European & International News

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European & International News
EC Advisory Committee on Equal Opportunities between women and men publishes two new opinions

Posted on 12 September 2012 |

[Brussels, 12 September 2012] The Advisory Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men has published this week two new opinions for 2012: Opinion on gender equality in the cohesion policy 2014-2020 Opinion on a possible EU awareness raising campaign on violence against women and girls (VAWG)
The EC Advisory Committee assists the Commission in formulating and implementing the European Union activities aimed at promoting equality between women and men. The European Women’s Lobby takes (...) Read more
European & International News
Parliament backs minimum rights for crime victims across the EU

Posted on 12 September 2012 |

[Brussels, 12 September 2012, EP press release] All crime victims will have the same basic rights across the EU, including an assessment of their specific needs, under a directive endorsed by Parliament on Wednesday 12 September. Free support services, such as psychological help, will be provided for victims, who will have the right to be questioned by police and heard in court in a language they understand. Some 75 million people suffer from crimes in the EU each year.
Victims of crimes (...) Read more
European & International News
International Disability Alliance meets with Deputy Executive Director of UN Women

Posted on 11 September 2012 |

[New York, 7 September 2012, IDA press release] The meeting was held today on the premises of UN Women between Ms. Lakshmi Puri, Deputy Executive Director, Assistant Secretary-General for Intergovernmental Support for Strategic Partnerships of UN Women, and a delegation of the International Disability Alliance led by its Chair Yannis Vardakastanis, to discuss the challenge of mainstreaming the rights of women and girls with disabilities within the work of UN Women.
The International (...) Read more
European & International News
EU to go for 40% gender quota on company boards

Posted on 7 September 2012 |

[Brussels, 7 September 2012] EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding will propose decisive legislative action on gender quotas for corporate boards next month, after her calls to take voluntary steps to increase the number of women on boards to 40% by 2020 failed to deliver tangible results.
The legislative proposal follows a three-month consultation and a report launched in March in which the Commission showed limited progress towards increasing the number of women on companies’ (...) Read more
European & International News
Lauch of the new Equinet website !

Posted on 7 September 2012 |

[Brussels, 7 September 2012] Equinet, the European network of equality bodies, launched its new website.
Equinet gathers 37 organisations from 30 European countries, which are committed to "to counteract discrimination as national equality bodies across the range of grounds including age, disability, gender, race or ethnic origin, religion or belief, and sexual orientation" [1].
Equinet launched its new websitewhere you can find a section on European equality body and up-to-date (...) Read more
European & International News
UN human rights experts condemn France’s crackdown on Roma migrants

Posted on 29 August 2012 |

[Brussels, 29 August 2012] UN human rights experts in Geneva slammed France for dismantling Roma camps this week and evicting hundreds of migrant Roma regardless of international human rights conventions.
At the beginning of last week, France started evicting hundreds of Romani migrants from ‘illegal’ camps and sent several of them back to Romania via a charter plane, providing them with 300 euros compensation for their ‘voluntary return’. While the EU remains silent over French policies, (...) Read more
European & International News
Human rights council resolution on traditional values: a backlash for women’s rights?

Posted on 23 August 2012 |

[Brussels, 23 August 2012] During its 9th session, the Human Rights Council Advisory Committee took up a preliminary study on promoting human rights through a better understanding of traditional values of human kind. This study is highly controversial because of the debate between the proclamation of traditional values and the fear of backlash for women’s rights.
In 2009, the Human Rights Council adopted the resolution 12/21 on the proposal of the Russian delegation. This resolution, called (...) Read more
European & International News
Irish billboards raise awareness about the young age of entry into prostitution

Posted on 23 August 2012 |

[Brussels, 23 August 2012] The campaign Turn Off the Red Light (TORL), which has by now 55 partners and represents over a million supporters in Ireland, has launched Billboards “Anna was 14” around Ireland, and an accompanying Twitter campaign which generated much public debate.
The campaigners chose to focus on the most difficult to accept fact about prostitution: this is the young age of entry into prostitution and the fact that children are being found in situation of prostitution every (...) Read more
European & International News
Photographing Violence Against Women, Even in Norway

Posted on 23 August 2012 |

[Brussels, 23 August 2012] It is quite unusual to hear about Norway on issues related to women’s rights, with the reputation of the country to be far advanced on equality between women and men. This myth needs to be breakdown and this is part of the aim of photographer Walter Astrada when he chose Norway as the place to complete his magnum opus on violence against women.
A very interesting article in the blog LENS of the New York Times describes his project. He started the project in 2006 (...) Read more
European & International News
"Gender Equality remains a challenge at the Olympics", Ms. Bachelet says.

Posted on 22 August 2012 |

[Brussels, 22 August 2012] On 13 August 2012, Ms. Michelle Bachelet, UN Women Executive Director has published an article in El Pais claiming that, although more gender equality have been achieved at the London Olympic Games compared to previous editions, gender inequalities have been still present. To her view, gender inequality is not only a women’s issue but a matter linked to human values and to the spirit and ideals of the Games. Urgent action shall be adopted to end the discriminatory (...) Read more