Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-11-25-Speech-3-330"
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"Madam President, honourable Members, the honourable Member and Chair of the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality has raised a serious and urgent issue. Right at the start, I would like to say quite clearly that violence against women has no place in a civilised society.
The 2007 Decision establishing the Daphne III Programme, which has been so important in combating violence against children, young people and women, has also been significant. I welcome the impact that the Daphne Programme has had and continues to have on our societies.
In your resolution, you quite rightly stress that there is no regular and comparable data on different types of violence against women. The Council is also well aware that the collection of accurate and comparable data is important if we are to be able to improve our understanding of the problem of violence against women at European level. I hope that the European Institute for Gender Equality, which was set up jointly by the Council and the European Parliament, can make a significant contribution in this area. The Council itself has already taken concrete measures to improve access to statistics on violence against women. The Council has been working within the framework of the Beijing Platform for Action and has adopted special indicators within three areas that are relevant here: 1) violence against women in the home, 2) sexual harassment at the workplace, and 3) women and armed conflicts. We have made progress, but, of course, much more needs to be done.
Many of the most vulnerable women in the world live in developing countries. The Council, which is aware of this, has adopted a series of conclusions on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in Development Cooperation, in which we stress the importance of tackling all forms of gender-based violence, including such harmful practices and customs as genital mutilation. However, we should not be content with this. Female genital mutilation, so-called honour crimes and forced marriages are also a reality within the EU.
The European Parliament has consistently been at the forefront when it comes to calling for measures against harmful traditional practices. In line with this approach, the Council confirmed its commitment to protecting those who are most vulnerable in its conclusions on the situation of the girl child, which the Council adopted last year. In these conclusions, the Council stressed, and I quote, that ‘the elimination of all forms of violence against the girl child, including trafficking and harmful traditional practices, are crucial for the empowerment of girls and women, and for the achievement of equality between women and men in society’.
As the honourable Member emphasised in the introduction to her question, violence against women has a harmful effect on women’s ability to participate in social, political and economic life. Women who, as a result of violence, are excluded from social activities, including employment, are at risk of marginalisation and poverty.
This brings me back to the holistic approach that I mentioned at the start, and the structural nature of violence, which was stressed in the question to the Council. The problem of violence against women represents a more general problem – a lack of equality. The broader campaign to promote the empowerment of women helps to combat violence. Women who have the freedom to utilise their whole potential are less vulnerable to violence than women who are excluded. The Council has also repeatedly explained that it is necessary to alleviate women’s poverty. Employment is often the best way to leave poverty behind. More needs to be done to facilitate the participation of women in the labour market. Economic and social crises make women more vulnerable. At its meeting on 30 November 2009, the Council is expected to adopt a number of conclusions on gender equality: strengthening growth and employment – input to the post-2010 Lisbon Strategy. The aim is to guarantee that both the integration of equality and special equality measures will have prominence in future strategies.
As we celebrate the tenth anniversary of the United Nations Resolution establishing the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, we recognise the extent of this problem. At the same time, we also welcome the fact that the nations are working together to put a stop to it. A large part of our work to combat violence against women here in Europe is carried out within an international framework.
At its next meeting in March 2010, the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women will undertake a fifteen-year review of the Beijing Platform for Action. The Swedish Presidency has already drawn up a report on the progress made in the European Union and the challenges that remain. On 30 November, the Council is expected to adopt a series of conclusions on this matter. The Beijing Platform for Action provides us with a structure and a long-term agenda for international gender equality policy. The Council is actively involved in this work, with a significant part of it being devoted to combating violence against women.
The problem of violence against women knows no national boundaries. We need to tackle this at international level, both within and outside Europe. We need to step up the fight against gender-based violence in our international missions and we should not close our eyes to the violence that is committed at home, against our own citizens.
Mr President, honourable Members, I will repeat what I said at the beginning: violence against women has no place in a civilised society. I am grateful to Parliament for raising this issue today. You have the full support of the Council, of this Presidency and of all those who stand up for what they believe in and defend the principles of justice, equality and solidarity.
This year we are celebrating the tenth anniversary of the United Nations Resolution establishing 25 November as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. Today we are thinking of the countless women and girls who suffer violence in war zones and areas of conflict. We are aware of the sufferings that befall women throughout the world, women who are raped, abused or suffer harassment or who are the victims of harmful traditional practices. We express our solidarity with the victims of forced marriages and violence in the form of honour-related crimes, which can involve anything from female genital mutilation to murder. We are aware of the worrying extent to which many different types of violence are committed against women in Europe on a daily basis.
Violence against women is a problem that relates to a large number of different policy areas. That is clearly stated in the motion for a resolution on the elimination of violence against women that you will vote on tomorrow. Violence against women is not only a question of crime and injustice against women, but also a question of men being the perpetrators, and it is a question of equality. The best strategy for combating this violence is to take a holistic approach and work from a broad definition of violence against women.
In all of its work to promote equality, the Council is guided by the principle of the integration of equality. In accordance with Articles 2 and 3 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, the Council is to promote equality between men and women in all activities.
The Council has raised the problem of violence against women on several occasions and in several different contexts. I would like to start with something positive. One of the most successful examples to date of the integration of equality in the EU is the area of women and armed conflicts, where a more comprehensive policy for combating violence against women is starting to appear.
Of course, the Council’s ability to take action in this area is limited to the powers stated in the treaty, and the Member States are responsible for matters that fall within their areas of competence, in particular, issues to do with justice and home affairs, as well as health issues.
The Member States have the right to draw up their own plans for combating violence against women, but they also benefit from cooperation. However, measures are also taken at European level. Eradicating gender-based violence and trafficking is one of the six priority areas set out in the Commission’s Roadmap for equality between women and men 2006-2010. Under this heading, the Commission supports the Member States in producing comparable statistics increasing awareness, exchanging good practice and cooperating on research. We are now looking forward to the Commission’s new plan on equality for 2011-2015.
The Stockholm Programme, which is to be adopted next month, provides a framework for tackling many of the concerns about violence against women that have been expressed by the European Parliament. We look forward to an agreement on the programme and to it subsequently being implemented.
In the meantime, there is already a lot going on at EU level, particularly with regard to increasing awareness, gathering information and exchanging good practice. Some of you were at the Presidency’s recent conference in Stockholm on precisely the subject of strategies for combating the violence of men against women, which presented an opportunity for participants to share experiences and discuss future policy."@en1
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