Activities of Sandra PEREIRA related to 2021/2020(INI)
Plenary speeches (2)
Equality between women and men in the European Union in 2018-2020 (debate)
Equality between women and men in the European Union in 2018-2020 (debate)
Reports (1)
REPORT on equality between women and men in the European Union in 2018-2020
Amendments (51)
Amendment 39 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
Aa. whereas the objective of the European Union in this area is to ensure equal treatment and equal opportunities for women and men in all their diversity and to combat all forms of gender discrimination;
Amendment 46 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas, although female employment rates have risen, gender inequality on the labour market remains a fact of life; whereas the employment gap is particularly high in the case of single mothers, female caregivers, women with disabilities, women from ethnic minorities, migrant and refugee women, LBTIQI+ women and young and elderly women;
Amendment 48 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
Ba. whereas Member States on average scored 67.9 out of 100 in the 2020 EU Gender Equality Index published by the European Institute for Gender Equality, just 1.7 points up on 2017, showing that the EU is still far from achieving gender equality;
Amendment 51 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated existing gender inequalities in almost every walk of life and increased the risk of nullifying the improvements achieved, with significant consequences for individuals, families, economies, societies, such as the erosion of opportunities, freedoms, rights, and wellbeing;
Amendment 56 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
Ca. whereas hourly pay for women is, on average, 14% less than for men in the European Union, the gender pay gap varying between 3.3% and 21.7% in the Member States; whereas – despite the significant body of legislation in force for almost 46 years and the actions taken and resources spent on efforts to reduce the gap – progress is extremely slow, with the disparity actually widening in certain Member States;
Amendment 59 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C b (new)
Recital C b (new)
Cb. whereas, although female employment rates have risen, gender inequality on the labour market remains a fact of life; whereas the gender gap regarding access to employment and professional activity was 11.7% in 2019, with 67.3% of women in the EU employed, compared to 79% of men; whereas the employment gap is particularly high in the case of single mothers, female caregivers, women with disabilities, women from ethnic minorities, migrant and refugee women, LBTIQI+ women and young and elderly women;
Amendment 60 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C c (new)
Recital C c (new)
Cc. whereas, during the pandemic, social confinement policies and their impact in social, economic, psychological and democratic terms affected the most vulnerable people, including women, who suffered particularly from violence, economic dependency, inequalities in the workplace and the problems facing caregivers;
Amendment 61 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C d (new)
Recital C d (new)
Cd. whereas the outbreak of COVID- 19 has had a particular impact on the living and working conditions of women; whereas some 70% of front-line social and health workers combating the epidemic, whether nurses, doctors or cleaners, were women; whereas women who were teleworking, unemployed or working part-time were subject to even greater pressure, continuing to carry out the majority of domestic and family tasks; whereas, on the basis of complaints submitted, the number of women who were victims of violence and harassment rose during the COVID-19 pandemic;
Amendment 62 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C e (new)
Recital C e (new)
Ce. whereas there has been an unprecedented focus on gender equality in sport over the last decade, but not always for the best reasons and purposes - especially regarding women's rights in practice;
Amendment 75 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas women in the EU are more severely affected by poverty or social exclusion than men, being systematically placed at a disadvantage by structural and cultural factors; whereas women are at greater risk of poverty and employment precarity, frequently working in jobs that are too poorly paid to enable them to escape penury and unstable working conditions;
Amendment 92 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F a (new)
Recital F a (new)
Fa. whereas in the European Union, 20.6 % of women with disabilities are in full-time employment compared with 28.5 % their male counterparts; whereas figures show that, on average, 29.5 % of women with disabilities in the EU are at risk of falling victim to poverty and social exclusion, compared with 27.5 % of men with disabilities;
Amendment 94 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G
Recital G
G. whereas their role as primary caregivers within the family imposes a disproportionate burden of unpaid care and domestic work on women, who play a vital role in this respect; whereas 80 % of care across the EU is provided by informal caregivers, most of whom are women (75%); whereas the unequal sharing of caregiving responsibilities is exacerbated by the shortage or total lack of public care facilities for children and the elderly in the Member States, causing periods of absence from the labour market that result in gender disparities regarding pay and pensions; whereas privatisation and lack of investment in public services is undermining women's rights and gender equality;
Amendment 101 #
