[Brussels, 29 November 2018] Last night, the European Movement International, together with the European Women’s Lobby, hosted the 2018 edition of the Women of Europe Awards ceremony. The Awards, inspired the national awards of several National European Movement Councils, are handed out annually to honour women striving to advance the European project in their professional or private capacity.
Members of the European Movement International and of the European Women’s Lobby nominate women who they believe have made extraordinary contributions to promoting European issues and advancing gender equality in Europe. The Awards are handed out in four different categories and the winners are selected by a jury of seven women, which included EWL’s Executive Committee member from the European Disability Forum Pirkko Mahlamäki. While the awards are presented to individual or groups of women, the aim is to recognise and celebrate all women and girls of Europe, in all their diversity. EWL President Gwendoline Lefebvre said, “The Women of Europe Awards are a perfect opportunity to amplify women’s voices in the heart of the political discussion about the future of Europe. The awards must also give visibility to the reality of women and girls’ diverse identities. Through acknowledging and addressing this, we can positively impact the lived experiences of women and girls across the continent.”
The winner in the Woman in Power category, recognising extraordinary political leadership in Europe, was Marianne Thyssen, European Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs, Skills and Labour Mobility, for her work on social rights within the EU. Marianne Thyssen dedicated her award, to “the many women who implement the European pillar of social rights. This is an award by women, for women, about women, and it means a lot to me.”
The award for Woman in Action, celebrating extraordinary actions at grassroots level in Europe, went to Orla O’Connor, Ailbhe Smyth & Grainne Griffin, the co-directors of the Together4Yes campaign. The three women co-led this inspiring civil society movement to repeal the eight amendment in the Republic of Ireland, mobilising thousands of volunteers across the country. Receiving the Award, they said: “Removing the eighth amendment was so important for women in Ireland, but was also so important for women in Europe, and globally, in terms of advancing reproductive rights for women.”
The winner in the Woman in Business category, for contribution to advancing European integration with entrepreneurial spirit, was Axelle Lemaire, Global Head of Terra Numerata at Roland Berger. Axelle thanked everyone for the Award with a video message: “[Being a woman in business] is still a challenge. Receiving this prize helps me, helps us and helps society to become more inclusive, more gender equal and a nicer place to live.”
The award for Woman in Youth Activism, recognising the incredible achievements of young women and girls in Europe, went to Sigrid Friis Proschowsky, chair of Radikal Ungdom in Denmark, a political youth group fighting to change the perception of the EU among young people. “The EU is a long-term relationship not just a random Tinder swipe. It is our generation that is going to shape the future of Europe.” said Sigrid when receiving the Award, presented to her by last year’s Women in Youth winner Mina Jaf, from Women Refugee Route.
It was an inspiring ceremony, celebrating the incredible achievements and contributions of women in Europe. You can read about all the shortlisted nominees here.
Congratulations to the winners, and to ALL the women and girls who were nominated for this year’s award. Huge thanks to our partner European Movement International and to our members who took part in the initiative.
The event was sponsored by Metro, BCW, Volkswagen and Baker McKenzie
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Accessibility Statement
womenlobby.org
31 October 2025
Compliance status
We firmly believe that the internet should be available and accessible to anyone, and are committed to providing a website that is accessible to the widest possible audience,
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To fulfill this, we aim to adhere as strictly as possible to the World Wide Web Consortium’s (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 (WCAG 2.1) at the AA level.
These guidelines explain how to make web content accessible to people with a wide array of disabilities. Complying with those guidelines helps us ensure that the website is accessible
to all people: blind people, people with motor impairments, visual impairment, cognitive disabilities, and more.
This website utilizes various technologies that are meant to make it as accessible as possible at all times. We utilize an accessibility interface that allows persons with specific
disabilities to adjust the website’s UI (user interface) and design it to their personal needs.
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adapts Its functionality and behavior for screen-readers used by the blind users, and for keyboard functions used by individuals with motor impairments.
If you’ve found a malfunction or have ideas for improvement, we’ll be happy to hear from you. You can reach out to the website’s operators by using the following email
Screen-reader and keyboard navigation
Our website implements the ARIA attributes (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) technique, alongside various different behavioral changes, to ensure blind users visiting with
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alongside console screenshots of code examples:
Screen-reader optimization: we run a background process that learns the website’s components from top to bottom, to ensure ongoing compliance even when updating the website.
In this process, we provide screen-readers with meaningful data using the ARIA set of attributes. For example, we provide accurate form labels;
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Keyboard navigation optimization: The background process also adjusts the website’s HTML, and adds various behaviors using JavaScript code to make the website operable by the keyboard. This includes the ability to navigate the website using the Tab and Shift+Tab keys, operate dropdowns with the arrow keys, close them with Esc, trigger buttons and links using the Enter key, navigate between radio and checkbox elements using the arrow keys, and fill them in with the Spacebar or Enter key.Additionally, keyboard users will find quick-navigation and content-skip menus, available at any time by clicking Alt+1, or as the first elements of the site while navigating with the keyboard. The background process also handles triggered popups by moving the keyboard focus towards them as soon as they appear, and not allow the focus drift outside it.
Users can also use shortcuts such as “M” (menus), “H” (headings), “F” (forms), “B” (buttons), and “G” (graphics) to jump to specific elements.
Disability profiles supported in our website
Epilepsy Safe Mode: this profile enables people with epilepsy to use the website safely by eliminating the risk of seizures that result from flashing or blinking animations and risky color combinations.
Visually Impaired Mode: this mode adjusts the website for the convenience of users with visual impairments such as Degrading Eyesight, Tunnel Vision, Cataract, Glaucoma, and others.
Cognitive Disability Mode: this mode provides different assistive options to help users with cognitive impairments such as Dyslexia, Autism, CVA, and others, to focus on the essential elements of the website more easily.
ADHD Friendly Mode: this mode helps users with ADHD and Neurodevelopmental disorders to read, browse, and focus on the main website elements more easily while significantly reducing distractions.
Blindness Mode: this mode configures the website to be compatible with screen-readers such as JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver, and TalkBack. A screen-reader is software for blind users that is installed on a computer and smartphone, and websites must be compatible with it.
Keyboard Navigation Profile (Motor-Impaired): this profile enables motor-impaired persons to operate the website using the keyboard Tab, Shift+Tab, and the Enter keys. Users can also use shortcuts such as “M” (menus), “H” (headings), “F” (forms), “B” (buttons), and “G” (graphics) to jump to specific elements.
Additional UI, design, and readability adjustments
Font adjustments – users, can increase and decrease its size, change its family (type), adjust the spacing, alignment, line height, and more.
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Cognitive disorders – we utilize a search engine that is linked to Wikipedia and Wiktionary, allowing people with cognitive disorders to decipher meanings of phrases, initials, slang, and others.
Additional functions – we provide users the option to change cursor color and size, use a printing mode, enable a virtual keyboard, and many other functions.
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We aim to support the widest array of browsers and assistive technologies as possible, so our users can choose the best fitting tools for them, with as few limitations as possible. Therefore, we have worked very hard to be able to support all major systems that comprise over 95% of the user market share including Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, Opera and Microsoft Edge, JAWS and NVDA (screen readers).
Notes, comments, and feedback
Despite our very best efforts to allow anybody to adjust the website to their needs. There may still be pages or sections that are not fully accessible, are in the process of becoming accessible, or are lacking an adequate technological solution to make them accessible. Still, we are continually improving our accessibility, adding, updating and improving its options and features, and developing and adopting new technologies. All this is meant to reach the optimal level of accessibility, following technological advancements. For any assistance, please reach out to
