, which will take place in March 2013 in New York and will address violence against women and girls as its priority theme.
Between 23 July and 7 August 2012, UN Women ran a dynamic online discussion to support preparations for the forthcoming 57th Commission on the Status of Women which brought together the views of (...) Read more
European & International News
Belgium - Abused migrant women fear deportation

Legal loopholes and inadequate shelter access send women back to abusers

Posted on 8 November 2012 |

[Human Rights Watch, Brussels, 08 November 2012] The risk of deportation prevents many migrant women who experience domestic violence in Belgium from getting the protection they need, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The report was released in advance of Women’s Day in Belgium, November 11, 2012.
The 57-page report, “‘The Law was Against Me’: Migrant Women’s Access to Protection for Family Violence in Belgium,” found three major protection gaps for migrant women who experience (...) Read more