Activities of Hilde VAUTMANS related to 2019/2169(INI)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on the EU Strategy for Gender Equality
Amendments (60)
Amendment 1 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 1
Citation 1
— having regard to Articles 2 and 3(3) of the Treaty on European Union (TEU), and Articles 6 and 8, 8, 10, 83, 153, 157 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU),
Amendment 2 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 2
Citation 2
— having regard to Articles 21 and 23 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union,
Amendment 5 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 9 a (new)
Citation 9 a (new)
— having regard to its resolution of 13 February 2020 on The EU priorities for the 64th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women,
Amendment 6 #
Draft opinion
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
Ba. whereas the Istanbul Convention is the first legally binding international instrument on preventing and combating violence against women and girls, establishing a comprehensive framework of legal and policy measures for preventing violence against women, supporting victims and punishing perpetrators;
Amendment 6 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 9 b (new)
Citation 9 b (new)
— having regard to its resolution of 30 January 2020 on the gender pay gap,
Amendment 9 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 13 a (new)
Citation 13 a (new)
— having regard to its resolution of 17 April 2018 on gender equality in the media sector in the EU,
Amendment 21 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 23
Citation 23
— having regard to the European Pillar of Social Rights and, in particular, its principles 2, 3, 9 and 915,
Amendment 24 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 25
Citation 25
— having regard to the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, as well as the declarations adopted in the framework of the UN Summits Beijing +5, Beijing +10, Beijing +15 and Beijing +20nd the outcomes of its review conferences,
Amendment 30 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Reiterates its call for the Council and the Commission to swiftly adopt the Horizontal Anti-discrimination Directive; welcomes the Commission's intention to propose additional anti-discrimination legislation as set out in the political guidelines for the 2019-2024 European Commission and calls on the Commission to swiftly come up with it;
Amendment 37 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Expresses its concern at the widespread prevalence of GBV in all its forms and the lack of full access to sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR); condemns serious violations of women's and children's rights within and beyond the EU, including female genital mutilation (FGM), forced abortion and sterilisation, early and forced marriage and other harmful practices against women and girls; calls for an EU-wide action plan to prevent and combat all forms of GBV; to this end calls for the appointment of a coordinator to implement this action plan; harmful practices against women and girls;
Amendment 44 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas harmful gender structures and stereotypes throughout the world perpetuate inequality, and whereas overcomdismantling these structures and stereotypes will advance gender equality; whereas a strong women’s rights movement is needed to uphold democratic values, fundamental rights and women’s rights in particular, and whereas threats to women’s rights also represent threats to democracy;
Amendment 47 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
Ba. whereas discrimination on the basis of gender is often combined with discrimination based on identities such as race or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age, sexual orientation, class and/or migration status triggering double and multiple discriminations; whereas a horizontal intersectional perspective is essential in any gender equality policy in order to recognise and address these multiple threats of discrimination;
Amendment 51 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Urges the EU to accede toIs deeply concerned that 33% of women in the EU have experienced physical and/or sexual violence; deplores that six member states - Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia and Slovakia - still have not ratified the Istanbul Convention; finds that the failure of the EU to accede to the Istanbul Convention impacts its credibility and ability to be a normative power in the world; urges the EU to accede to and all member states to ratify the Istanbul Convention without delay; commends the Commission on its commitment to propose measures to achieve the same objectives if accession to the Convention remains blocked;
Amendment 51 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas the EU has adopted important legislation and provided key impulsecrucial progress to achieving gender equality; whereas, however, these efforts have slowed down in recent years, while movements opposing gender equality policies and women’s rights have flourished; whereas these movements are attempting to influence national and European policies in order to block continued progress towards gender equality and worryingly to roll back already established fundamental rights;
Amendment 56 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Expresses its concerns seeing the backlash in terms of gender equality in a number of Member States, fuelled by political discourses often emanating from the highest levels of the state, certain church representatives and a plethora of ultra-conservative organisations promoting a patriarchal vision of society undermining women’s emancipation, autonomy and dignity;
Amendment 57 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 b (new)
Paragraph 4 b (new)
4b. Condemns the spread of political narratives deliberately misinterpreting the contents of the Istanbul Convention and the rise of homophobic and transphobic hate speech as well as measures such as the promotion of LGBTI-free zones in Poland or the abolition of the legal recognition of trans people in Hungary.
