13/03/2026 Equality and Non-Discrimination | Women free from violence
"The backlash against women's rights is real, but it is not inevitable. It can be resisted, and it can be reversed, if we act together," said PACE President Petra Bayr at the opening of a side-event on the margins of the 70th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW70) in New York.
The event, organised on 12 March by the PACE Committee on Equality and Non-Discrimination and its Network Women Free from Violence in co-operation with UN Women and the OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), focused on countering backlash and safeguarding women's rights.
Pointing to mounting pressure on the Istanbul Convention and the spread of gendered disinformation driving women out of public life, President Bayr called on member states to "demand more, not less" and on parliaments to lead by example - rejecting sexism within their own walls, enforcing legal standards, and ensuring justice systems are responsive to all women and girls. She welcomed the fact that women now make up half of the Assembly: "When many women enter politics, politics itself begins to change."
Alain Berset, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, drew attention to the growing use of digital tools to threaten and harass women in public life, noting that 70% of women human rights defenders and journalists report experiencing online violence. He highlighted the new Recommendation on technology-facilitated violence against women, adopted by the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers early in March, as a concrete commitment that perpetrators must be held accountable, whether online or offline.
Moderated by Zita Gurmai (Hungary, SOC), the event also heard from Milana Rikanovic, Head of the UN Women Office in Serbia, and Saša Gavrić, Adviser on Gender Issues at the OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), alongside a delegation of 20 PACE parliamentarians, including Baroness Lyn Brown (United Kingdom, SOC) and Sevilay Çelenk (Türkiye, UEL). Despina Chatzivassiliou, Secretary General of PACE, delivered the conclusions.
On the margins of CSW70, President Bayr held several other high-level bilateral meetings, including with UN Secretary General António Guterres, the President of the UN General Assembly Annalena Baerbock, and the President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union Tulia Ackson. She also met with representatives of UN Women and UNICEF, discussing shared priorities in gender equality, the protection of women and girls, and parliamentary co-operation.
