16/05/2012 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
“In recent years, remarkable progress has been made in Europe in the fight against discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity. But while progress is being made in some countries, in others the foundations for a setback are being laid down," said PACE General Rapporteur on the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people (LGBTs), Håkon Haugli (Norway, SOC), on the occasion of the International Day against Homophobia.
23/04/2012 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
“Fighting discrimination against LGBT people is at the heart of the Council of Europe’s mission”, Håkon Haugli (Norway, SOC), PACE General Rapporteur on the rights of LGBTs said when presenting the priorities of his mandate. “LGBTs should enjoy all human rights, and not different or lesser rights as other people..."
21/03/2012 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
“Girls victims of rape should be assisted and protected; the last thing that could help them overcome their trauma is being forced to marry the man who raped them” said Fatiha Saïdi, rapporteur on ‘Equality between women and men: a condition for the success of the Arab Spring’, referring to the recent suicide of a young girl in Morocco.
21/03/2012 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
Politicians must condemn racial discrimination and put the fight against it “at the heart of their public engagement”, PACE’s Equality Committee has said in a declaration to mark the UN International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
14/02/2012 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
Fatiha Saïdi (Belgium, SOC), a member of the PACE Committee on Equality and Non-Discrimination, will make a fact-finding visit to Casablanca and Rabat (15-18 February), followed by Tunis (19-21 February), in connection with the preparation of her report on "Gender equality and the status of women in the Council of Europe southern neighbourhood".
26/01/2012 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
“Governments must apply zero tolerance to so-called ‘honour crimes’, which must be punished by exemplary sentences to show total rejection of this practice”, said Jacqueline Thibault, President of the Foundation ‘Surgir’ (Switzerland), speaking at a hearing organised by the PACE network of contact parliamentarians committed to combating violence against women, opened by José Mendes Bota (Portugal, EPP/CD).
09/12/2011 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
While pointing out that the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women is the most comprehensive legally binding instrument in the world and may therefore “save and change the lives of millions of victims”, the Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men today asked “the largest possible number of states” to sign and ratify this convention and to implement it effectively.
09/12/2011 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
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.
25/11/2011 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
“We must fight every form of violence against women, even when there is no visible sign” said Mr Mendes Bota (Portugal, EPP/CD), Chairperson of the Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men. The International day for the elimination of violence against women is a reminder of how widespread violence against women is worldwide. Psychological violence leaves no visible sign, yet its scars last a long time.
25/11/2011 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
PACE Standing committee, meeting in Edinburgh on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, has adopted a declaration that freedom from violence should be the first human right. “Millions of women and girls in the world have this right violated every day as they are specifically targeted in the context of war and conflicts.
06/10/2011 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
A former TV news presenter who was stalked three times in a 15-year career has told Council of Europe parliamentarians of “a devastating crime that, beginning often with small, incremental, steps, utterly destroys lives”.
09/09/2011 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
PACE’s Committee for Equal Opportunities today expressed its preoccupation at the negative impact of violent and extreme pornography on women’s dignity and right to live free from sexual violence. Adopting a draft resolution based on a report by Michał Stuligrosz (Poland, EPP/CD), the committee recalled that this type of pornography “further erodes the conditions for achieving effective gender equality”.