Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-11-25-Speech-3-329"
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"en.20091125.22.3-329"2
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"Madam President, today is 25 November, which marks the tenth anniversary of the establishment by the UN of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. Throughout my adult life, I have been politically active in women’s organisations and in networks for combating this violence against women. During my work, I think I have used every possible word to describe the situation. I think I have used very many words – we have done so together in this fight. Now I feel that we actually need to see some concrete action.
This is a type of violence that robs women of their human rights. It affects and defines women’s everyday lives. It is a type of violence that determines the course of the lives and the situations of women and young girls.
We all have a responsibility to break the silence and, within Parliament and outside, to cooperate with all of the forces for good to stop this violence. It includes violence within intimate relationships, sexual harassment, physical and mental abuse, rape, murder, the sex slave trade and female genital mutilation. During wars and armed conflicts and during the reconstruction following conflicts, women are subjected to violence to a greater extent, both as individuals and collectively.
Some people claim that violence within intimate relationships is a private matter, a family matter. That is not the case. It is structural violence and a social issue. Society must take responsibility for stopping this violence.
It is a structural and widespread problem in all regions, countries and continents. Putting a stop to all forms of gender-based violence is a fundamental element of a society of equality. Male violence against women is, in my view, a clear indication of the unequal power relationship between men and women. At the same time, it helps to maintain this power order. The work to stop the violence of men towards women and children needs to be based on the realisation that it is about power, control, ideas about gender and sexuality and a prevailing societal structure in which men are considered superior to women. Male violence against women is a clear indication of the unequal power relationship between women and men.
This is a public health problem. It is a social problem, which – quite apart from all the personal suffering – involves huge costs for society. However, it is, above all, an equality problem. We therefore need to tackle the problem of violence against women from an equality perspective. It also means that the EU has the power to take action, and it is this action by the EU that I and my colleagues in the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality are calling for.
Within the EU, we have the Daphne Programme, which provides a certain amount of economic assistance to various initiatives to combat violence. That is good and it is necessary, but it is far from sufficient. Parliament’s Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality is therefore asking the Commission and the Council whether there are plans for the Member States to draw up national action plans to tackle violence against women. Is the Commission planning to table proposals for guidelines for a more coherent EU strategy, and will the Council support this? Existing treaty provisions contain an obligation to work towards equality between women and men.
When does the Commission intend to organise a European Year against Violence against Women? That is something that Parliament has repeatedly called for since 1997. It should be time for this now!"@en1
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