Members News

Members News
A Tribute to Paula Rego, the woman who painted women

Posted on 13 June 2022 |

EWL mourns the passing of the Portuguese painter, deceased on June 8th 2022
Paula Rego was born in Lisbon on the 26th of January 1935. We lost her on the 8th of June, 87 years later. She was honored by the Portuguese Government and by Queen Elizabeth II of England, the country where she lived most of her life. Paula’s artistic contribution is priceless and absolute. But she is more than a painter, and the pain of having lost her extends beyond the artistic circle she presided over in life: (...) Read more
Members News
The case of Mirela Čavajda and the right of women to termination of pregnancy in Croatia

Statement by Women’s Network of Croatia

Posted on 12 May 2022 |

[Zagreb, 10 May 2022] Last week the media reported on case of Mirela Čavajda. She was 25 weeks pregnant when doctors informed her that her foetus had a brain tumour and will either die or live with severe malformations, but most probably will die before birth. She sought help in all hospitals in Zagreb, Croatia’s capital, but they all refused to terminate the pregnancy and doctors advised her to go home and wait for the baby to die or to seek the procedure in the neighbouring Slovenia (...) Read more
Members News
How Social Crises Are Misused for Sexual Exploitation of Women

by EWL members from Serbia

Posted on 6 May 2022 |

What do the war in Ukraine, the Covid-19 pandemic, racism in the USA, which lead to the establishment of the Black Lives Matter movement, migrant crises, human trafficking and other social crises have in common? The answer is the outstanding capability of the so-called sex industry to take advantage and make a profit from them.
The War in Ukraine
Let’s start from the most recent events. In recent weeks, the most searched terms on porn sites (those on so-called Trending lists) are “Ukrainian (...) Read more
Members News
Rape as a weapon of war

by EWL member Soroptimist International of Europe

Posted on 14 April 2022 |

It is pain, it is hurt, it is suffering, it is trauma, it is an enormous humiliation. It stays with a woman for her life, its repercussions are passed on to the following generations. It may end in pregnancy, it may end in stigmatization, it may end in self-hate, it may never heal, it may end in depression and death. It is barbarous, it is inhuman: Rape as a weapon of war. It is meant to demoralize and destabilize the civil society of a region or of a country by turning on women and girls. (...) Read more
Members News
Soroptimist International Europe: We stand up for women in warzones!

Statement by EWL members in SIE

Posted on 25 March 2022 |

What we are saying: SIE Statement on Ukraine War is not gender-neutral.
In case of armed conflict, women suffer disproportionately. Women rarely seek war but are the most affected by war. In peace talks, they are usually absent, if not excluded.
The conflict in Ukraine cannot leave us silent. We fear for the health and well-being of millions of women and girls who may suffer injury, loss of their homes and their jobs, displacement, loss of schooling, rape, and death. Women are much more (...) Read more
Members News
8 March 2022: Calls from the Portuguese Platform for Women’s Rights

Posted on 8 March 2022 |

8M2022 WOMEN WANT PEACE!
We live in uncertain and painful times, marked by the pandemic crisis of COVID-19 and its consequences and by armed conflicts that drag on intolerably, such as that of Yemen, or that have erupted violently, such as that of Ukraine, dramatically aggravating the living conditions of women and children. The Call for Peace in Europe 2,500 reported cases of sexual violence against women and girls related to armed conflict in 2020 in 18 countries; More than 70% of the (...) Read more
Members News
The Czech Women’s Lobby statement on the current situation of women from Ukraine

Statement by EWL members in Czech Republic

Posted on 8 March 2022 |

On the occasion of the International Women’s Day, we would like to draw attention to the situation of women suffering from the war in Ukraine and the current migration crisis. We appreciate the support and assistance provided by Czech society and the Czech government to those arriving from Ukraine. We offer our expertise and diverse support services of our member organizations in dealing with this crisis. We call for the gender dimension, i.e. the different situation of women and men, to be (...) Read more
Members News
BULGARIA: Women’s rights organisations are working together towards the goal of a feminist Europe

Posted on 5 March 2022 |

This interview with the president of Bulgarian Platform of the European Women’s Lobby Iliana Balabanova was originally published on civicus.org.
CIVICUS speaks about the upcoming International Women’s Day and Bulgarian civil society’s role in eliminating gender-based violence (GBV) with Iliana Balabanova, founder and president of the Bulgarian Platform of the European Women’s Lobby (BPEWL).
BPEWL was founded in 2005 by a group of civil society organisations (CSOs) working for gender equality (...) Read more
Members News
Women’s Appeal for Peace

Statement by EWL members in Croatia

Posted on 1 March 2022 |

This article is also available in Ukrainian and Russian.
With consternation and disbelief, we are witnessing the escalation of the war and violence in Ukraine caused by the Russian invasion and the suspension of negotiations between the leaders of Russia and Ukraine.
As female citizens of Europe and the world, we demand from the Government of the Russian Federation to immediately cease hostilities, knowing that war is a crime against peace and humanity. At the same time, we urge all sides (...) Read more
Members News
European Network of Migrant Women Statement on the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Armed Forces

Statement by EWL member ENoMW

Posted on 1 March 2022 |

On the 24th of February 2022, the world woke up to the shocking news of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. After eight years of conflict in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, around 3 million people were already in a catastrophic situation, struggling to get access to their basic needs, living in fear and uncertainty. The COVID19 pandemic added to this chaos, and now, invasion and war have made their situation even more desperate. According to the UNHCR, over 368,000 people, mostly women and girls, (...) Read more