SOC/798
Violence against women as a human rights issue
OPINION
Section for Employment, Social Affairs and Citizenship
Violence against women as a human rights issue: state of play of measures across the EU
(own-initiative opinion)
Rapporteur: José Antonio MORENO DÍAZ
Co-rapporteur: Dovilė JUODKAITĖ
|
Advisors
|
Lidia FERNANDEZ MONTES (to the Group II rapporteur)
Ugnė GRIGAITĖ (to the Group III co-rapporteur)
Laura Nuño Gómez (to Group II)
|
|
|
|
|
Plenary Assembly decision
|
18/1/2024
|
|
Legal basis
|
Rule 52(2) of the Rules of Procedure
|
|
|
Own-initiative opinion
|
|
|
|
|
Section responsible
|
Employment, Social Affairs and Citizenship
|
|
Adoption in section
|
4/2/2025
|
|
Outcome of vote
(for/against/abstentions)
|
96/1/1
|
|
Adoption at plenary session
|
D/M/YYYY
|
|
Plenary session No
|
…
|
|
Outcome of vote (for/against/abstentions)
|
…/…/…
|
1.Conclusions and recommendations
1.1Violence against women and girls is a human rights violation and is one of the most persistent forms of gender discrimination. On a global scale, the World Health Organization (WHO) reports that around 30% of women experience intimate partner violence (IPV) in their lifetime.
1.2Any kind of violence against women, particularly in domestic or spousal relationships, is a significant public and clinical health concern, and a severe violation of women’s human rights.
1.3The EESC believes that this issue must be dealt with most urgently, and calls for the ratification of the International Labour Organization’s Convention 190 on violence and harassment (particularly its Recommendation 206) and of the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (the Istanbul Convention), and for both to be promoted in all Member States and by the EU itself.
1.4The EESC believes that Directive 2024/1385/EU on combating violence against women and domestic violence should address all forms of violence against women that have not already been included, such as institutional violence, pornography, reproductive exploitation, vicarious violence, chemical submission and street harassment, as well as sexual and gender-based harassment and the forced sterilisation of women with disabilities, among others.
1.5The EESC believes that sexual violence and rape should be included in the Directive as a form of violence, and criminalised based on the absence of consent (along the lines of the Istanbul Convention). A definition of ‘consent’ relating to sexual violence is needed. The basis of the concept of sexual violence is the existence or lack of consent.
1.6The EESC considers that violence against women and girls, including rape, should be included in the ‘Eurocrimes’ referred to in Article 83(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).
1.7The EESC believes that specific measures in the fields of social dialogue, collective bargaining and necessary negotiations with social partners should be included to boost the employment and promote the employability of victims of gender-based violence (GBV) ensuring greater protection of victims’ privacy and safe environments for all women, and to combat sexual harassment at work.
1.8Special attention should also be paid to women and girls belonging to ethnic and/or cultural minorities, such as Roma and migrant women – especially those in irregular administrative situations.
1.9Women with disabilities face multiple and intersectional discrimination because of both their gender and their disability. Even though women with disabilities are more likely to experience domestic violence, an obligation to disaggregate statistical data by disability is missing from the Directive and needs to be included.
1.10The EESC is concerned about the fact that the final articles of the Directive make no reference to criminalising forced sterilisation. In this regard, this violence should be considered a public health issue with long-term consequences.
1.11The EESC is concerned that prostitution has not been included as a form of violence against women, along the lines adopted in Directive 2011/36/EU on preventing and combating trafficking in human beings and protecting its victims. It also believes that commercial gestation and reproductive exploitation should have been included as a form of violence against women in Directive 2024/1385/EU.
1.12The EESC notes with concern that the restrictions on the free and safe voluntary termination of pregnancy and the harassment suffered by women (particularly in the vicinity of clinics) have not been considered specific forms of violence against women.
1.13The EESC is deeply concerned about views that deny violence against women and girls as a specific form of violence because of their status as women, maintaining patriarchal positions, especially from fundamentalist religious groups. Also of concern are the activities of the extreme right, which attacks the objective of equality between women and men and denies the structural violence and discrimination suffered by women and girls, thereby attacking the values and principles of Article 2 of the TFEU.
1.14Education plays a crucial role in shaping gender roles and stereotypes; thus greater emphasis should be placed on its preventive role – including sex education – at all stages of education. The educational community, diverse civil society organisations (especially human rights and feminist organisations), the social partners and the communities concerned, should be explicitly included in institutional cooperation to prevent and combat gender-based violence.
