09/12/2011 Equality and Non-Discrimination
Strasbourg, 08.12.2011 - The Committee on Equal Opportunities today called for renewed impetus to be given to the promotion, protection and effective implementation of women's rights worldwide, and for periodic evaluation of those rights. A report by Lydie Err (Luxembourg, SOC), approved by the Committee, points out that, all over the world, violence disproportionately affects women: one women in three has, at some point in her life, been beaten, coerced into sex, or abused in some other way. One woman in three can neither read nor write in a world where literacy is an essential key to empowerment. Only 19% of the members of the world's parliaments are female.
The draft resolution adopted inter alia urges political decision-makers to take account of the gender dimension in all policies and legislation and of gender budgeting methods. It expresses concern about a possible worsening of inequalities as a result of the differing impact of the economic and financial crisis on women and men, and it calls for appropriate remedial measures. Governments should ensure balanced representation of women in political decision-making bodies and should consider bringing the principle of equality into the European Convention on Human Rights system, through the drafting of a new protocol.