In March 2019, the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers adopted the Recommendation CM/Rec(2019)1 on Preventing and Combating Sexism. It is a comprehensive catalogue of measures both to prevent and to condemn sexism, calling for specific action in specific areas: language and communications; internet and social media; media, advertising and other communication methods; workplace, public sector; justice sector, education institutions, culture and sport; and the private sphere.

The European Women’s Lobby (EWL) has over the years taken the position that sexism reinforced by gender stereotypes is one of the factors that runs counter to achieving gender equality and the full recognition of women’s rights. Despite the progress achieved in recent years, there is not a single country in the world where women are not exposed to the threat or reality of acts of male violence in every single area of their lives.

To raise awareness on sexism and begin the discussion on how to combat all forms of sexism in key sectors nine EWL members, the national coordinations from Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Ireland, the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, and Spain, collaborated in the project “Mobilise Against Sexism”.