Amendment 59 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
Amendment 62 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas violence against women in all its forms is a violation of human rights and one of the biggest obstacles to achieving gender equality; whereas a life free from violence is a prerequisite for equality; whereas disinformation campaigns onto undermine the gender equality also focumovement also block progress on the issue of eliminating violence against women, as has been seen in relation to the Istanbul Convention;
Amendment 64 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D a (new)
Recital D a (new)
Da. whereas trafficking in human beings represents one of the most flagrant violations of fundamental rights and human dignity, since women and girls are 80 % of the registered victims of trafficking and 95% of the registered victims of trafficking for purpose of sexual exploitation, which is directly connected to the demand of women and girls in the prostitutions industry;
Amendment 77 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Calls on Member States to ensure and improve access to justice, inter alia by training law enforcement and judicial staff on GBV and hate crimes, including those committed online; calls on Member States to ensure safe conditions for reporting, combat under-reporting, and provide legal aid as well as integrated support services and shelters; urges the Member States to tackle the impunity for sexual and gender-based violence;
Amendment 78 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas traditional gender roles and stereotypes still influence the division of labour at home, in education, at the workplace and in society; whereas unpaid care and domestic work, is mostly carried out by women, resulting in gaps in employment and career progression and contributesing to the gender pay and pension gaps; whereas work-life balance measures, such as the Work-life Balance Directive, are important first steps, but need to be complemented by further measures in order to involve more men in unpaid work and to foster the equal earner – equal carer model;
Amendment 85 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Notes with concern the issue of shrinking civic space in relation tofor civil society organisations and human rights defenders working on gender equality, minority and women’s rights and SRHR. and calls for intensified measures to address the shrinking space for civil society;
Amendment 87 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9a. Is concerned that women are disproportionally affected by the COVID- 19 crisis; is alarmed by the substantial increase in violence against women and girls and particularly domestic violence since the outbreak of COVID-19; calls on the EU and Member States to target specific actions and support for women and girls, including by setting up adequate services to address violence against women and girls and specialist support services for victims such as shelters, helplines, chat services and other creative support solutions;
Amendment 91 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 9 b (new)
Paragraph 9 b (new)
9b. Underlines that gender stereotypes are a root cause of gender inequality and that traditional gender roles and stereotypes are formed in early childhood; believes therefore that preventive measures are key to realising gender equality and women and girls empowerment and that schools are a good environment to challenge gender roles and stereotypes; welcomes that the Commission will launch an EU-wide communication campaign combatting gender stereotypes, focussing on youth engagement; finds however that the EU and Member States should make better use of education systems to prevent the development of gender stereotypes in early childhood;
Amendment 122 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I
Recital I
I. whereas access to comprehensive and age-appropriate information, and to sexuality and relationship education, as well as access to sexual and reproductive healthcare, are essential to achieving gender equality and rights, including contraception and abortion care, are essential to achieving gender equality and prevent gender-based and intimate partner violence; whereas violations of women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights, including denial of safe and legal abortion care, are a form of violence against women;
Amendment 132 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital J
Recital J
J. whereas the Gender Equality Index for 2019 reveals persistent inequalities between men and women in the digital sector and highlights the need for a gender perspective in and gender impact assessment of all policies addressing the digital transformation; whereas closing the digital gender gap and guaranteeing women’s digital rights is of paramount importance, given the occurrence ofpotential for discrimination resulting from biased data sets, models and algorithms in artificial intelligence (AI); whereas programmers in AI need to be aware oftrained to recognise unconscious biases and stereotypes in order to avoid reproducing and reinforcing them; whereas the transformation and digitalisation of the labour market and the economy can deepen existing economic gaps and labour market segregation; investing in capacity building and skills in gathering adequate gender data is of paramount importance in achieving this objective; whereas the transformation and digitalisation of the labour market and the economy has the potential to create new opportunities for employment, including for groups normally excluded from the labour market but may also exacerbate existing economic gaps and labour market segregation if not harnessed correctly; whereas in this regard it is essential that women’s participation in digital entrepreneurship, STEM and ICT education and employment is encouraged;
