Violence against Women Remains Invisible in European Union

Ahead of the EPSCO Council on International Women’s Day on 8 March 2010, Amnesty International calls on the Spanish Presidency of the European Union to ensure that the European Monitoring Centre on Gender-Based Violence addresses all forms of violence against women, including female genital mutilation (FGM). 

In the European Union (EU), tens of thousands of women and girls of all ages and social groups suffer multiple forms of violence. They suffer from sexual abuse and violence, trafficking, and are subject to FGM and other harmful traditional practices.

The truth is that the magnitude of the problem is unknown, given that gender-based violence in EU countries remains hidden. For instance, according to the European Parliament 500,000 women are living in Europe with FGM and another 180,000 girls are at risk of mutilation each year. Yet, these are only estimates. Without data, policies and legislation will remain ineffective and violence against women will remain invisible and neglected.

Demands to the Spanish Presidency of the EU

Amnesty International (AI) welcomes the Spanish Presidency´s initiative to promote the adoption of measures to fight gender-based violence within the borders of the EU, among them the creation of the European Monitoring Centre on Gender-Based Violence. Nevertheless, AI calls for the Presidency not to limit the Observatory´s mandate solely to cases of violence at the hands of partners or former partners but rather to allow it to look at all forms of violence suffered by women and girls as a result of their gender, including trafficking, sexual violence, female genital mutilation, violence by a current or former partner, forced marriage, and others.

Within the context of the EPSCO meeting in Brussels on 8 March, and the informal meeting of Equality Ministers in Valencia on 26 March, Amnesty International calls on Spain and other EU Member States to formally commit to initiatives against gender-based violence throughout the EU.

 “The Observatory is a positive first step, but it will achieve nothing if the 27 Member States lack the strong political will and express commitment to see it through to fruition. They must establish a common set of minimum standards, just as has been done in areas such as transportation, trade, security or immigration and asylum, which would require Member States to prevent gender-based violence, protect victims, punish the crime and provide redress to victims,” stated Esteban Beltrán, Director of Amnesty International Spain.

To this end, Amnesty International, through an e-action available at www.actuaconamnistia.org, has urged the Spanish Presidency that:

• The European Monitoring Centre on Gender-Based Violence should be an independent body, equipped to tackle all forms of violence against women and girls, gather data to draw greater attention to the problem, work toward the prevention of these crimes, the prosecution of the perpetrators, as well as the protection of and redress for victims.

• Adequate procedures should be established to identify, protect, and offer compensation to those people who have been the victims of human trafficking, in compliance with the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings.

• Specific measures should be developed within the Stockholm Action Plan to address all forms of violence against women and girls, including female genital mutilation, by referring to the principle of due diligence in criminal procedures, access to justice, police cooperation, and individual asylum procedures.

• The Presidency should adopt a commitment to the rights of women and girls outside the EU borders. As part of this commitment, the Presidency should promote positive developments in the case of 9 Nicaraguan women´s rights defenders, who are currently facing a variety of charges for having aided a 9-year-old girl, raped in 2003, to seek a legal abortion. This case is one of 10 cases of at-risk individuals that Amnesty International has submitted to the Spanish Presidency.

BACKGROUND:

END FGM European Campaign wrote a joint letter with Dutch MEP Emine Bozkurt and Federation of Somali Associations in Netherlands (FSAN), urging the Spanish and Dutch Ministers attending the EPSCO council to address the need for data collection in area of FGM and other harmful traditional practices.

• Read the letter to Spain's Minister for Equality Bibiana Aido here