European & International News

International news globe All the latest news from the European Union, its member states, and beyond.

European & International News
What’s new in the European Commission in regards to parity in decision making?

Posted on 29 April 2015 |

[Brussels, 29 April 2015] It is now a well-known fact that women represent more than half of the population of the European Union, but they are not represented equally in decision-making at all European levels. This current and lingering under-representation is a serious obstacle to the democratic legitimacy of the EU.
However, the European Women’s Lobby (EWL) and its members are encouraged by positive developments in the European Commission this year that represent steps in the right (...) Read more
European & International News
Launch of Irish campaign ’Prostitution: We don’t buy it’

Posted on 24 April 2015 |

[Dublin, 23 April 2015] On 23 April, Dublin saw the launch of a new campaign to raise awareness on prostitution: We Don’t Buy It, and sex trade survivor Rachel Moran.
Read more and find out about facts and figures here.
Launched by the project REACH, with the partnership of several EWL members and partners. Read more
European & International News
EWL met with Global Justice Center in Brussels to discuss access to full medical care for female war rape victims

Posted on 24 April 2015 |

[Brussels, 24 April 2015] On 20 April 2015, the European Women’s Lobby had the pleasure to see in Brussels its colleagues from the Global Justice Center, with whom the EWL has been active calling for access to full medical care for female war rape victims.
As part of its advocacy trip to Brussels, the Global Justice Center invited European networks to discuss new strategies to ensure access to full medical care for female war rape victims, including abortion services. The GJC unveiled a (...) Read more
European & International News
Interesting to read & watch

Posted on 10 April 2015 |

Interview avec notre Présidente Viviane Teitelbaum sur la RTBF - télévision belge. "Le ventre d’une femme n’appartient pas à l’Église"
http://www.rtl.be/rtltvi/video/5323... Development Commissioner Neven Mimica said that he would be the most vocal defender of gender equality in his work on Thursday (26 March), two days after he returned from a global forum in Addis Ababa dedicated to the role of women in politics.
Euractiv read more here Building a feminist internet
How does ensuring the safety (...) Read more
European & International News
Fundamental rights in the EU: Where to next?

"European institutions must not forget their responsibility to uphold fundamental rights"

Posted on 8 April 2015 |

[Brussels, 2 April 2015] The nomination – for the first time – of a Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of fundamental rights gave rise to high expectations among citizens and human rights organisations in the European Union. It triggered hopes that the European Union would finally make the respect of fundamental rights enshrined in the EU treaties a priority, not just outside the European Union but also within its borders. We hope the European Commission will live up to (...) Read more
European & International News
PPL prostitution au Sénat : un vote réac, déshonorant et irresponsable !

Réaction des associations après le vote du Sénat sur la proposition de loi contre le système prostitutionnel

Posted on 7 April 2015 |

Premières réactions du Mouvement du Nid à l’issue du vote (nuit de lundi 30/03 à mardi 31/03)
Après 16 mois de travail qui n’auront servi au final qu’à revenir au statu quo, le Sénat vient de rendre son verdict en rétablissant le délit de racolage et rejetant la pénalisation des clients de la prostitution.
"Nous dénonçons avec la plus grande vigueur un vote qui ne peut être qualifié autrement que de machiste et réactionnaire", a déclaré Grégoire Théry, secrétaire général du Mouvement du Nid, à la sortie (...) Read more
European & International News
EU Alliance for a Democratic, Social and Sustainable European Semester calls for the European Investment Package to be used to meet the targets of the Europe 2020 Strategy

Posted on 20 March 2015 |

[Brussels 17 March 2015] The EU Alliance for a democratic, social and sustainable European Semester calls for the European Fund for Strategic Investment – EFSI - (the so-called Investment Package) to focus on achieving the Europe 2020 targets, which include a reduction of poverty, a 75% employment rate for women and men by 2020, reduction in school-drop out, increase in energy efficiency and more investment in Research and Development.
The Alliance notes that the potential of the Europe (...) Read more
European & International News
Interesting to read & watch

Posted on 16 March 2015 |

MEPs’ last attempt to save maternity leave extension Article on euractiv.com - Monday 16 March 2015
"MEPs are working around the clock to break the seven-year impasse on extending maternity leave, after European Commission First Vice-President Frans Timmermans said he would withdraw the proposed law within six months if the deadlock between Parliament and EU ministers was not broken."
EU needs wake-up call on gender equality Parliament Magazine, Tuesday 10 March 2015 Women and girls can’t (...) Read more
European & International News
Ruchira Gupta awarded ’Woman of Distinction’ by the NGO CSW/NY Committee

Posted on 14 March 2015 |

[New York, 8 March 2015] On International Women’s Day, the NGO CSW/NY Committee awarded Ruchira Gupta as the ’Woman of Distinction 2015’. The European Women’s Lobby congratulates the NGO CSW/NY for this choice, as Ruchira Gupta, founder of [Apne Aap->http://apneaap.org, is a great partner of the EWL is its work on ending sex trafficking and violence against women, and raising awareness on the inherent violence and harm of the system of prostitution on all women. Watch an extract from her (...) Read more
European & International News
Take Responsibility for Wartime Crimes of Sexual Slavery and Human Trafficking: Remember the "Comfort Women"

Peition by Coalition Against Trafficking in Women International (CATW)

Posted on 27 February 2015 |

[Petition of our colleagues at CATW] Prior to and during World War II, Japan’s Imperial Army established a system of brothels in its zones of combat specifically designed for military use, called "comfort stations." Women and girls as young as 13 years old were enticed, kidnapped or coerced into sexual slavery by the Japanese military and its designated agents. Historians estimate that as many as 200,000 women and girls throughout Asia and the Pacific, the majority from Korea, were (...) Read more