Press coverage highlights of 2017

December 20, 2017

As 2017 draws to a close, here we reflect on some of the major moments of the past year.

January
Lights for Rights! Brussels Women’s March / Candlelight rally

Thousands of women gathered for their rights and in order to say no to Donald Trump! #WomensMarch

Full video on NewsMonkey here.

GENDER, RACE AND EUROPE TODAY: THE FLUIDITY SERIES Full article on Europe & Me Magazine here.

Putting More Women on a Path to Political Power “The obsession with austerity across Europe has been really bad,” Ms. Maycock said. It hits women doubly, she argued, cutting public service jobs often held by women and leaving them bereft of the infrastructure — care for children and seniors, for instance — that enables them to work.

Full article from The New York Times here.

February
Istanbul Convention: a minimum standard and a tool for eradicating gender violence

Iliana Balabanova-Stoicheva, vice president of the European Women’s Lobby, points out that “amongst the other very positive and strong measures to tackle violence against women and domestic violence, the Convention requires governments to ensure and provide regular training for specialists [police officers, social workers, psychologists, judges, lawyers, etc.]”.

Full article from Equal Times here.

March

On strike to demand political action to end violence against women and girls in Europe! “Even as 50 women are murdered in Europe every week as a result of male domestic violence, violence against women remains invisible or is trivialised. Today, 1 in 5 persons in Europe continue to think that male violence is provoked by the victim or that women exaggerate claims of abuse or rape. 27% of Europeans think that rape can be justified in some circumstances – for example if the victim is drunk or is wearing ‘revealing’ clothes. This is extremely worrying and shows how much work there still is to be done and yet violence against women remains low on the list of political priorities.”

Full article from E! Sharp here.

A gender-equal European Commission in the making “The European Women’s Lobby and its member organisations have been actively campaigning for parity democracy at the European level for a number of years, and will continue to do so.” Full article from FutureLab Europe here.

How the legal system is failing to protect women and girls from sexual violence “Cultural challenges also remain an obstacle in Europe, according to Irene Rosales, policy and campaigns officer at the European Women’s Lobby, an umbrella group of women’s associations.” Full article from Devex here.

BBC Radio 4 Women’s Hour Joanna Maycock, Secretary General of the European Women’s Lobby discusses Brexit.

Full episode on BBC Radio 4 here.

Prostitution legal in several EU countries, but Nordic Model could change that “MEPs, feminists and police officers met today, on International Women’s Day (8 March), at the European Parliament, to discuss a new approach to criminalising prostitution: the Nordic Model.” Full article from Euractiv here.

April
A woman’s place is in politics

It’s a woman’s right to take part in political decision-making. But more women in parliaments and governments is, by itself, not enough. We need to look at the roles – and the power – held by women politicians. Do women chair the most powerful parliamentary committees? Are women ministers also in charge of traditionally ‘masculine’ portfolios, such as defence?

Full article from Friends of Europe here.

Commission readies new parental leave rules to replace axed maternity bill “Two years after the European Commission scrapped its own proposal for new EU maternity leave rules, the EU executive is getting ready to replace it with new measures, including some focused on getting more fathers to take leave.”

Full article from Euractiv here.

Hijos por 35.000 euros “Kelly Martínez fue madre subrogada para tres parejas, a las que dio cinco bebés a cambio de dinero; en el último parto casi pierde la vida.”

Full article from La Vanguardia here.

Getting to know you: mapping the anti-feminist face of right-wing populism in Europe “These three parties are only a part of the right-wing populist anti-feminism that is spreading across Europe. The European Women’s Lobby and its members continue to keep track, and evolve policies to resist.” Full article from Open Democracy here.

June

Feministas europeias: ruidosas e unidas

Full article from Expresso here.

Basta! Samen sterk tegen gendergeweld

Full article on Mondiaal Nieuws here.

The Secretary General of the European Women’s Lobby shares the significance of the 2017 W20 summit.

Full interview from EY Global on Youtube here.

Loud and United – Reflections of a Black Feminist on the Road

Full article from Sister Outrider here.

