28 Amendments of Terry REINTKE related to 2018/2684(RSP)
Amendment 2 #
Citation 3 a (new)
- having regard to the outcome of the 2017 Annual Colloquium on Fundamental Rights organised by the European Commission “Women’s rights in Turbulent Times”;
Amendment 4 #
Citation 3 b (new)
- having regard to Articles 2 and 3 of the Treaty on European Union (TUE) that lay down the principle of gender equality and non-discrimination as a core value of the Union;
Amendment 6 #
Citation 3 c (new)
- having regard to Articles 8 and 153 (on equality between men and women); Articles 10 and 19 (on non- discrimination) and Articles 6, 9 and 168 (on health) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU);
Amendment 9 #
Citation 3 d (new)
- having regard to Articles 21 (on non –discrimination), 23 (on equality between women and men) and 35 (on healthcare) of the Charter on Fundamental Rights;
Amendment 10 #
Citation 3 e (new)
- having regard to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR);
Amendment 11 #
Citation 3 f (new)
- having regard to the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action of September 1995, and the International Conference on Population and Development Programme of Action (Cairo Conference) of September 1994, as well as the outcomes of their review conferences;
Amendment 16 #
Recital A
A. whereas backlash can be defined as resistance to progressive social change, regression on acquired rights or seeking to maintain gender inequalities; whereas this resistance can be both formal and informal and can involve passive or active strategies to counter further progress by trying to impose non-evidence-based beliefs that aim to change policies and legislations which could ultimately affect citizens across EU countries by limiting and regressing their acquired rights;
Amendment 40 #
Recital D
D. whereas the present decade has witnessed a visible drive against gender equality and the women’s rights agenda across continents, including in the EU;
Amendment 52 #
Recital E
E. whereas the main targets of this backlash appear to be common across countries and include the key areas of the institutional and policy framework for gender equality, such as gender mainstreaming, social and labour protection, education, sexual and reproductive health and rights, preventing and combating violence against women, and gender-based violence, LGBTI+ rights, and working space for women’s and human rights’ organisations;
Amendment 53 #
Recital E a (new)
E a. whereas anti-human rights campaigners and anti-human rights organisations are strategizing to roll back human rights for sexual and reproductive health in Europe and seek to overturn existing laws on basic human rights related to sexuality and reproduction, such as the right to access modern contraception, assisted reproduction technologies or safe abortions; the right to equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans or intersex (LGBTI+) persons; access to stem-cell research, or the right to change one’s gender or sex without fear of legal repercussions; whereas these anti-human rights campaigners and anti-human rights organisations increasingly use a more secular rhetoric which resembles classical human rights language, using sophisticated technical evidence and strategic interpretations of international human rights standards in order to communicate positions which roll back human rights;
Amendment 60 #
Recital F
F. whereas women’s organisations groups and women’s rights defenders have acted as catalysts of and leaders in legislative and policy developments in the past decade in the progression and implementation of women’s rights, but are experiencing significant challenges in accessing funding as well as an increasingly hostile environment;
Amendment 63 #
Recital G
G. whereas in the first half of 2018, several countries in the EU witnessed backlash against the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul Convention) occurred in several countries in the EU, opening up space for hate speech, especially targeting LGBTI+ people;
Amendment 71 #
Recital H
H. whereas in 2017, the Council of Europe warned that women’s sexual and reproductive rights were under threat as several members sought to restrict legislation on access to abortion and contraception; whereas in a similar vein, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) issued a joint statement in August 2018 emphasising that access to safe and legal abortion, as well as to related services and information, were essential aspects of women’s reproductive health, while urging countries to stop regressing on the sexual and reproductive rights of women and girls, which threaten women and girl’s health and lives;
Amendment 82 #
Recital I
I. whereas sexualityrelationship and sexuality education (RSE) and gender equality education is not provided in many Member States and is falling short of international requirements, including the World Health Organisation Standards for Sexuality Education and the World Health Organisation Action Plan on Sexual and Reproductive Health;
Amendment 89 #
Paragraph 1