Amendment 136 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital J a (new)
Recital J a (new)
Ja. whereas women are disproportionately under-represented in the news and information media; whereas the unequal portrayal of women and men in the media perpetuate stereotypes affecting the image of women and men;
Amendment 143 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital K
Recital K
K. whereas gender mainstreaming, gender budgeting and gender impact assessments are essential tools for achieving gender equality in all EU policy areas, including within the EU Recovery Plan to respond to the COVID-19 health crisis;
Amendment 146 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital K a (new)
Recital K a (new)
Ka. whereas the COVID-19 crisis has had a disproportionate impact on women and girls, as evidenced by increasing cases of domestic violence against women and children, growing risks of loss of income and poverty, rising unpaid and unequal care and domestic responsibilities and restricted, timely access to essential healthcare services including those related to sexual reproductive health and rights;
Amendment 149 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital K a (new)
Recital K a (new)
Ka. whereas the COVID-19 crisis has also impacted sex workers, their growing risks of loss of income and poverty, characterised by a further lack of a framework and enforcement of their human rights;
Amendment 153 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital K b (new)
Recital K b (new)
Kb. whereas united action is essential to upwardly converge and harmonise women’s rights in Europe through a strong pact between Member States by sharing and committing to the most ambitious legislation and best practices currently in force in the EU;
Amendment 176 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Regrets that the strategy remains vague on the issue of timelines for several, highly welcomed, measures; calls, therefore, on the Commission to establish concrete timeframes and additional targeted actions, as well as guidelines on how to implement the intersectional and gender mainstreaming approaches effectively as well as adequate resources to do so; calls on the Commission to establish monitoring mechanisms to track the Strategy’s progress so as to ensure the full realisation of its commitments;
Amendment 180 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Calls on the Commission to respect the commitments of the 2020 Work Programme in any revision and deliver on time a proposal for binding pay transparency measures, an EU Strategy on Victims’ Rights, a LGBTI Equality Strategy, a post 2020 EU Framework on Roma Equality and Inclusion Strategies, a New EU Strategy towards the Eradication of Trafficking in Human Beings and a EU Action Plan on Gender Equality and Women Empowerment in External Relations for 2021-2025;
Amendment 187 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 b (new)
Paragraph 3 b (new)
3b. Calls on the Commission and the Member States, in line with the aims of the Strategy to systematically incorporate a gender perspective in all stages of the response to the Covid-19 crisis and promote women’s involvement at all levels of the decision-making process;
Amendment 190 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 c (new)
Paragraph 3 c (new)
3c. Calls on the Member States to regularly exchange best practices and commit to an upward convergence and harmonisation of women’s rights in Europe by introducing in their respective legislation the most ambitious national measures and practices currently into force in the EU Member States;
Amendment 193 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 e (new)
Paragraph 3 e (new)
3e. Calls on the Council to adopt Council Conclusions to approve the Gender Equality Strategy and identify concrete actions to implement it;
Amendment 199 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Supports the Commission’s plan to continue pushing for the EU-wide ratification of the Istanbul Convention; underlines, in this context, the need for specific measures to address the existing disparities between Member States particularly during the current COVID-19 public health crisis to address the increased cases of male violence against women and girls; draws attention, however, to the fact that several attempts to convince reluctant Member States have already failed; warmly welcomes, therefore, the Commission’s intention to propose measures in 2021 to achieve the objectives of the Istanbul Convention if the EU’s accession remains blocked; calls for preparatory actions for the launch of additional legally binding measures to eliminate violence against women framework Directive on preventing and combatting violence against women based on Article 84 TFEU to fight against all forms of violence through a strong intersectional approach; very much welcomes the planned extension of definitions of areas of particularly serious crime under Article 83(1) of the TFEU, but calls for the inclusion of all forms of gender-based violence, in order to take a proactive approach and lay the groundwork for an EU directive on this issue, to build on provisions as set out in the Istanbul Convention and also meeting needs to combat sexual exploitation, trafficking and cyber violence;