2.General comments
2.1Violence against women and girls is a violation of human rights and represents one of the most persistent forms of gender discrimination: the most serious and brutal case is the murder of women because they are women, which constitutes femicide. A breakdown of the statistics shows that 2 out of 10 women have experienced physical and/or sexual violence by a partner or friend, 3 out of 10 by a relative or family member; 10 out of 20 women have experienced sexual harassment; and at least 2 women are murdered every day in the EU by an intimate partner or family member.
2.2The WHO reports that around 30% of women experience intimate partner violence (IPV) in their lifetime. Regional variations are significant.
2.3The WHO acknowledges that violence against women, particularly in the context of domestic or spousal relationships, is a significant public and clinical health concern and a violation of women’s human rights. This issue also reflects the extent of gender inequality and discrimination faced by women. The repercussions of such violence on physical, mental, sexual and reproductive health can have enduring effects throughout a woman’s lifetime.
2.4The EESC considers it essential and urgent to deal with this issue, and therefore calls for the ratification by all EU Member States of the International Labour Organization’s convention on violence and harassment (ILO Convention 190) and particularly its Recommendation 206 on violence and harassment, as well as the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul Convention), to be promoted in all Member States.
2.5The EESC welcomes the Directive (EU) 2024/1385 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 May 2024 on combating violence against women and domestic violence – the most comprehensive law to effectively fight violence against women and domestic violence. The Directive criminalises at EU level certain forms of violence against women offline and online, and requires Member States to put in place robust measures of prevention, protection, access to justice, support, coordination and cooperation between authorities.
2.6The main purpose of this opinion is to provide an evaluation of the shortcomings identified in the final text of the Directive, including forms and means by which violence against women and girls is expressed that are not covered by the aforementioned Directive. It aims to provide a perspective that truly contemplates a common comprehensive policy against gender-based violence, offering a comprehensive and effective strategy against this violation of human rights within the framework of the Union.
2.7The EESC believes that the Directive should include all forms of violence against women that have not already been included, such as institutional violence, pornography, reproductive exploitation, vicarious violence, chemical submission and street harassment, as well as sexual and gender-based harassment and the forced sterilisation of women with disabilities, among others.
2.8The EESC believes that it is important to ensure greater protection of victims’ privacy, as the current wording of Article 20 could intrude on victims’ privacy and lead to judgment of their behaviour, resulting in secondary victimisation.
2.9In this regard, the EESC believes that sexual violence and rape should be included in the Directive as a form of violence, and criminalised based on the absence of consent. It is crucial that a definition of ‘consent’ relating to sexual violence be introduced. The basis of the concept of sexual violence is the existence or lack of consent.
2.10The EESC considers that violence against women and girls, including rape, should be included in the ‘Eurocrimes’ referred to in Article 83(1) TFEU.
2.11The EESC also believes that specific measures in the fields of social dialogue, collective bargaining and necessary negotiations with social partners should be included to boost the employment and promote the employability of victims of gender-based violence, while ensuring the protection of victims’ privacy and a safe environment free of violence for all women, as well as combatting sexual harassment at work, as was already agreed in 2007 in the autonomous Framework agreement on harassment and violence at work.
2.12Special attention should also be paid to women and girls belonging to ethnic and/or cultural minorities, such as Roma and migrant women – especially migrant women in irregular administrative situations.
2.13 The EESC also considers that Directive 2024/1385/EU should have focused more on women with disabilities, and is concerned that no reference is made to criminalising forced sterilisation.
2.14The interlink between gender, disability and violence is complex. Women with disabilities face multiple and intersectional discrimination because of both their gender and disability. The most vulnerable to this risk are women with mental health conditions and psychosocial and/or intellectual disabilities. In this regard, this violence should be considered a public health issue with long-term consequences.
2.15Taking into consideration the global evidence showing that women with disabilities are between two to five times more likely to experience domestic violence compared to women without disabilities, and the far-reaching impact on the physical and mental health and well-being of women with disabilities, an obligation to disaggregate statistical data by disability is missing from the Directive.
2.16The EESC is concerned that prostitution has not been included as a form of violence against women, along the lines adopted in Directive 2011/36/EU on preventing and combating trafficking in human beings and protecting its victims, which proposes that Member States adopt the necessary measures to establish as a criminal offence the use of services which are the object of the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation.
