EU Gender Equality Strategy 2026 to 2030: strong commitments, yet missing action on harmful practices

End FGM EU welcomes the newly released European Commission’s Gender Equality Strategy 2026-2030, which builds on the EU commitments to achieve equality and eliminate gender-based violence in the EU and the world and is structured around the principles of the 2025 Roadmap.

End FGM EU welcomes in particular:

• The recognition of the “escalating backlash against gender equality, which threatens hard-won progress, while the ambition of a gender-equal Europe is not yet achieved”

• The recognition of the fundamental role played by civil society actors, in particular feminist and women’s rights organisation, towards the effective achievement of common equality goals

• The explicit adoption of an intersectional approach to gender equality and anti-discrimination, acknowledging that sex and gender intersect with other grounds of discrimination, which lead to specific inequalities and unique experiences of marginalisation that must be tackled comprehensively

• The prioritisation of gender-based violence elimination, and specifically female genital mutilation as one of its manifestation, to be achieved through the improved and full implementation of key EU and regional legislations, above all the Directive on Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (VAW Directive), the Victims’ Rights Directive and the Istanbul Convention

• The commitment to sustain funding to civil society working for gender equality and GBV elimination in the next multi-annual financial framework

• The prioritisation of equality in healthcare, and in particular with reference to sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) coupled with the importance of strengthening trainings for key professionals

• The alignment, although very briefly mentioned, with other key equality policies that must be implemented in coordination to address systemic injustice, in particular the upcoming Anti-Poverty Strategy, the LGBTIQ+ equality Strategy, Anti-Racism Strategy, Strategy for the rights of persons with disabilities, EU Roma strategic framework.

On the other hand, the strategy presents some shortcomings that must be overcome in its implementation to ensure maximum results.

We call on the Commission to pay particular attention to these identified gaps:

• The lack of mentioning of the Recommendation on combating harmful practices, a policy objective of the previous Strategy, which was developed in cooperation with civil society but never adopted, and was not brought into the current strategy; this is a particularly disappointing development which leaves many forms of gender-based violence neglected and does not fulfil institutional accountability;

• The lack of alignment with other EU legislative frameworks that are expected to further curtail and negatively impact the rights of the most vulnerable, in particular in relation to the Pact on Asylum and Migration, the increased normalisation of hate speech and harmful narratives that stigmatise specific populations, such as female genital mutilation-affected communities;

• The insufficient recognition of structural and systemic enablers of inequality in society, stemming from long-unaddressed disparities and deep institutional and societal biases, rooted in racism, patriarchy, colonialism and oppressive power imbalances.

• While intersectionality is highlighted, this commitment is not reflected in targeted measures addressing the specific needs of marginalised groups, therefore failing to provide concrete implementation monitoring criteria.

End FGM EU, its members and partners will continue to engage with the Commission and other EU institutions to ensure that the needs of FGM Survivors are reflected in EU and MS policies and that we make joint real progress towards achieving the common goal of gender equality and elimination of all forms of gender-based violence, in an increasingly challenging world that demands our full determination and unity.

Partners reactions:

IPPF EN https://europe.ippf.org/news/new-eu-gender-equality-strategy-progress-srhr-ambition-still-lacking