Amendment 207 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Welcomes the commitment to ensure that the new Victims’ Rights Strategy will address the specific needs of victims of violence against women and girls; stresses the need to address current gaps in EU legislation with regards to international standards on violence against women, specially the Istanbul Convention, with a view of enhancing the legislation on victims’ rights, protection and compensation of victims;
Amendment 213 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Welcomes the plan to table an additional recommendation, as well as possible legislation, on the prevention of harmful practices, and to launch an EU network on the prevention of both gender- based and domestic violence; requests that the definitions and goals of the Istanbul Convention be applied and that women’s rights and civil society organisations be involved on a continuous basis; urges that appropriate follow-up measures are put forward, all respecting the principle of non-discrimination;
Amendment 223 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Stresses the scope and impact of violence and harassment in the workplace and the need for concrete measures at the EU level to fight against psychological and sexual harassment to address these issues; points out that informal carers, domestic workers and farm workers in particular lack protection and therefore calls on the Member States to adopt International Labour Organisation (ILO) Conventions 190 and 189, in order to strengthen the rights of workers, especially women, in the informal economy;
Amendment 230 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Welcomes the proposed specific measures to tackle cyber violence; calls for binding legislative measures to combat these forms of violence in the framework of a Directive on preventing and combatting all forms of violence against women and to support Member States in the development of training tools for the police force, the justice system and the information and communication technology sector, while also safeguarding fundamental rights online;
Amendment 238 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Urges the Commission to present the long-awaited EU strategy on the eradication of trafficking in human beings and underlines the need for a clear gender focusrecognition of the gendered nature of human trafficking and sexual exploitation, as women and girls are the most affected and are trafficked for purposes of sexual exploitation; insists on the importance of including measures and strategies to reduce demand, tackle the rise of sexual trafficking both within and between Member States as well as third countries and emerging uses of the internet for the purposes of exploitation and to combat all types of gender-based violence, including FGM and early/forced marriage;
Amendment 251 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Welcomes the announcement of a new EU-wide survey on the prevalence and dynamics of all forms of violence against women; stresses the need for comprehensive and comparable gender- disaggregated data at EU level and for harmonisation of data collection systems among Member States;
Amendment 266 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Supports the revision of the Barcelona targets and the call on Member States to ensure adequate investments in early childhood education, care services and long-term care services including from available EU funding; calls for financial support for and the sharing of best practices among Member States which have not yet achieved the targets; welcomes, furthermore, the development of guidance for Member States on tackling financial disincentives in relation to social, economic and taxation policies;
Amendment 295 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 a (new)
Paragraph 11 a (new)
11a. Calls on the Member States to swiftly transpose and implement the Work-Life Balance Directive to ensure a fair division of work and family life and invites them to go beyond the minimum standards set out in the directive; calls on the Commission to monitor its full implementation;
Amendment 311 #
12. Urges the Commission to campaign for more women in economic decision- making positions by highlighting the economic and societal advantages thereof, and sharing best practices such as public indexes on companies’ equality performance, in order to break the deadlock on the Women on Boards directive;
Amendment 321 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Welcomes the support for gender parity in elected bodies such as the European Parliament and stresses that it must serve as a role model in this regard; calls on the Member States to introduce binding quotas in their electoral systems to ensure equal representation of women and men in both the European and the national parliaments;
Amendment 332 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Regrets the underrepresentation of women in the ICT sectordigital economy, AI, ICT and STEM sectors in terms of education, training and employment, and points out the risk of this reinforcing and reproducing stereotypes and gender bias through the programming of AI and other programs; calls on the Commission to propose concrete measures for technologies and AI to be transformed into tools in the fight to eradicate gender stereotypes and to empower girls and women to enter science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and ICT fields of study and to stay on these career paths;
Amendment 335 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 a (new)
Paragraph 14 a (new)
14a. Welcomes the recognition of the impact of the digital transition on women and girls and urges the Commission to ensure the adoption of concrete gender mainstreaming measures in the implementation of the Single Market Strategy and Digital Agenda, ensuring a clear link between commitments on ending stereotypes with comprehensive actions to ensure women’s economic independence in the formation of the digital labour market;
