July 27, 2020
Initially hailed as the 'great equalizer,' the COVID-19 pandemic has, in reality, exposed the depth of institutional, structural, and systemic discrimination and inequality in our societies. The question for Europe now is not if discrimination and exclusion exist but rather how intersectionality serves as a tool to create a fairer, socially just, and more inclusive Europe for everyone.
June 16, 2020
In April 2020, the European Women’s Lobby (EWL) published a policy brief, in which it shed light on the crucial issue that can no longer be ignored – the COVID-19 pandemic is reinforcing existing inequalities in our society and the long-term impacts of the health crisis will disproportionately affect women and girls.
June 12, 2020
Society has changed enormously in recent months. The world is under the spell of a pandemic. New manners and customs are appearing, such as no physical contact with others, new ways of greeting each other, social distancing and wearing face masks or alternatives is becoming the norm in public spaces. When it comes to this issue, the WHO is clear: wearing a medical mask can limit the spread of certain respiratory viral diseases, including COVID-19. From a human rights perspective, the latter trend is particularly interesting, especially if we take into account the fact that in some European countries wearing full-face veils in public spaces is prohibited by law and can lead to sanctions (i.e. fines, prison, administrative fines).
June 8, 2020
The events of the last few days, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and following the death of George Floyd, have prompted an amplification of the racial justice movement in the United States that is resonating everywhere in the world, including in Europe. This blogpost aims to give some insight into this movement from a systemic racism point of view, highlighting how this is far from an isolated incident, but a part of a whole system of oppression that needs dismantling.
May 25, 2020
I, as the communications coordinator for the European Disability Forum, have been following the COVID-19 impact since beginning of March. It has not been encouraging. Seeing how governments systematically forgot about persons with disabilities, how little support was given and how much pain and problems that created left me very discouraged. Persons with disabilities have been discriminated, isolated, forgotten and subject to multiple and severe human rights violations since the beginning of this crisis.
May 20, 2020
Equinet’s new interactive tool gives some insight into how National Equality Bodies (NEBs) are responding to the crisis, as well as the current trends which are appearing in its impact on equality across the region.
May 4, 2020
All of this is hard. We are living unprecedented times, but global response to the crisis should address its potential impact on marginalised groups, including LGBTI people, and their access to healthcare and safety at home, as well as to watch out for discriminatory practices and measures.
April 22, 2020
Week after week, COVID-19 reveals uncomfortable realities about the unequal societies we live in. All over the world, we have been urged to stay home, by authorities and through the #stayathome campaign. But one of the most blatant truths that we must face is that, for many women and children, home is the most dangerous place to stay.
April 10, 2020
As the COVID-19 situation develops, it is vital that the core values of equality and non-discrimination continue to be protected and promoted for all. In this blog post, a brief snapshot will be given of some of the main trends of discrimination and inequality related to the COVID-19 crisis that NEBs are seeing in their national work and some of the ways that they are addressing these issues.
October 3, 2018
On 2 October 2018, the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) presented two new monitoring reports on the Republic of Moldova and Portugal. In both reports, ECRI analyse recent developments and outstanding issues and provide recommendations to the respective authorities.
September 14, 2018
Tamás Kádár, Head of our Policy and Legal Team, outlines the importance of equality bodies for the September 2018 edition of the International Journal of Discrimination and the Law, looking at their development and potential, as well as the opportunities and challenges they face.
August 31, 2018
EU discrimination law doesn’t account for cases of multiple discrimination. EU law falls very short of protecting Europeans that suffer multiple forms of discrimination, such has […]
August 29, 2018
EU citizens have the right to move freely from country to country but in practice pitfalls exist when it comes to receiving residence permits or social assistance, finds the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights’ latest report.
July 23, 2018
Young Roma remain trapped in a vicious poverty cycle linked to poor education and job prospects, finds a new report from the EU Agency of Fundamental Rights (FRA).
July 19, 2018
LGBTI people continue to experience stigma and discrimination combined with social isolation and limited understanding, leading to significant barriers in terms of accessing health and social care services. These experiences can translate into a risk of depression, suicide and self‐harm, violence, substance misuse and HIV infection.
Implemented between March 2016 and March 2018, the aim of this pilot project was to improve our understanding of how best to reduce specific health inequalities experienced by lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex (LGBTI) people. It focused on overlapping inequalities stemming from discrimination and unfair treatment on other grounds (e.g. age, status, income).
July 19, 2018
EESC: The EU must fight against and outlaw all gender - and disability-based discrimination affecting some 40 million women in Europe
July 19, 2018
Change, Hope & Justice is EAPN's latest handbook which aims to strengthen members’ capacity to act against poverty and Human Rights violations. It is hoped that the Handbook will inspire organisations - but also Governments, National Human Rights Institutes and Equality Bodies, & public, private and not-for-profit service providers - to include Human Rights as the basis and aim of their work, as a new lens to look at poverty.
July 16, 2018
Today’s job market is constantly increasing requirements on competencies across all sectors. This poses a major challenge for the 64 million women and men with low levels of education in Member States. They are more often unemployed or completely out of the labour market, compared to people with middle and high levels of education.
Women with low qualifications find it especially hard to access jobs with decent pay. Only 42 % of low qualified women are employed and almost half of these work in a precarious job. These are some of the findings from a new study on gender, skills and precarious work from the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) released in May.