Ga. whereas measures to achieve work-life balance are important in ensuring an equal division of caregiving responsibilities between women and men and addressing income and employment disparities; whereas achievement of work- life balance depends on the availability and accessibility of high-quality of public care services, which should be provided free of charge; whereas all maternity benefits should be ensured and upheld, with an increase in fully paid leave entitlements; whereas public policies for the protection and promotion of nursing and breastfeeding are needed;
Amendment 110 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H a (new)
Recital H a (new)
Ha. whereas the right to equal pay for equal work of equal value is not guaranteed in many circumstances, even where enshrined in law; whereas the root causes of such discrimination need to be tackled, whether by protecting and enhancing labour rights or by stepping up business monitoring, especially by national labour inspectorates; whereas collective bargaining is key to reversing and overcoming gender inequalities;
Amendment 125 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Believes that combating gender inequalities must be a core consideration at the workplace; urges Member States to promote policies that enhance the status of work, increase real wages and safeguard rights, outlawing job insecurity, tackling the deregulation of labour relations and working hours and imposing severe restrictions on recourse to solutions such as part-time and temporary work; supports collective bargaining as a means not only to enhance working conditions but also to tackle inequalities between men and women;
Amendment 128 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 b (new)
Paragraph 1 b (new)
1b. Points to the need to pay close attention to the situation and rights of professional and non-professional top- level athletes representing their countries in international and European competitions both during and after their sporting careers; urges Member States to ensure that children and young people are fully entitled to participate in sport and to combat the widening social divide regarding access to sport;
Amendment 137 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Calls on the Commission and Council to ensure that all budgetary allocations under the MFF 2021-2027 respect and promote the principle of gender equality in all Union policies;
Amendment 139 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Urges Member States to impose firm measures, including sanctions, where businesses fail to comply with labour legislation and where they actually encourage gender discrimination; considers that EU funding should be made conditional in the case of companies that do not take care to protect employment and respect workers' rights, especially where this involves discrimination against women;
Amendment 153 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Notes that the COVID-19 pandemic has had a drastic impact on the lives of women, in particular working women; notes that a disproportionate share of the burden was borne by teleworking women whose lives were made harder by the need to combine work, childcare and domestic chores; points out that many women were faced with increased expenses on lower pay;
Amendment 154 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 b (new)
Paragraph 4 b (new)
4b. Points out that the promotion of teleworking in response to the COVID-19 pandemic has become a pretext for exploitation, turning all workers' homes into an extension of the companies employing them, thereby eroding their privacy and undermining their health through the resulting deregulation of working hours;
Amendment 157 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Calls for measures to achieve work, employee and pay enhancement, effectively combat joblessness and promote full employment; calls for the creation and promotion of employment with rights, the defence of collective bargaining, the revitalisation of public sector employment and an end to job insecurity; calls in addition for a reduction in working hours without loss of pay; calls for measures to achieve the objective of 35 hours per week and the organisation of working time so as to respect daily and weekly rest periods, breaks, holidays and other important needs such as the protection of workers' health and safety and measures to guarantee suitable working conditions;
Amendment 165 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Notes that equal pay for women and men must necessarily form part of a fairer distribution of income between labour and capital, as a means of preventing inequality and poverty and improving the living conditions of all workers and their families;
Amendment 171 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 b (new)
Paragraph 5 b (new)
5b. Advocates convergence in measures to improve conditions at the workplace and living standards, establishing the principle of non- regression and reversing the current levelling down of living and working conditions;
Amendment 172 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 c (new)
Paragraph 5 c (new)
5c. Calls on the Member States to provide specific support for the cultural sector in order to remedy the serious problems facing it, namely the lack of rights for thousands of cultural workers, underfunding, insecurity, low pay, lack of fixed hours, low pensions and high unemployment rates; stresses the need to increase funding for cultural initiatives, including programmes to promote arts and culture and improve working conditions for those employed in this sector;
Amendment 174 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 d (new)
Paragraph 5 d (new)
5d. Reiterates its call for more investment to uphold the rights of women and girls; calls for budget appropriations to be earmarked for EU programmes and funds to promote women's economic independence; calls for a more strategic deployment of ESF resources for the purpose of promoting gender equality, facilitating labour market access and re- entry and combating unemployment, poverty, social exclusion and all forms of discrimination; calls on the Commission to propose proactive measures to encourage the employment of women in rural areas through the deployment of the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development;