Amendment 351 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)
Paragraph 15 a (new)
15a. Welcomes the Commission’s intent to introduce new measures to promote women-led start-ups and innovative small and medium-sized enterprises in 2020 and to strengthen gender equality under the Horizon Europe; stresses that the requirement of a gender equality plans from applicants is a crucial tool for advancement in this area;
Amendment 354 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 b (new)
Paragraph 15 b (new)
15b. Recalls that sex and gender have important implications for public health, prevention, diagnosis and treatment of disease, because both biological and social influences are critical to health, and stresses that investment in research of the differences between women and men in relation to their health should be supported through Horizon Europe in order to encourage healthcare systems that are responsive to the needs of both women and men;
Amendment 366 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 a (new)
Paragraph 16 a (new)
16a. Stresses the need to increase resources for the EU programmes dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and women’s rights in the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) and in particular the recovery fund, in order to respond to the aggravation of existing inequalities during the COVID-19 crisis;
Amendment 370 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 b (new)
Paragraph 16 b (new)
16b. Stresses the importance of gender budgeting at all stages of the budgetary procedure and in all budget lines as an effective tool for promoting gender equality and the need for spending on gender equality to be promoted with independent budget lines for targeted actions;
Amendment 377 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Notes that tax policies have varying impacts on different types of householdsshould be optimised to strengthen incentives for labour market participation amongst women; stresses that individual taxation is instrumental in terms of achieving tax fairness for women;
Amendment 393 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Reiterates the need for a regular exchange of best practices between Member States and, the Commission and civil society organisations on gender aspects in health, including guidelines for comprehensive sexuality and relationship education, gender- sensitive responses to epidemics and sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR); calls on the Commission to include SRHR in its next EU Health Strategy, and to support Member States in providing barrier-free access to high- quality and low-threshold access toaffordable healthcare services;
Amendment 407 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Demands support for women’s rights defenders and women’s rights organisations in the EU and worldwide; calls for continuous monitoring of the state of play in relation to women’s rights and disinformation on gender equality policies in all Member States and for an alarm system to highlight regression; calls on the Commission to support studies analysing the impact of attacks and disinformation campaigns on women’s rights and gender equality, and calls on the Commission to analyse their root causes, developing fact checks and, counter-narratives and awareness- raising campaigns;
Amendment 410 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 a (new)
Paragraph 19 a (new)
19a. Urges the Commission and Member States to protect women who are particularly vulnerable to multiple discriminations recognising the intersectional forms of discrimination that women experience based on gender, ethnicity, nationality, age, disability, social status, sexual orientation and gender identity, migration status and ensure that actions implemented take account of and respond to the specific needs of these groups;
Amendment 411 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 a (new)
Paragraph 19 a (new)
19a. Urges the Commission to establish a concrete framework for the rights and protection of sex workers during and after a crisis; further insists on the importance of including measures and strategies that tackle discrimination faced by sex workers in access to funding, housing, healthcare, education and other services;
Amendment 412 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 b (new)
Paragraph 19 b (new)
19b. Calls on the Commission to address gender stereotypes in the media and promote gender-equal content; stresses the importance of fostering media literacy and providing all relevant stakeholders with gender-sensitive media education initiatives; calls on the Member States to adopt legislation prohibiting sexist advertising in the media and promoting training and formation on gender stereotypes in schools of journalism, communication, media and advertisement;
Amendment 430 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21 a (new)
Paragraph 21 a (new)
21a. Recalls the importance of education for women and girls' empowerment in both the EU and partner countries; underlines that education is not only a right but a crucial tool to fight against early and forced marriages and pregnancies of adolescents and girls; further stresses that lockdown measures and the resulting interruption in the provision of education particularly affects girls as they are more at risk of not being sent back to schools; insists on the need for EU external policy to help keep girls in schools and continue their education in partner countries as a matter of priority;