Activities of Beatriz BECERRA BASTERRECHEA related to 2016/2096(INI)
Plenary speeches (2)
Promoting gender equality in mental health and clinical research (A8-0380/2016 - Beatriz Becerra Basterrechea) (vote) ES
Promoting gender equality in mental health and clinical research (short presentation) ES
Reports (1)
REPORT on promoting gender equality in mental health and clinical research PDF (501 KB) DOC (88 KB)
Amendments (43)
Amendment 2 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 1
Citation 1
– having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Articles 19 and 168(7) thereof,
Amendment 8 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 7 a (new)
Citation 7 a (new)
– having regard to the General Comment No. 14 of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights on The right to the highest attainable standard of health U.N. Doc. E/C.12/2000/4 and its General Comment No. 20 on Non-discrimination in economic, social and cultural rights U.N. Doc. E/C.12/GC/2009,
Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 7 a (new)
Citation 7 a (new)
– having regard to the 2008 European Pact for Mental Health and Well-Being,
Amendment 14 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 7 b (new)
Citation 7 b (new)
– having regard to the Recommendation CM/Rec(2010)5 of the Committee of Ministers to Member States on measures to combat discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity,
Amendment 16 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 7 b (new)
Citation 7 b (new)
– having regard to the Commission Joint Action on Mental Health and Well- Being (2013-2016).
Amendment 20 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas the right to physical and mental health is a fundamental human right;
Amendment 31 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas taking account of women’s diversity and incorporating it into the health prevention and treatment policies addressed to women would strengthen the effectiveness of these policies;
Amendment 33 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
Ca. whereas mental health must be seen and addressed holistically, by taking account of social, economic, and environmental factors, requiring a psychosocial all-of-society approach to attaining the highest possible level of mental well-being for all citizens;
Amendment 34 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C b (new)
Recital C b (new)
Cb. whereas physical and mental health are interlinked, and are both central to general wellbeing; whereas it is recognised that poor mental health can lead to chronic physical conditions, and that those with chronic physical conditions are more likely to develop mental health conditions; whereas despite the known links between the two, physical health research is often prioritised over mental health;
Amendment 35 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C c (new)
Recital C c (new)
Cc. whereas women and girls’ mental health is adversely affected by a variety of factors, including prevalent gender stereotypes and discrimination, objectification, gender-based violence and harassment, workplace environment, work-life balance, socioeconomic conditions, the absence or poor quality of mental health education, and limited access to mental healthcare;
Amendment 58 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G
Recital G
G. whereas female migrants, and female refugees in particular, may additionally face specific problems related to reproductive health such as complications with pregnancy and childbirth, as well as a risk of exposure to (sexual) violence and abuse;
Amendment 79 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L a (new)
Recital L a (new)
La. whereas in particular lesbian and bisexual women and trans and intersex persons face specific mental health issues arising from minority stress, defined as the high levels of anxiety and stress caused by prejudices, stigmatisation and experiences of discrimination, as well as medicalisation and pathologisation;
Amendment 91 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital M
Recital M
M. whereas, because of a variety of factors, primarily concerning different gender roles and gender inequalities, depression is approximately twice as prevalent among women as it is among men; and trans people show significantly elevated levels of suicide ideation and attempts;
Amendment 96 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital M a (new)
Recital M a (new)
Ma. whereas there is not enough attention to mental health and wellbeing in the education system across Member States, or at the workplace, given that mental health is often highly stigmatised, or a taboo subject; whereas education on mental health fights the stigma on the subject, it must also address gender specific vulnerabilities, gender stereotypes and discrimination facing women and girls;
Amendment 98 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital M b (new)
Recital M b (new)
Mb. whereas the psychosocial all-of- society approach to mental health requires policy coherence for wellbeing, coordinating healthcare, education, employment, economic and social policies in order to attain overall higher levels of mental wellbeing;
Amendment 107 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital O
Recital O
O. whereas male violence against womengender based violence and its impacts on women’s health constitute a fundamental barrier to the achievement of gender equality and women’s full enjoyment of their human rights;
Amendment 111 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital P a (new)
Recital P a (new)
Pa. whereas men and boys experience gendered mental health conditions and an increased likelihood of substance abuse, alcoholism, violent crime and suicide; whereas men and boys face gender stereotypes surrounding masculinity which may encourage repression of emotions or resort to anger, and these have an impact on men’s mental health, as well as the phenomenon of gender based violence;
Amendment 120 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital Q
Recital Q
Q. whereas, for several reasons, female subjects have historically been excluded from toxicology or biomedical research, and whereas large gender gaps in research limit how much we know about the difference between women’s health and men’s; whereas, as a result, biomedical research has tended to reflect predominantly a male perspective, assimilating women to men (except for specific specialisations);
Amendment 121 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital Q a (new)
Recital Q a (new)
Qa. whereas the exclusion and underrepresentation of women as subjects, or gender and sex as factors in biomedical research and clinical trials puts women’s lives and health at risk;
Amendment 123 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital Q b (new)
Recital Q b (new)
Qb. whereas the Regulation (EU) No 536/2014 on clinical trials of medicinal products for human use introduced requirements for taking account of gender in trials, but the implementation of the regulation must be evaluated; whereas the regulation does not specify any considerations on women other than for pregnant and breastfeeding women;
Amendment 124 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital R a (new)
Recital R a (new)
Ra. whereas the impacts of such drugs and medication as contraception devices, antidepressants and tranquilizers have on women’s physical and mental health are still poorly understood, and require further research to eliminate harmful side-effects and improve care delivery;
Amendment 125 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital R a (new)
Recital R a (new)
Ra. whereas systematic and adequate data collection on violence against women is crucial to ensure effective policy making in the field both at central and at regional and local levels, and to monitor the implementation of legislation;