Amendment 176 #
5e. Calls on the Commission and Council to include gender equality among the objectives of the Structural Fund framework provisions and of key EU funding programmes (health and environment, education, youth, economy, etc) and to ensure that the necessary appropriations are earmarked for this purpose;
Amendment 177 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 f (new)
Paragraph 5 f (new)
5f. Stresses the urgency of eliminating inequalities regarding the rights and working conditions of healthworkers, especially women; calls on the Commission and Council to ensure that career opportunities are provided, in particular through research projects and ongoing vocational training, encouraging the acquisition of knowledge and promoting innovation and technology in the health sector;
Amendment 178 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 g (new)
Paragraph 5 g (new)
5g. Points out that workers in precarious employment, most of whom are women, suffer discrimination, whether they are workers on fixed-term contracts, trainees, seasonal workers, migrants, young and long-term unemployed people recruited for extended trial period, bogus self-employed workers, workers on digital platforms refused employee status or other categories, and that this has implications for their working lives, conditioning their choices, particularly the timing of maternity, as well as their welfare entitlements, especially pensions;
Amendment 179 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 h (new)
Paragraph 5 h (new)
5h. Recognises the importance of negotiation and collective bargaining to combat discrimination against women, particularly regarding access to employment, pay, health and safety at work, career advancement and vocational training;
Amendment 180 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 i (new)
Paragraph 5 i (new)
5i. Points out that COVID-19 has revealed the precarious situation of female intellectuals (researchers, architects, and others) who, in the absence of a stable employment relationship, have been particularly affected; stresses the need for extraordinary measures to mitigate the consequences of the Member States' containment measures and underlines the importance of structural measures that take into account equality at work and in everyday life and enforce women's rights;
Amendment 181 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 j (new)
Paragraph 5 j (new)
5j. Stresses the role of women working in the social sector; recognises that their workload has been exacerbated by the pandemic and that low wages, increased exploitation (especially of migrant women) and the hiring of people without training or qualifications for the tasks to be performed are aggravating their working and living conditions; stresses the importance of enhancing working conditions and pay, respecting working hours and using collective bargaining as a guarantee of respect for working conditions;
Amendment 199 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7a. Notes that violence between men and women rises during emergencies of any kind – whether economic crises, conflicts or epidemics; notes that inequalities, the economic and social stress caused by confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic, the restrictions on movement and the social isolation have led to an increase in violence against women; points out that many women have been confined at home with their aggressors; notes that in certain Member States, such as Portugal and France, domestic violence rose by 30% during that period;
Amendment 204 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 b (new)
Paragraph 7 b (new)
7b. Stresses the need for specific prevention, treatment and rehabilitation programmes to protect and monitor victims of violence and ensure that measures are taken to step up social support and improve access to justice, shelter and mental healthcare;
Amendment 206 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 c (new)
Paragraph 7 c (new)
7c. Stresses the need for Member States to adopt programmes specifically designed to prevent aggressors perpetrating further acts of domestic violence; calls for them to be identified or monitored by the competent authorities to prevent them from attacking their victims again with possibly fatal consequences;
Amendment 211 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Stresses that prostitution constitutes a serious form of violence and exploitation affecting mostly women and children; notes that the root causes of prostitution are inextricably intertwined with social and economic realities, particularly unemployment, financial need and poverty; stresses the need for Member States to increase funding for social support and access to public services for victims of trafficking or sexual exploitation; calls for psychological and social support to be provided by specialised professionals and for the adoption of social and economic policies aimed at helping vulnerable women and girls to leave prostitution, in particular by guaranteeing jobs that effectively lead to their social integration;
Amendment 219 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8a. Points out that trafficking in persons, particularly women and children, for sexual exploitation is a form of slavery and incompatible with human dignity; notes that, as a result of the increase in organised crime and its profitability, human trafficking is on the rise around the world; points out that prostitution is fuelling the trafficking of women and children and exacerbating violence against them, particularly in countries where the sex industry has been legalised;
