[Brussels, 15 May 2012] Eight years after the enlargement of the EU to ten new Member States in 2004, the new Executive Committee of the European Women’s Lobby (EWL) reflects the positive experience of collaboration and integration of the women’s movement in Europe. Slovene representative Sonja Lokar, the first President of the organisation hailing from a new Member State, heads a new 40 member Board of Administration elected on 13 May in Budapest by delegates from 30 countries and representing more than 2000 organisations. Her Executive includes members from Cyprus (Susana Pavlou), Malta (Renee Laiviera) and EU candidate country, Croatia (Rada Boric). Vice-Presidents Viviane Teitelbaum (Belgium) and Martha Jean Baker (Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom), and Treasurer Liz Law from the UK complete the seven person Executive Committee.

Brigitte Triems from Germany, who won a standing ovation from the Board for her work and commitment over two terms as President of the (...)

[Brussels, 15 May 2012] The European Women’s Lobby organises on 30 May a visual event to raise awareness on the scale of and tolerance for prostitution at sporting events. The MEPs who support EWL campaign will gather in the European Parliament for a group photo and give prostitution at sporting events a red card. EWL video clip ’Sport, sex and fun’ will be released at this occasion, and participants will be invited to take EWL pledge for a Europe free from prostitution.

This year, thousands of young girls and women are at risk of trafficking and sexual exploitation to satisfy the demand for prostitution on the sidelines of the Olympic Games in London and the UEFA Euro 2012 in Poland and Ukraine.

The number of human trafficking victims in Greece increased by 95% during the 2004 Olympic Games. Ahead of the 2006 World Cup in Germany, predictions were for more than 40,000 women and children to be trafficked into the country to meet the prostitution demands of millions of football (...)

[Brussels, 15 May 2012] Eight years after the enlargement of the EU to ten new Member States in 2004, the new Executive Committee of the European Women’s Lobby (EWL) reflects the positive experience of collaboration and integration of the women’s movement in Europe. Slovene representative Sonja Lokar, the first President of the organisation hailing from a new Member State, heads a new 40 member Board of Administration elected on 13 May in Budapest by delegates from 30 countries and representing more than 2000 organisations. Her Executive includes members from Cyprus (Susana Pavlou), Malta (Renee Laiviera) and EU candidate country, Croatia (Rada Boric). Vice-Presidents Viviane Teitelbaum (Belgium) and Martha Jean Baker (Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom), and Treasurer Liz Law from the UK complete the seven person Executive Committee.

Brigitte Triems from Germany, who won a standing ovation from the Board for her work and commitment over two terms as President of the (...)

[Brussels, 09 May 2012] Delegates from 30 countries representing more than 2000 European women’s organisations are due to meet this weekend in Budapest for the Annual Conference and General Assembly of the European Women’s Lobby.

Budapest was selected to host this year’s meeting in a sign of solidarity with the women of Hungary who are confronted with extremely adverse circumstances in their struggle for equal rights. A Statement from the Hungarian Women’s Lobby highlights these difficulties:

“It is alarming that Hungary scores second from last in Europe regarding the situation of women on the labour market, as well as in terms of leadership positions in political and economic life. This is certainly connected to the fact that according to attitude surveys, Hungarians are the most negative of all Europeans when it comes to gender equality.”

The situation for women’s rights and gender equality in other countries is dire elsewhere too. As noted by Brigitte Triems, EWL President, “The (...)

[Brussels, 02 May 2012] The European Year for Active Ageing and Solidarity between generations 2012 provides an excellent opportunity for the European Women’s Lobby to look at women’s rights and gender equality from a life-cycle perspective. Under the headline “Her Future – Intergenerational solidarity from a gender equality perspective” EWL’s Annual Conference on 11 May in Budapest brings a much needed gender equality perspective to the European debate on active ageing and solidarity between generations. As part of this effort EWL dedicates the Annual Conference to a range of gender equality issues, from care to pay and pensions from a life-cycle perspective, with the aim of understanding and improving the situation of women at all stages of their lives. The conference also provides a stimulus for discussions on how women’s organisations can turn generational differences into a source of energy and new vision. Experts in the fields of care economy, gendered pay and pension gaps, (...)