2.17The EESC also believes that the measures set out in Article 11 of the Directive 2011/36/EU should be dissociated from the provisions of Article 6(3) of Council Directive 2004/81/EC, which states that the reflection period would not create any right of residence.
2.18It also considers that commercial gestation and reproductive exploitation should have been included as a form of violence against women in Directive 2024/1385/EU.
2.19The Committee considers that the referral of victims to support services should not only be free of charge, timely and coordinated, but also a priority and urgent. It is important that support services establish a ‘basic package’ and that victim support be considered as a specific area for which awareness-raising and monitoring should be increased.
2.20The EESC points out that the general EU framework for the protection of rights of victims of all crimes, including the EU Strategy on victims’ rights (2020-2025) and the proposal for a revision of the victims’ rights directive (VDR), is horizontal and applies to all victims of crime, stressing the importance of providing comprehensive victims’ rights, support and services that address the diversity of the victims concerned.
2.21Provisions on the right to support and protection should be based on victims’ individual needs, requiring authorities to ensure that individual assessments take into account the personal characteristics of the victims, including sex and gender
. Victims of violence against women and domestic violence are considered to be vulnerable victims under the VDR, in need of specialist support and protection measures, such as free psychological support provided for vulnerable victims for as long as is necessary.
2.22The EESC welcomes provisions on training and information for professionals which is extensively covered in the Directive under Article 36. The need to provide information to, communicate with and support the victims of gender-based violence, based on the needs of victims so as to facilitate reporting and effective prosecution of such crimes, had been already called for by the EESC.
2.23The EESC is concerned about the lack of coordination between general services (such as physical and mental healthcare services) and specialised services for dealing with violence against women. Inter-sectoral collaboration is crucial between specialised victims’ support services, social care services, physical and mental healthcare sectors, law enforcement and the judiciary.
2.24The EESC notes that health services, including mental healthcare and sexual and reproductive health services, should have been incorporated into the list of essential support services for victims in Directive 2024/1385/EU. It urges all the EU Member States to remove all barriers to access emergency contraception and free voluntary termination of pregnancy services following rape.
2.25Given the role that education plays in shaping gender roles and stereotypes, greater emphasis should be placed on its preventive role – including sex education – at all stages of education. In addition, the educational community, diverse civil society organisations (especially human rights and feminist organisations), the social partners and the communities concerned should be explicitly included in institutional cooperation. Education and accessible information on reproductive health should be targeted and adapted to the specific needs of women and girls, including in easy-to-read and easy-to-understand formats, so as to reach women and girls from different cultural and social backgrounds, those with different disabilities, those who are illiterate, and those in other vulnerable groups.
2.26Media play a powerful role in sharing information that can perpetuate or challenge harmful narratives around gender-based violence, contributing to and impacting societal and public responses to GBV. Thus, it should follow the principles of professionalism and ethics in reporting on GBV
.
2.27The EESC believes that barriers to access to sexual and reproductive health and rights represent a specific form of violence against women and should therefore be considered as such, as in the case of gynaecological and obstetric violence.
2.28The EESC notes with concern that the existing restrictions on the free and safe voluntary termination of pregnancy, as well as the harassment suffered by women, particularly in the vicinity of clinics, have not been considered as specific forms of violence against women. Women’s rights over their own sexuality and their reproductive rights must guarantee them the right to be able to decide freely on the voluntary termination of their pregnancy and the right to abortion. In the face of systematic attacks by fundamentalist and extreme right-wing groups, the EESC considers it necessary to incorporate legal measures in the Member States to guarantee not only this right but also its free exercise.
2.29The Committee also notes with concern that the development of a fulfilling life, in conditions of freedom and equality, for orphans of victims of violence against women is not included.
2.30The EESC asks mental health service providers to foster pathways to healing and well-being and ensure safety for survivors of gender-based and sexual violence. All mental health professionals should have a good understanding of the gendered nature and dynamics of different types of violence against women, especially the specificities of domestic violence, sexual and intimate partner violence (IPV), the effects of those on mental health, and the intersections of both violence and mental health with other forms of oppression including racism, transphobia, ableism, and poverty.
2.31A failure to provide mental health care, services and support to women victims of violence, who invariably suffer severe mental health consequences due to the trauma of such violence, is a severe human rights violation. In addition, not having access to facilities that could help them rebuild their lives, such as access to an adequate standard of living and social protection, rehabilitation and habilitation, work and employment, and legal justice, would also be violations of their human rights.
