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.
April 7, 2020
A new and scary discrimination trend seems to be arising in Europe - and worldwide - fuelled by fear of contracting COVID-19 against those that are in the frontline of action. The daily lives of nurses, doctors and health care workers is increasingly being affected by discriminatory attitudes and harassment.
May 12, 2020
The Equinet Secretariat filled out the questionnaire, focusing on equality as a fundamental value, on which the EU is built. It noted that the rule of law, equality and fundamental rights are parallel values, thus failing to guarantee one will harm the others as well. sing the European Commission’s 2018 Recommendation on Standards for Equality Bodies as a backdrop, Equinet’s submission concentrated on how rule of law breaches may affect these standards, namely the independence, effectiveness, resources, mandate and national institutional architecture for equality.
March 23, 2020
On March 17, 2020, the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) presented a report on Germany, in which it called for a widened mandate and additional […]
February 27, 2020
On the first week of March, the European Commission will release its new Gender Equality Strategy. Equinet warmly welcomes this initiative, since it is extremely important […]
November 27, 2019
Overview This is the tenth issue of the biannual European equality law review, produced by the European network of legal experts in gender equality and non-discrimination […]
November 26, 2019
November 13, 2019
The European network of legal experts in gender equality and non-discrimination has released a new publication highlighting equal pay cases and good practice linked to the […]
November 12, 2019
Last week, Deputy Director Tamás Kádár represented Equinet at two Council of the EU meetings working on Fundamental Rights. Independent governmental bodies for the promotion & […]
November 5, 2019
Luxembourg, 24 October 2019. Equinet addresses the EU’s Council of Ministers responsible for employment and social policies for the first time, providing inputs to their discussions on EU equality legislation.
July 18, 2019
In this article for the European equality law review 2019/1, Equinet's Deputy Director Tamás Kádár analyses the legal standing of equality bodies with a particular focus on Belgium, Romania and Sweden. The article explores different forms of legal standing as well as the different ways in which equality bodies have used their standing to ensure effective enforcement of the EU non-discrimination directives