[Brussels 2 February, 2015] The sexual attacks that took place in several cities in Europe during New Year’s celebration one month ago has sent shockwaves throughout Europe. How could women experience such terrible violence in a public space filled with people for New Year in a modern European city? How can the response of the authorities, police and politicians alike have been so inadequate and inappropriate? Some have sadly used these attacks as an excuse to lame refuges and migrants more generally.
We express our solidarity with the women victims and we ask the public authorities to provide them with the adequate protection and support. We demand that the judicial system will work properly to ensure that the perpetrators are prosecuted.
Sadly however, these attacks and the poor response by the authorities are but another expression of the endemic violence against women and girls experience in Europe on a daily basis. At the European Women’s Lobby we condemn all forms of violence against women and it is one of our key priorities we fight alongside our members and partners for a society in which women and girls can live their lives to the full free from fear of violence. Male violence against women remains widespread and extremely prevalent everywhere in Europe, as data in Europe shows.
Data FRA Agency 2014 ourfuture BLOG
In Germany, a quarter of all women have experienced physical violence from their intimate partners and 7% sexual violence from their partners. Moreover, recent studies show that in some countries, such as the UK, male violence against women is on the rise within the context of a decline in violence overall in the population.
Male violence against women is rooted in patriarchal values and in a society with deep gender inequalities in which men continue to be entitled to exert power over women in public and private life.Men and women all over Europe are exposed on a daily basis to a culture with sexualises and objectifies women’s bodies, and which trivialises rape and sexual abuse.
Furthermore, a very high percentage of the crimes linked to sexual violence remains highly underreported which reveals the inability of the enforcement mechanisms and criminal justice systems to deal properly with these cases. For example, 92% of the sexual violence crimes are not reported to the police in Germany. As recent studies have shown, the large number of sexual crimes remain underreported because women are afraid to ask for protection, they don’t know where to go and/or because they don’t believe that the existent legal system is going to protect them. This is highly linked to the outrageous and persuasive impunity of the perpetrators. For example, in Denmark only a 30% of the rapes reported ended up in a conviction; or in Sweden where only 14% of the men that were suspected of crime were convicted (to find out more, see EWL Barometer on rape in the EU in 2013).
Change is needed ourfuture BLOG
Furthermore, the EWL has been calling the European countries and the EU to ratify and implement the Istanbul Convention: The Council of Europe’s Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence.
To make matters worse, austerity measures across Europe have hit women hardest and have particularly resulted in cutbacks in public spending for comprehensive public services to combat violence against women. Everything from specialised police and medical services to access to justice and essential shelters for survivors been subject to cutbacks. In the EU, fifty women on average are killed every week at the hands of a partner or ex-partner: these cuts are quite literally life-threatening for women.
Our demands to advance women’s rights and combat violence against women have never been supported by extreme right-wing parties and media who are currently using the “Cologne attacks” as a pretext to promote xenophobic anti-immigration measures apparently in the name of women’s rights. If they were really supporting women’s rights, these organisations and individuals would be supporting the demands of women’s rights organisations to comprehensively address the problem of violence against women. On the contrary, these actors have been blocking important proposals to promote the advancement of women’s rights in national and the European Parliaments – especially when it comes to women’s access to sexual and reproductive health and rights. Women’s human rights are universal and should be at the core of all policies and action. Half the population, half the future!
Joanna Maycock, Secretary General European Women’s Lobby
@JoannaMaycock #ourfuture
This blogpost is the first of our new BLOG #ourfuture.
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Accessibility Statement
womenlobby.org
22 April 2025
Compliance status
We firmly believe that the internet should be available and accessible to anyone, and are committed to providing a website that is accessible to the widest possible audience,
regardless of circumstance and ability.
To fulfill this, we aim to adhere as strictly as possible to the World Wide Web Consortium’s (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 (WCAG 2.1) at the AA level.
These guidelines explain how to make web content accessible to people with a wide array of disabilities. Complying with those guidelines helps us ensure that the website is accessible
to all people: blind people, people with motor impairments, visual impairment, cognitive disabilities, and more.
This website utilizes various technologies that are meant to make it as accessible as possible at all times. We utilize an accessibility interface that allows persons with specific
disabilities to adjust the website’s UI (user interface) and design it to their personal needs.
Additionally, the website utilizes an AI-based application that runs in the background and optimizes its accessibility level constantly. This application remediates the website’s HTML,
adapts Its functionality and behavior for screen-readers used by the blind users, and for keyboard functions used by individuals with motor impairments.
If you’ve found a malfunction or have ideas for improvement, we’ll be happy to hear from you. You can reach out to the website’s operators by using the following email
Screen-reader and keyboard navigation
Our website implements the ARIA attributes (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) technique, alongside various different behavioral changes, to ensure blind users visiting with
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alongside console screenshots of code examples:
Screen-reader optimization: we run a background process that learns the website’s components from top to bottom, to ensure ongoing compliance even when updating the website.
In this process, we provide screen-readers with meaningful data using the ARIA set of attributes. For example, we provide accurate form labels;
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To turn on screen-reader adjustments at any time, users need only to press the Alt+1 keyboard combination. Screen-reader users also get automatic announcements to turn the Screen-reader mode on
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Keyboard navigation optimization: The background process also adjusts the website’s HTML, and adds various behaviors using JavaScript code to make the website operable by the keyboard. This includes the ability to navigate the website using the Tab and Shift+Tab keys, operate dropdowns with the arrow keys, close them with Esc, trigger buttons and links using the Enter key, navigate between radio and checkbox elements using the arrow keys, and fill them in with the Spacebar or Enter key.Additionally, keyboard users will find quick-navigation and content-skip menus, available at any time by clicking Alt+1, or as the first elements of the site while navigating with the keyboard. The background process also handles triggered popups by moving the keyboard focus towards them as soon as they appear, and not allow the focus drift outside it.
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Disability profiles supported in our website
Epilepsy Safe Mode: this profile enables people with epilepsy to use the website safely by eliminating the risk of seizures that result from flashing or blinking animations and risky color combinations.
Visually Impaired Mode: this mode adjusts the website for the convenience of users with visual impairments such as Degrading Eyesight, Tunnel Vision, Cataract, Glaucoma, and others.
Cognitive Disability Mode: this mode provides different assistive options to help users with cognitive impairments such as Dyslexia, Autism, CVA, and others, to focus on the essential elements of the website more easily.
ADHD Friendly Mode: this mode helps users with ADHD and Neurodevelopmental disorders to read, browse, and focus on the main website elements more easily while significantly reducing distractions.
Blindness Mode: this mode configures the website to be compatible with screen-readers such as JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver, and TalkBack. A screen-reader is software for blind users that is installed on a computer and smartphone, and websites must be compatible with it.
Keyboard Navigation Profile (Motor-Impaired): this profile enables motor-impaired persons to operate the website using the keyboard Tab, Shift+Tab, and the Enter keys. Users can also use shortcuts such as “M” (menus), “H” (headings), “F” (forms), “B” (buttons), and “G” (graphics) to jump to specific elements.
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Notes, comments, and feedback
Despite our very best efforts to allow anybody to adjust the website to their needs. There may still be pages or sections that are not fully accessible, are in the process of becoming accessible, or are lacking an adequate technological solution to make them accessible. Still, we are continually improving our accessibility, adding, updating and improving its options and features, and developing and adopting new technologies. All this is meant to reach the optimal level of accessibility, following technological advancements. For any assistance, please reach out to
