On Tuesday 9th December 2014 in Brussels, Equinet and the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) organised a meeting on Violence against Women. The meeting provided a platform for exchanges, between equality bodies and with key partners, on the possible role for equality bodies in the eradication of violence against women.
This meeting is part of Equinet ad-hoc initiative on violence against women, which was created to enable interested equality bodies to exchange knowledge and to network with key stakeholders in the field of violence against women.
OBJECTIVES
This meeting aimed to:
- Present data on violence against women (VAW) from the FRA Survey and discuss how it can be used at the national level.
- Present and discuss available international and European standards and tools on Violence against Women, existing challenges and barriers and ways forward.
- Facilitate the exchange of knowledge, good practices and expertise on violence against women.
- Encourage networking between participants, and future cooperation between equality bodies and key actors at European and international level.
The FRA survey on Violence against Women (Published in March 2014) collected data on the extent, frequency and severity of violence against women across the EU’s 28 Member States. It shows that violence against women undermines women’s fundamental rights and is rooted in deeply structural gender inequalities. The survey results provided much-needed, nuanced evidence for policy makers, practitioners and NGOs at the EU and national level for the development of policies and other measures to combat violence against women.
Equality bodies working on gender equality have a role to play for the promotion of a culture of equality and rights protecting women and preventing gender-based violence.
A consultation invitation request was sent in July 2014 to Equinet’s member equality bodies which had expressed an interest in taking part to the ad hoc Initiative on Violence against Women. Some key findings from the consultation can be found here.
Speakers’ presentations
- European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, Joanna Goodey
- European Commission, Anne van Nistelrooij
- European Institute for Gender Equality, Therese Murphy
- Council of Europe, Carolina Lasen-Diaz
- Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, Jakob Schneider