Gloria Steinem: Trump has galvanised more activists than the Vietnam war Speaking to the Guardian before giving the keynote speech at a conference highlighting violence against women in the EU, organised by the European Women’s Lobby, Steinem said: “The only good news of Trump is that the galvanising of activism is like nothing I have ever seen in my life. A thousand times more even than the Vietnam war, and how important that was – or of any other thing I’ve ever seen.” Full article from The Guardian here.

July

Rompre le continuum des violences faites aux femmes et aux filles “À l”occasion des vingt ans de son observatoire des violences faites aux femmes et aux filles, le Lobby européen des femmes propose un document regroupant chiffres, témoignages et exemples d’actions dans les pays de l’Union europée” Full article from Clara Magazine here: file0013.pdf

October

EU too? Lawmakers denounce harassment in Brussels “It comes as no surprise to those of us working for years on the fight to end violence against women that sexual harassment is also widespread throughout the EU institutions,” said the European Women’s Lobby, a Brussels-based, pan-European organization. Full article from Reuters here.

Young women mobilise against ‘revenge porn’ and online abuse “I spoke with Holten following her talk at the #HerNetHerRights online conference earlier this month, organised by the European Women’s Lobby (EWL), and funded by Google, which brought researchers, activists, survivors of online violence together.”

Full article from Open Democracy here.

POLITICO’s EU Confidential podcast: Harassment discussion — Hope for change — Maroš Šefčovič interview “Joanna Maycock from the European Women’s Lobby explains why she thinks the wave of recent allegations can lead to positive change.” Full podcast from Politico here.

Gender Equality in Europe Grows at Slow Pace “The European Women’s Lobby (EWL), the European Union’s largest umbrella of women’s associations, said in a recent statement that it is “dismayed” by the very slow pace of gender equality in the E.U.” Full article from The Globe Post here.

Brussels can’t brush sexual harassment under the carpet No workplace is free of sexual harassment. “Women’s full participation in society and the workforce — not to mention their full participation in the construction of the future of Europe — requires zero tolerance toward violence in every form, including sexual harassment.”

Read full article from Politico here.

Has #MeToo transformed into a turning point for social change? “‘We have reached a point of no return.’ said Joanna Maycock, the Secretary-General of the European Women’s Lobby, the largest umbrella organisation of women’s associations in the European Union.” Watch the full interview on euronews here.

November

In a time of strong men politics, how do women (re)group? “The surge of rightwing nationalist parties throughout Europe has led to an increase in sexist, demeaning remarks as well as attempts to repeal crucial legislation affecting women’s rights, warn representatives of the Brussels Binder.”

Full article from Euractiv here.

Nous n’attendrons pas un siècle ! “En tant que Lobby Européen des Femmes, la plus grande alliance d’organisations de femmes, nous reconnaissons l’importance des efforts de l’Union européenne (UE), car l’égalité entre les femmes et les hommes est l’une des «valeurs fondatrices» de l’UE.” Full article on 50/50 here.

EU plans to move closer to the Swedish model for parental leave Full article from The Economist here.

La violència sexual persisteix a Europa tot i la falta de denúncies “Tot i així, el European Women’s Lobby lamenta que en la majoria de països molts crims sexuals no surten a la llum, i que només “entre un 2% i un 10% de les violacions es denuncien”, com explica Irene Rosales, experta en violència sexual de l’organització.” Full article from Ara here.

Van Lima naar Brussel. Sterk en divers tegen geweld op vrouwen 25 november, Internationale Dag voor de Eliminatie van Geweld tegen Vrouwen, staat op de kaart. In Latijns-Amerika, volgens de VN het gevaarlijkste continent voor vrouwen, neemt de vrouw een voorbeeldrol op in de roep tegen gendergeweld. Al jaren komen ze massaal de straat op. De hashtags tegen “victim blaming” zijn er niet meer weg te denken uit de sociale media. Maar ook Brussel toonde zich afgelopen 25 november sterk en divers tegen vrouwengeweld. Full article from Mondiaal Nieuws here.

December

Brussels Agenda “What we hope to achieve from this issue is to raise awareness of issues and show our support for all initiatives aimed at redressing the gender and equality imbalance.” Full article from The Uk Law Societies here.