2.32The EESC is deeply concerned about views that deny violence against women and girls as a specific form of violence because of their status as women, maintaining patriarchal positions, especially from fundamentalist religious groups. Also of concern are the activities of the extreme right, which attacks the objective of equality between women and men and denies the structural violence and discrimination suffered by women and girls, thereby attacking the values and principles of Article 2 of the TFEU.
3.Specific comments
3.1For the purpose of the preparation of this Own initiative Opinion, two country missions were developed in order to analyse national perspectives and implementation of existing and future legal requirements to protect victims of gender-based violence and domestic violence. Lithuania and Spain were chosen as the two countries to visit. A summary of the main outcomes from the country visits highlighting input on the topic from the Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and social partners, as well as responsible national authorities, are reflected in Annex 1.
Brussels, 4 February 2025.
The president of the Section for Employment, Social Affairs and Citizenship
Cinzia del Rio
*
*
*
N.B.:
Annexes overleaf.
ANNEX 1
For the purpose of the preparation of this Own initiative Opinion two country missions were developed in order to analyse national perspectives and implementation of existing and future legal requirements to protect victims of gender based violence and domestic violence. Lithuania and Spain were chosen as the two countries to visit. A summary of the main outcomes from the country visits highlighting input on the topic from the Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and social partners, as well as responsible national authorities are reflected in this annex.
SPAIN
Spain scored 76.7 on the 2024 Gender Equality Index prepared by the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE), while the EU average is 71.0.. Likewise, in the Global Gender Gap Index 2023 drawn up by the World Economic Forum, Spain occupies position 18 out of 155 analysed (with 79.1%), having reduced the gap between women and men compared to 2022.
A broad regulatory framework and public policies have been developed in this regard by different levels of government, especially the State Pact. However, further progress is needed on fostering greater inter-administrative cooperation, better financing at all levels, and increased support for women’s organisations.
1Prevention
1.1All Spanish educational laws include education on and prevention of gender-based violence, with a focus on coeducation. However, it is regrettable that the Catholic Church and ultraconservative sectors continue oppose affective-sexual education and equality, especially considering that part of the educational model is managed by religious organisations.
1.2Efforts have been made to fight gender based violence since 1994, including ongoing measures, such as training for primary healthcare professionals and the State Security Forces and Corps (FCSE).
1.3A comprehensive and coordinated data collection model is also being developed, aimed at reviewing it to take into account intersectionality and include a specific study on women with disabilities.
1.4Far-right sectors, including parties with representation in parliament, express their denial of violence against women.
2Protection
2.1Adaptation of services and resources is offered to women with disabilities (including facilitators) and to migrant women, providing them access to interpreters.
2.2Not all of the rights contained in Organic Law 10/2022 on the Comprehensive Guarantee of Sexual Freedom related to victim status accreditation, labour rights, and the number of 24-hour crisis centres have been effectively implemented. Implementation depends on each autonomous community, generating regional inequalities.
2.3There are attacks on women’s rights from far-right sectors, particularly regarding the right to voluntary termination of pregnancy. In this regard, organisations believe it would be beneficial to have an initiative similar to the French model, constitutionalising that right.
2.4Second-order violence is experienced by professionals working with victims of gender-based violence.
3Prosecution
3.1An important pillar of Organic Law 1/2004 on Comprehensive Measures for Protection against Gender-Based Violence is the provision of free legal advice for victims, regardless of their resources, with the victim deciding whether or not to have legal assistance when filing the report. However, the FCSE sometimes fail to provide proper guidance in this regard before the report is made.
3.2Non-reporting persists, as indicated by the 2019 National Survey on Violence Against Women. Entities point out that the lack of a specialised training for the judicial sector is one of the main causes for this.
3.3Regarding the enforcement of sentences there is a sense of impunity, , especially when victims are minors and sentences are substituted with community service or courses, sometimes in agreement with the prosecution.
3.4The VioGen system for risk assessment is an advanced set of algorithms, but it is not sufficient. In this regard, there is a need for greater transparency, an independent audit or the participation of women’s organisations. The same recommendation applies to the implementation of Onvios, the system designed to tackle sexual violence.
3.5Specialized courts have been created for violence against women. However, judges holding the office in such courts are not always specialized.