Amendment 223 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 b (new)
Paragraph 8 b (new)
Amendment 229 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9a. Stresses the importance of combating inequalities and injustices against women; calls on the Commission and Member States to take urgent action to address poverty and increasing inequalities among women, especially among vulnerable groups, including single mothers, women with disabilities, Roma women, LGBTQI+ women, migrant and refugee women, older women and women in rural or depopulated areas;
Amendment 232 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Stresses that any strategy designed to achieve equality must get to grips with all forms of violence against women, including the erosion of healthcare entitlements and sexual and reproductive rights acquired by women and infringements thereof; reiterates that access to healthcare and public services, particularly access to induced abortion services and psychological support for female victims of violence must be considered a priority;
Amendment 237 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10a. Notes that violations of the sexual and reproductive health and rights of women, including denying them induced abortion services, are a form of violence against them;
Amendment 238 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 b (new)
Paragraph 10 b (new)
10b. Considers gestational surrogacy, or 'wombs for hire' to be a form of violence against women, treating their bodies as a convenience and turning children into a tradable commodity in order to generate business for companies engaged in such practices;
Amendment 244 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 a (new)
Paragraph 11 a (new)
11a. Calls on the Member States to take measures to ensure access for migrant and refugee women to healthcare, employment, alimentation and information services, focusing in particular on violence between men and women and the trafficking of women;
Amendment 250 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 a (new)
Paragraph 12 a (new)
12a. Stresses that access to healthcare in certain Member States has been restricted by the COVID-19 containment measures and that, in certain cases, consultations, treatments and diagnoses were not provided; urges Member States to strengthen their public health systems in order to speed up such consultations, treatments and diagnoses, mitigating the impacts of COVID-19 on other areas of healthcare;
Amendment 251 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 b (new)
Paragraph 12 b (new)
Amendment 252 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Stresses the need to create a public crèche and pre-school education network; points out that the provision of a universal public service that is genuinely accessible to all children and families wishing to avail themselves of it is an overarching social responsibility; recognises the need for the creation/extension of a network of support facilities for the elderly and people with disabilities, as well as the development of continuous care networks; urges the Commission and the Member States to meet those targets, which are key to boosting equality in the family;
Amendment 260 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)
Paragraph 13 a (new)
13a. Stresses the need for a substantial increase in investment for healthcare, education and transport services, with a view to addressing public need and contributing to the independence, equality and emancipation of women;
Amendment 261 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Urges the Member States to take specific measures to combat the risk of poverty in old age and retirement, increasing pensions and boosting social benefits; stresses the need to overcome gender inequalities regarding pensions, requiring the latter to be increased, and for public, universal and solidarity-based social security systems to be maintained and enhanced, ensuring that they are redistributive and provide a fair and decent income after a lifetime of work, while safeguarding the sustainability of public social security systems by creating jobs with rights and better pay;
Amendment 268 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 a (new)
Paragraph 14 a (new)
14a. Takes the view that the participation of women in all sectors must be increased; takes the view that investment in public services and welfare provision is a means of ensuring access, on an equal basis, to healthcare, education, culture, social security and justice; urges the Member States to take specific measures to tackle the risk of social exclusion and poverty, focusing especially on access to affordable housing, transport and energy;
Amendment 275 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)
Paragraph 15 a (new)
15a. Highlights the major contribution of women in the fields of employment culture, education, science, and research; recognises the profound deterioration in the living conditions of women employed in arts and culture, women running micro and small businesses and those working on farms and living in rural communities resulting from the suspension of economic and cultural activities during the pandemic period;
Amendment 279 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 b (new)
Paragraph 15 b (new)
15b. Considers it essential to promote the participation of women in sports activities and sports structures and their further development; recognises the need to address the inequalities regarding women's access to sport and the presentation of awards;
Amendment 281 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 c (new)
Paragraph 15 c (new)
15c. Stresses the need for specific measures to combat gender inequality in order to ensure equal participation in every walk of life ;