[Brussels, 26 April 2012] We are proud to share with you the Spring 2012 edition of the European Women’s Lobby’s magazine European Women’s Voice! This issue is dedicated to discussing intergenerational solidarity from a gender equality perspective, and it is the EWL’s contribution to the European Year 2012 on Active Ageing and Solidarity between Generations.

Until now, gender equality issues have not been at the core of the European debate on active ageing and solidarity between generations. The third edition of the European Women’s Voice, entitled ‘Her Future – Intergenerational solidarity from a gender equality perspective’, fills this gap and outlines a life-cycle approach to women’s rights and gender equality.

The articles of this edition of European Women’s Voice invite us to look at a range of gender equality issues from care to pay and pensions from a life-cycle perspective, with the aim of understanding and improving the situation of women at all stages of their lives. The (...)

[Brussels, 12 April 2012] Do you believe that women’s rights are human rights and that it is high time equality between women and men was made a reality? You can do your part! By becoming a Friend of the European Women’s Lobby (EWL), you invest in a brighter future of each and every girl and woman in Europe. Every day, the EWL is campaigning for a gender equal Europe. The regular financial support of the Friends of the EWL can ensure the existence of an independent voice for women’s rights in Europe.

As a Friend of the EWL, you will receive the EWL’s weekly newsletter and the exclusive ’Friends’ letters’ with all the news about our work, our publications in electronic format and our ’Feminist Friends Forever’ badge. Your regular contribution is tax-deductible if you live in the TGE countries (click here).

The following are just two recent success stories of the EWL:

After long years of lobbying, things are finally moving to improve the representation of women and men in economic (...)

[Brussels, 04 April 2012] On 01 July 2012, the Presidency of the Council of the European Union (EU) will pass from Denmark to Cyprus. The European Women’s Lobby calls on the forthcoming Cypriot Presidency to be a driving force for women’s rights in Europe especially in the current financial, economic and social crisis.

The EWL has listed eight priorities for the Cypriot Presidency in the area of gender equality.

Ensure future EU funding for women’s rights and gender equality in the negotiations on the MFF 2014-2020; Take a leadership role in the negotiations aiming at adopting the revised maternity leave Directive; Issue strong Council conclusions on violence against women; Ensure sexual and reproductive health and rights for all women living in Europe; Support the adoption of binding EU-level legislation to reach parity on company boards; Ensure that equality between women and men is at the core of the implementation, reporting and monitoring mechanisms of the Europe 2020 (...)

[Brussels, 30 March 2012] The European Commission’s upcoming ’Employment package’ provides an opportunity to focus on women’s role in moving towards ’job-rich’ economic recovery. This week, European Women’s Lobby wrote a letter to European Commission President Barroso, pointing out why focused gender equality measures are indispensable to reaching this goal.

The European Commission is expected to adopt the ’Employment package,’ a set of employment policy proposals that will make concrete recommendations on how the European employment policies can contribute to growth and ’job-rich’ economic recovery, in mid-April.

The EWL letter highlights women’s position on the labour-market, which continues to be characterised by low pay, poor working conditions and the fact that women shoulder the bulk of unpaid care responsibilities. These trends withhold women (51 % of EU’s population) from making their full contribution to the economic recovery.

The EWL stressed the urgency of enabling both women and (...)

[Brussels, 23 March] Today was the concluding day of the European Women’s Lobby’s “Exchange Project for Women’s Organisations around the Mediterranean Region.” The four-day event took place in Brussels 20-23 March 2012.

The project brought together 10 Tunisian women from different backgrounds (a journalist, teachers, a film-maker, activists…) and European women activists. The aim was to facilitate the exchange on objectives, strategies and experiences in order to ensure that women’s rights will be respected in the ongoing democratic transition in Tunisia and included in the Constitution.

The interesting and stimulating debates which touched different topics were full of new ideas for action that hopefully will be carried out. Tunisian participants expressed their concern about losing their previously ensured rights. They were committed to ensuring women’s equal participation in the new democracy.

The meeting was organised by the EWL with the support and collaboration of Heinrich Böll (...)