LITHUANIA
Lithuania is one of the five European Union countries that have signed but not ratified the Istanbul Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence. Lithuania scored 65.8 on the 2024 Gender Equality Index released by the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE). However, the domain of "Violence" is not included in this calculation of the Index score. The Lithuanian score is 5.2 points below the score for the EU as a whole. Accordingly, Lithuania ranks 16th in the EU on the Gender Equality Index, moving its ranking up by one place since 2023. Within the Global Gender Gap Index 2023 drawn up by the World Economic Forum, Lithuania has closed at least 80% of its gap and returns to the top 10 economies, taking 9th place.
Lithuania has recently undertaken some legislative reforms in the fields of equal opportunities, disability rights, and ensuring the protection from sexual harassment not only of term-contract employees and civil servants, but also job-seekers. Amendments to the legislation on protection from domestic violence ensure providing for temporary protection orders in cases of domestic violence, and abolishing the institute of private prosecution. Yet, there is still a lack of a comprehensive regulation on gender-based violence explicitly protecting women. The seven forms of violence against women that are defined in the Directive are not covered by Lithuanian national laws. Only the general field of domestic violence is regulated in Lithuania.
4Prevention
4.1The Law on Protection from Domestic Violence was introduced in 2011, and the related institutional framework has been developed to ensure prevention, protection from and prosecution for domestic violence. On 1 July 2023, a new version of this Law entered into force. Despite some positive developments, the Law has still remained gender-neutral. Moreover, the key provision that domestic violence is a violation of human rights has been removed from the Law.
4.2Since 2011, a network of Specialised Complex Support Centres has been developed throughout Lithuania to ensure the provision of specialised services to victims of domestic violence.
4.3There have been some preventative measures introduced, but they are fragmented, often project based initiatives
with no regular funding, mainly carried out by women’s NGOs
. More coordinated measures for awareness raising campaigns against gender-based violence and trainings for professionals are foreseen in the national development programme with 1.7 million allocated to start in 2025.
4.4Since 1 July 2023, amendments to the Law on Protection from Domestic Violence established the function for the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports to ensure the compulsory integration into pre-school, pre-primary and general education curricula of topics such as gender equality, prevention of domestic violence, respect for the dignity of every person, mutual assistance, socio-emotional skills, non-violent conflict resolution and the right to personal integrity. This takes into account the abilities and ages of all students and seeks to coordinate the development of the competence of teaching staff in the fields of prevention, recognition of domestic violence and the provision of support to persons at risk of or affected by domestic violence.
4.5The new version of the Life Skills Curriculum, which also includes gender equality and sexuality, was approved by the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports in October 2022 and implementation started in September 2023. Although the programme focuses on gender stereotypes, the concept of gender equality is not precisely defined, leaving room for different interpretations. Moreover, there is a lack of systemic teaching of gender equality-related topics, and there is no reference to gender-based violence. According to NGOs, there is a lack of information and a question mark surrounding the qualifications of the teachers who would be teaching these lessons.
4.6There is a lack of comprehensive data collection models in Lithuania, gaps exist in collecting and making publicly available information about the number of reports made to the police, the number of pre-trial investigations opened, the number of pre-trial investigations closed, the number of cases brought to court and the number of cases trialled as well as the number of perpetrators sentenced.
5Protection
5.1The new amendments to the Law on Protection from Domestic Violence have introduced a Domestic Violence Protection Warrant ("the Warrant") which is a preventive protection measure by which an adult who raises the risk of domestic violence is ordered to temporarily move out of the place of residence shared with a person who is at risk of domestic violence, not to visit their place of residence, not to approach them and/or children living with them, not to communicate with them, and not to seek contact with them. This preventive measure, not involving criminal law, is imposed by the police officer first on the scene, immediately for a period of not less than 15 days. Yet, there have been cases where the same person was granted the Warrant as many as eight or even more times. This suggests that there is still no well thought out and clearly regulated procedure for moving from a preventive measure to the application of the criminal law, even if it fails several times.
5.2As for victim support services and resources in Lithuania, they often fail to ensure that women with various disabilities are appropriately supported, and that information and all services are accessible to them. Even though there are obligatory accessibility requirements (both physical and informational) for all public services, no additional funding is provided to ensure such accessibility.
5.3In Lithuania, there are still legal provisions allowing forced sterilisation for women with disabilities placed under guardianship.
6Prosecution
6.1The issue of "non-reporting" persists in Lithuania.
6.2According to NGOs not enough attention is paid to recurrent cases of violence. There are complaints that state interventions are ineffective and insufficient to deter the perpetrator, and that the violence continues. Typically, only a very small number of cases reach court, but even then the penalties are inadequate.
6.3There is no judicial specialisation in Lithuania.
_____________