[Brussels, 26 April 2022] Male violence against women and girls (VAWG) is a fundamental human rights violation, a form of discrimination against women and girls and a huge obstacle to achieving equality between women and men. It happens across Europe, affecting over 250 million women and girls, and yet due to a lack of European harmonisation of legislation, the remedies and prevention methods taken by governments are haphazard and a lottery for the women and girls experiencing violence. To ensure all women in the EU benefit from the same level of protection, it is necessary to ensure harmonisation of existing EU legislative instruments relative to forms of violence against women and girls. It must start with the harmonisation of existing EU legislative instruments relative to forms of violence against women and girls, e.g. the Anti-Trafficking Directive, the Victim’s Rights Directive and the Digital Services Act. And, it must be complemented with the adoption of a horizontal EU Directive with a holistic, gender-sensitive and intersectional approach. Therefore, the European Women’s Lobby supports the proposal of the European Commission for a Directive on “Combating Violence against women and domestic violence”. To complement the proposal for a Directive and broaden its scope, EWL is releasing two documents on VAWG. The first one “Recommendations on the Istanbul Convention’s 4 Ps (Prevention, Protection, Prosecution and Policies) and how they can be integrated in the Directive on Violence Against Women and Girls ” will give an overview of EWL’s policy recommendations on the four P’s included in the Istanbul Convention and beyond to enhance the text of the Directive and therefore the safety of women and girls in Europe. The second one “EWL Glossary On Forms Of Violence Against Women And Girls” offers an extensive but not limited list of definitions of forms of violence against women and girls and advocates to include as many forms of VAWG as possible as legal definitions in the Directive through amendments. The two documents can be used to advocate for EWL demands in the upcoming months and will help identify shortcomings and possible amendments for the proposed Directive. Download the documents below:
Attached documents