Amendment 126 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital R a (new)
Recital R a (new)
Ra. whereas there are about 58 000 suicide cases a year in the EU and a quarter of those who commit suicide are women, and whereas suicide continues to be a major cause of death;
Amendment 127 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital R b (new)
Recital R b (new)
Rb. whereas mental disorders are one of the main causes of incapacity, adversely affecting as they do health, education, the economy, the labour market, and the EU’s welfare systems;
Amendment 140 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point b
Paragraph 1 – point b
(b) to recognise male violence against womengender based violence as a public health issue, whatever form it takes;
Amendment 152 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point f
Paragraph 1 – point f
(f) To the swift development of the EU-wide survey on the prevalence of gender-based violence for implementation within the European Statistical System, as confirmed in Eurostat’s 2016 work programme; and to collect regular, disaggregated data, in particular on the prevalence of depression, this data being disaggregated at least by sex, age group and socioeconomic status;
Amendment 155 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Emphasises that the Commission and Member States must recognise gender-based violence as a public health issue, whatever form it takes, which directly impacts on women’s mental health and wellbeing; notes that more research is needed on the mental health impact of gender-based violence, including verbal and psychological violence, harassment and intimidation;
Amendment 162 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 e (new)
Paragraph 1 e (new)
1e. Underlines that social and employment policy, particularly policies on work-life balance, must take women’s mental health and wellbeing into account;
Amendment 169 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Recommends that healthin the carse ofor pregnant womency healthcare begin as soon as possible in the first trimester of pregnancy, in order to make it possible to identify specific conditions that may require surveillance, to recognise social problems for which women may need help from social or mental health services and to inform women about pregnancy-related issues;
Amendment 173 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Calls on the Commission, Member States and EIGE to increase the collection of regular, gender disaggregated data on mental health, in particular on the prevalence of depression, this data being disaggregated at least by sex, gender, age group and socioeconomic status;
Amendment 183 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 e (new)
Paragraph 2 e (new)
2e. Urges the Commission and Member States to include the mental health and wellbeing challenges faced by men and boys due to gender stereotypes leading to increased likelihood of substance abuse and suicides than women; Underlines that policies on men’s mental health must also take into account the perspective of age and lifespan, socio- economic condition, social exclusion, and geographic factors;
Amendment 215 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. Encourages Member States to implement the Council of Europe’s recommendations 2010(5) and take into account the specific needs of lesbian, bisexual and transgender persons in the development of health policies, programmes and protocols;
Amendment 241 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Is disappointed by the fact that the annual budgets for programmes designed to prevent male violence against womengender based violence in all Member States is much less than the actual cost of such violence, be it in economic, social or moral in nature;
Amendment 255 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Calls on the Member States to take measures to ensure access to healthcare services – including women’s shelters – to all women, independent of their legal status, disability status, sexual orientation, gender identity, sex characteristics, race or ethnic origin, age or religion;
Amendment 268 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)
Paragraph 15 a (new)
15a. Believes that the action taken at EU level on mental health and well-being should involve leading figures in the political, health, education, and social spheres, together with the social partners and civil society organisations; considers it essential that mental health should cease to be a taboo subject in certain social environments;
Amendment 270 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)
Paragraph 15 a (new)
15a. Welcomes the moves by the Commission for the EU to ratify the Istanbul Convention, and regrets that many Member States have not done so yet; urges the Council to ensure EU accession to the Istanbul Convention as soon as possible;
Amendment 272 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 b (new)
Paragraph 15 b (new)
15b. Calls for measures to be taken to reduce the risk factors involved in suicide, such as alcohol abuse, drugs, social exclusion, depression, and stress; also calls for systems to be set up to provide support following suicide attempts;
Amendment 276 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Underlines the fact that clinical trials of pharmaceutical products on both men and women are necessary and that these should be inclusive, non- discriminatory and performed under conditions of equality, inclusion and non- marginalisationzation, and reasonably reflective of the population that would use the products; suggests that clinical trials also take account of specific vulnerable population groups such as paediatric and geriatric patients, persons, and ethnic minorities; is of the opinion that gender- disaggregated data should also be collected after commercialisation of the products, in order to record the different side-effects, as well as research and data on the implementation of the relevant EU legislation by Member States;
Amendment 279 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 a (new)
Paragraph 16 a (new)
16a. Expresses deep concern that the failure to improve women’s representation in clinical trials and biomedical research puts women’s health and lives at risk;
Amendment 287 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Demands that the labels on pharmaceutical products clearly indicate whether trials on women took place or not, and whether men and women may expect different side-effects; calls upon Member States to encourage research on the long- term effects of products used in hormone replacement therapy;
Amendment 296 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21 a (new)
Paragraph 21 a (new)
21a. Urges Member States, the EMEA, and relevant stakeholder to ensure that sex and gender factors are introduced at the earliest stages of research and development of medication, before the stage of clinical trials; Emphasises the need for improved sharing of best practice among research institutions and healthcare providers across Europe on the subject;
Amendment 297 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21 b (new)
Paragraph 21 b (new)
21b. Underlines that urgent action is required to correct gender gaps in clinical trials in areas of health where such gaps are particularly harmful, such as in medication for Alzheimer’s, cancer, treatment of strokes, anti-depressants, and cardio-vascular diseases;
Amendment 298 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21 c (new)
Paragraph 21 c (new)
21c. Emphasises that concerted action must be taken by researchers and all relevant stakeholders to eliminate harmful side effects of medication that specifically affect women, such as in anti- depressants and contraception and other drugs, in order to improve women’s health, and the quality of healthcare;