A holistic approach on combatting violence against women and girls
#HerNetHerRights trainings across Europe
[Brussels, 30 October 2019] Throughout October 2019, the European Women’s Lobby (EWL) and members held multiple #HerNetHerRights training sessions across Europe, for women’s civil society, social justice and political organisations in Belgium, Germany, Turkey and Wales.
Originally developed as a pilot project within the context of the EWL European elections campaign, #HerNetHerRights II: Prevent, Protect, Promote is a training session aimed at politically engaged women such as women politicians and women’s rights activists, which aims to contextualise and provide practical support against the violence experienced as politically engaged women. You can find out more about the pilot project here
Violence against politically engaged women remains a critical issue; 47% of women politicians have received death threats and women’s human rights defenders are at increased risk of psychological violence. Now, within the new European Union mandate, the EWL seeks to continue supporting politically engaged women against the violence they continue to face and to work collectively to enact political change to ensure that all women in Europe can live their lives free from all forms of violence, whether in the offline or online space.
In Ankara, EWL Turkish Coordination, Avrupa Kadin Lobisi Turkiye Koordinasyonu, held a #HerNetHerRights session at the UN Women event, “Preventing Violence against Women in Politics” in partnership with the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA). Whilst in Aberystwyth, the Women’s Equality Network Wales (WEN), one of the member organisations of the UK Joint Committee on Women organised a #HerNetHerRights session within the context of the WEN mentoring programme which aims to get more women in political and public life.
On October 25, at the PES Women executive meeting, Policy and Campaigns Officer Irene Rosales and EWL Observatory on violence against women expert Gwendolyn Sterk facilitated a condensed training session. Participants came together to strategise on national level actions for the promotion of the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, the Istanbul Convention, which recognises online violence within the continuum of violence against women and girls.
Finally, in Berlin, expert trainers Aslihan Tekin and Elina Nikulainen led a full workshop for women human rights defenders within the Gender Justice Working Group of Euro-Med Rights; a civil society organisation working to develop and strengthen partnerships between NGOs in the Euro-Mediterranean region and advocate for human rights values. .
Elina Nikulainen & Aslihan Tekin
The EWL would like to thank all of our participating members and experts for their continued passion and dedication to the #HerNetHerRights project and advocating for the eradication of violence against women and girls
All forms of violence against women are linked and form a continuum of violence, from obvious violations of women’s rights to subtle or distorted forms of control over women’s lives, bodies and sexuality in the public and private sphere, online and offline.
The EWL calls on the EU and all member states to ratify and fully implement the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating violence against women and domestic violence, the Istanbul Convention, which recognises the consequences of multiple forms of violence against women, including in the digital space & adopt a comprehensive European legal framework to disrupt the continuum of violence
