Violence against women as a human rights issue: state of play of measures across the EU

Key points

The EESC:

• recalls that violence against women and girls is a human rights violation and one of the most persistent forms of gender discrimination. Calls for the ratification and implementation of the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (the Istanbul Convention) and the International Labour Organization’s Convention 190 on violence and harassment (particularly its Recommendation 206) and for both to be promoted and implemented in all Member States and by the EU itself;

• believes Directive 2024/1385/EU on combating violence against women and domestic violence, should address all forms of violence against women, including institutional violence, prostitution, commercial or exploitative pornography, reproductive exploitation, vicarious violence, chemical submission and street harassment, as well as sexual and gender-based harassment and the forced sterilisation of women with disabilities, among others;

• calls for sexual violence and rape to be included in the Directive as a form of violence, and criminalised based on the absence of consent. A definition of ‘consent’ relating to sexual violence is needed. Gender-based violence, including rape, should be added to the list of ‘Eurocrimes’ referred to in Article 83(1) of the TFEU;

• is concerned that the physical, psychological and sexual violence that are constitutive elements of prostitution have not been included as a form of violence against women, as well as the restrictions on the free and safe voluntary termination of pregnancy

• while stressing that any kind of violence against women is a significant public and clinical health concern, underscores the multiple and intersectional discrimination suffered by women with disabilities, and in particular by women with mental health conditions and psychosocial and/or intellectual disabilities, calling for this type of violence to be considered a public health issue with long-term consequences. It also calls for disaggregated data collection by disability;

• it is deeply concerned about views that deny violence against women as a specific form of violence because of their status as women, thereby attacking the values and principles of Article 2 of the TFEU. Believes education, including sex education, is key in shaping gender roles and stereotypes, and calls for the inclusion of the educational community, civil society organizations and social partners, in institutional cooperation to prevent and combat gender-based violence;

• calls for specific measures in the fields of social dialogue, collective bargaining and necessary negotiations with social partners to be included to boost the employment and promote the employability of victims of gender-based violence (GBV).