07/03/2024 President | Equality and Non-Discrimination | Women free from violence
Joint statement by PACE President Theodoros Rousopoulos and the Chair of the PACE Committee on Equality and Non-Discrimination Mariia Mezentseva, on the occasion of International Women’s Day 2024
Gender inequality continues to trigger gender-based violence, in our continent and beyond. There is also a need to protect women human rights defenders, as well as people who defend women’s rights. They are at the forefront in combating gender inequality and discrimination. Defenders of women’s rights are attacked by those who want to discredit and reduce them to silence, as their work challenges structural and historic discrimination and deeply entrenched stereotypes, which favour the status quo.
Today, on International Women’s Day, the United Nations is calling to “Invest in women: Accelerate progress”, as one of the key challenges to achieve gender equality by 2030 is the lack of political and financial investment in the policies and measures needed.
The Parliamentary Assembly is engaged in promoting this investment. The “Reykjavík Principles for Democracy” adopted at the 4th Summit of the Council of Europe in Reykjavik, Iceland, in May 2023, commit to ensuring full and equal participation of women in political and public life, free from violence, fear, harassment, hate speech and hate crime, and from discrimination based on any ground. This is also what our Parliamentary Network Women Free from Violence strives to achieve.
The Parliamentary Assembly, in partnership with the Government of Iceland, is investing in the empowerment of women in all their diversity. In June 2024 the first Vigdís Prize for Women's Empowerment will be awarded, paying tribute to former Icelandic President Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, the first woman elected as Head of State. It will reward outstanding initiatives to promote the empowerment of women. The deadline for receiving candidates is 15 March 2024 and we encourage you to put forward your nominations.
We join our voices in demanding more investment in making women’s equal rights a reality – it is a human rights imperative and a cornerstone for building inclusive societies – to the benefit of all.