24/10/2008 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
Antigoni Papadopoulos (Cyprus, ALDE) will be undertaking a fact-finding visit to Rabat on 28 and 29 October 2008 in connection with the Equality Committee’s work on the problem of forced marriages and other forms of gender-based violence against women, particularly within certain immigrant communities living in Europe.
14/10/2008 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
“Our two assemblies have a vital role to perform in combating violence against women,” said José Mendes Bota (Portugal, EPP/CD), PACE member, at the hearing organised by the European Parliament on prevention of domestic violence, in the presence of Jacques Barrot, Vice-President of the European Commission and Anna Zaborska, Chair of the European Parliament’s gender equality committee. “Eighty million women in Europe had suffered assault” but “reliable statistics were needed” according to Mr Mendes Bota, who had come to present the outcomes of the parliamentary dimension of the Council of Europe campaign “Stop violence against women” (2006-2008).
12/09/2008 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
PACE’s Equal Opportunities Committee today called for a Council of Europe Convention to combat violence against women. The committee unanimously approved a report by José Mendes Bota (Portugal, EPP/CD), which also presented the results of the parliamentary dimension of the Council of Europe campaign "Stop domestic violence against women " (2006-8). "This campaign has been a powerful joint effort but our work is not over,” said Mr Mendes Bota.
26/06/2008 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
What can we do to promote women's cause within a political entity such as Europe, Gisèle Halimi asked her audience at the 4th meeting of women members of the Parliamentary Assembly. What she proposes is a novel approach based on the principle of solidarity, a so-called "most favoured European woman clause". This would enable European women to benefit from whatever was the most advantageous legislation currently in existence in Europe in such areas as the family, work, domestic violence, parity and the choice of whether to give birth. The law, she says, must always give an impetus to changing attitudes.
19/06/2008 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
At the initiative of Senator Jean-Guy Branger (France, EPP/CD), who is a member of the PACE and a contact parliamentarian for the recently ended Council of Europe campaign "Stop domestic violence against women", a Council of Europe photo exhibition, “Break the silence on domestic violence”, officially opens at the French Senate at 5 p.m. on 24 June. The opening will be attended by the Deputy Speaker of the Senate, Michèle André, and the head of the Senate delegation for women’s rights and gender equality, Gisèle Gautier.
11/06/2008 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
“Parliamentarians are key players who can bring about changes to national legislation in order to provide better protection for women victims of domestic violence, punish those responsible and offer better prevention arrangements,” Paul Wille (Belgium, ALDE), PACE Vice-President, said yesterday at the closing conference of the Council of Europe campaign to combat violence against women, held over the last two days in Strasbourg.
06/06/2008 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
“When it comes to so-called ‘honour crimes’, it is often a whole family or even an entire community which can gang up on a victim, citing tradition, culture or religion,” said Gita Sahgal, a representative of Amnesty International, addressing a parliamentary hearing on the subject today in Paris, organised by PACE's Equal Opportunities Committee. Crimes of honour include “honour murders”, forced marriages, confining women against their will or even mutilations, all with the aim of dominating womens’ sexuality, she pointed out.
03/06/2008 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
PACE Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men will be holding a hearing in Paris on 6 June on “The urgent need for action on so-called ‘honour crimes’”. The participants who will be joining with the committee members in discussing this issue include a representative of Amnesty International, an expert in the social work field, the director of an international campaign against “honour crimes”, and a lawyer.
15/05/2008 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
At a colloquy held today by the Parliamentary Assemby of the Council of Europe (PACE) in the French National Assembly, Rama Yade, State Secretary responsible for Foreign Affairs and Human Rights, said that the level of progress made by any society could be gauged by the status of women in that society, and that combating domestic violence against women was not only a matter affecting the status of women but also a challenge for the whole process of social development.
14/05/2008 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
This parliamentary colloquy is to be held on Thursday 15 May from 9 am to 1 pm at the French National Assembly (33, rue Saint Dominique, Paris 7, 3rd floor). It is organised by PACE and will be opened by Jean-Claude Mignon (France, EPP/CD) and José Mendes Bota (Portugal, EPP/CD.
30/04/2008 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
In a declaration adopted today in Vienna at a conference on domestic violence against women held by PACE and the Austrian Parliament, the participants underlined the urgent need for action in national parliaments in this field, in terms of passing legislation and monitoring its application. The declaration also recommends that the networking of parliamentarians in the 47 member states should continue and that a Council of Europe framework convention should be drawn up to combat domestic violence.
25/04/2008 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
The final conference on the parliamentary dimension of the Council of Europe Campaign to combat violence against women, including domestic violence, organised by the PACE and the Austrian Parliament, will take place in Vienna on 30 April, in the presence of the Speaker of the Austrian Parliament Barbara Prammer, PACE President Lluís Maria de Puig, Austrian Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer, the leader of the Austrian delegation to PACE Gisela Wurm (Austria, SOC) and some 80 parliamentarians from Council of Europe member states.