1. Urges the Commission and the Member States to maintain a strong commitment to gender equality and women’s rights, women’s rights and minority rights, such as the rights of people with disabilities, LGBTI people, and religious and ethnic minority groups, to further improve policies and legislation in this area and to denounce coercive discourse and measures undermining women’s autonomy in every field;
Amendment 99 #
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2 a. Notes that most vulnerable to these backlashes are women minority groups, including gender and sexual, ethnic and religious minorities;
Amendment 100 #
Paragraph 2 b (new)
2 b. Points out at the worrying tendency of shrinking space for civil society in the world and also in Europe and of increasing criminalisation, bureaucratisation and funds restrictions for fundamental rights organisations, including women’s rights organisations and activists;
Amendment 103 #
Paragraph 3
3. Considers that enshrining women’s rights and LGBTI rights in law is not sufficient to achieve gender equality and calls on the Commission and the Member States to strengthen public awareness about the importance and benefits of women’s rights and gender equality for society; further support the development and dissemination of evidence-based research and information in this area;
Amendment 108 #
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3 a. Emphasises that gender equality cannot be achieved if not all women achieve equal rights, including women from religious and ethnic minority groups who face intersectional inequalities;
Amendment 109 #
Paragraph 3 b (new)
3 b. Regrets that gender budgeting has not been recognised as a horizontal principle in the multiannual financial framework Regulation for the years 2021 to 2027 and calls the Council to amend the Regulation thereof as a matter of urgency re-affirming therefore its commitment to gender equality; Calls on the Commission and the Member States to implement gender-responsive approaches to budgeting in a way that explicitly tracks what proportion of public funds are targeted at women and to fight against the gender backlash by ensuring that all policies for mobilising resources and allocating expenditure promote gender equality;
Amendment 110 #
Paragraph 3 c (new)
3 c. Notes that gender mainstreaming is part of an overall strategy on gender equality and stresses, therefore, that the commitment of EU institutions on that area is fundamental; regrets in this context that no EU gender equality Strategy 2016-2020 was adopted, downgrading the Strategic Engagement for Gender Equality to a Staff Working Document; Reaffirms its call once again to the European Commission to adopt an EU Strategy for Women’s Rights and Gender Equality;
Amendment 113 #
Paragraph 4
4. Calls on all Member States to assume and abide by the international commitments and ensure respect for the principles enshrined in their fundamental laws as regards fundamental, minority and women’s rights including sexual and reproductive health and rights;
Amendment 122 #
Paragraph 5
5. Emphasises that preventing and combating violence against women is more important than everand gender-based violence continues to be fundamentally important, as in addition to persistent problems in state responses, new forms of violence have spread, such as sexist and LGBTI-phobic hate speech, misogyny and online violence;
Amendment 136 #
Paragraph 6
6. Considers it striking that the backlash is built on a convention that targets violence against women and gender based violence, a policy area on which there is a strong consensus; is therefore worried that the rejection of the norm of zero tolerance of violence against women and gender based violence indicates that the very essence of the principles of human rights, equality, autonomy and dignity is being questioned; calls on the Council to conclude the accession and full implementation of the Istanbul Convention by the EU and to advocate its ratification by the Member States;
Amendment 144 #
Paragraph 7
7. Expresses its strong support for the widespread initiatives, including grassroots initiatives, demanding equality for women and menall people regardless of their gender promoted by women’s organisations¸;
Amendment 150 #
Paragraph 8
8. Calls on the Member States to review their criteria for awarding funding to civil society organisations in order to ensure that they are bias free and support a strong and diverse civil societysupport politically and financially independent civil society organisations defending and promoting EU fundamental values, human rights, democracy, the rule of law and gender equality, and to not support those who actively work towards undermining these EU values;
Amendment 156 #
Paragraph 9
9. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to ensure that their mechanisms for the distribution, monitoring and evaluation of funding are gender sensitive and responsive to the problems that specific organisations face at the time of backlash calls on the Commission and the Member States to increase funding for women’s rights and gender equality, including for sexual and reproductive health and rights;
Amendment 194 #
Paragraph 13
13. Recommends that Member States ensure that comprehensive sexuality education and relationships is provided to all young people as a key tool to prevent gender- based violence;