54 Amendments of Vilija BLINKEVIČIŪTĖ related to 2021/2020(INI)
Amendment 6 #
— having regard to Articles 2 and 3(3) of the Treaty on European Union, and Articles 6, 8, 10, 83, 153, 157 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU),
Amendment 7 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 2 b (new)
Citation 2 b (new)
— having regard to Articles 21 and 23 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union,
Amendment 8 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 2 c (new)
Citation 2 c (new)
— having regard to the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) there of, in particular goal 5 and its targets and indicators,
Amendment 9 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 2 d (new)
Citation 2 d (new)
— having regard to the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul Convention),
Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 7 a (new)
Citation 7 a (new)
— having regard to the Commission communication of 24 March 2021 entitled ‘EU Strategy on the rights of the child (2020-2025)’(COM(2021)0142),
Amendment 14 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 7 b (new)
Citation 7 b (new)
— having regard to the Commission communication of 11 November 2020 entitled ‘LGBTIQ Equality Strategy 2020- 2025’,
Amendment 15 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 7 c (new)
Citation 7 c (new)
— having regard to its resolution of 21 January 2021 on the EU Strategy for Gender Equality,
Amendment 16 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 7 d (new)
Citation 7 d (new)
— having regard to is resolution of 21 January 2021 on the gender perspective in the COVID-19 crisis and post-crisis period,
Amendment 17 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 7 e (new)
Citation 7 e (new)
— having regard to the study entitled ‘The gendered impact of the COVID-19 crisis and post-crisis’, published by its Directorate-General for Internal Policies on 30 September 2020,
Amendment 18 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 7 f (new)
Citation 7 f (new)
— having regard to its resolution of 24 June 2021 on the situation of sexual and reproductive health and rights in the EU, in the frame of women’s health,
Amendment 29 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital -A (new)
Recital -A (new)
-A. whereas the right to equal treatment is a defining fundamental right recognised in the European Union Treaties and in the Charter of Fundamental Rights; whereas the EU shall aim to eliminate inequalities, and to promote gender equality in all its activities;
Amendment 31 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas gender equality in the EU has not yet been achieved and progress in this direction has recently been slowing down, stagnating or even regressing in certain regions and countries; whereas the struggle for gender equality and the promotion and protection of women’s rights is a truly collective responsibilityGender Equality Index score for EU has increased by only 4.1 points since 2010 and 0.5 points since 2017; whereas according to EIGE the EU is at least 60 years away from reaching complete gender equality; whereas the struggle for gender equality and the promotion and protection of women’s rights is a truly collective responsibility that needs faster progress, with the aim that women and men, and girls and boys, in all their diversity, shall have equal opportunities to thrive and equal rights and power to shape society and their own lives;
Amendment 37 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
A a. whereas there is a backlash on gender equality in some member states; whereas movements opposing gender equality policies and women’s rights are trying to re-establish traditional gender roles as the norm, questioning the status quo, attacking women’s rights, and trying to block further progress;
Amendment 38 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
A a. whereas the right to equal treatment is a defining fundamental right recognised in the European Union Treaties and in the Charter of Fundamental Rights; whereas the EU shall aim to eliminate inequalities, and to promote gender equality in all its activities;
Amendment 40 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas women and men must have the same opportunities for economic independence; whereas, although female employment rates have risen, gender inequality on the labour market remains a fact of life;; whereas the employment rate for men of working age was 79.0 % in 2019, exceeding that of women (67.3 %) by 11.7 percentage points; whereas with regard to labour market participation, 8 % of men in the EU are working part-time compared to 31 % of women, revealing persistent inequalities; whereas too little progress has been made in challenging the sectoral and occupational gender segregation in the labour market; European Commission whereas the employment gap is particularly high in the case of single mothersparents, of whom 85 % are women, female caregivers, women with disabilities, women from ethnic minorities, migrant and refugee women, LBTIQ+ women and young and elderly women;
Amendment 49 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas the 2021 report on gender equality in the EU concludes that the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated existing gender inequalities in almost every walk of life; and that the hard-won achievements of past years have been rolled back by the pandemic; whereas the Global Gender Gap report 2021 states that closing the global gender gap has increased by a generation from 99.5 years to 135.6 years; whereas the impacts of the pandemic range from an increase in gender-based and domestic violence and harassment, unpaid and unequal care and domestic responsibilities for women, through restricted access to sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), to economic and employment impacts for women, particularly healthcare workers, caregivers and workers in other female- dominated and precarious sectors;
Amendment 58 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
C a. whereas preliminary data on labour market trends connected to the pandemic shows a more significant impact on women than on men; whereas Eurostat figures show that unemployment among women grew from 6.9 % in April to 7.9 % in August 2020 while male unemployment grew from 6.5 % to 7.1 % during the same period;
Amendment 64 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) defines gender- based violence against women as any form of violence that is directed against a woman because she is a woman or that affects women disproportionately; whereas violence against women and girls in all its forms is a violation of human rights and one of the biggest obstacles to achieving gender equality; whereas violence against women may be of differing appearance, intensity and form; whereas a society free ofrom violence must be acknowledged as an absolute prerequisite for equality;
Amendment 70 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D a (new)
Recital D a (new)
D a. whereas 33 per cent of women in the EU have experienced physical and/or sexual violence and countless women experience sexual assault and harassment in the context of intimate partnerships and public life; whereas gender-based violence has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic; whereas according to the World Health Organization, some Member States have reported a 60 % increase in emergency calls from women subjected to violence by their intimate partner during the pandemic; whereas according to the latest Europol Report child sexual abuse online in the EU has dramatically increased;
Amendment 72 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D b (new)
Recital D b (new)
D b. whereas trafficking in human beings (THB) is a highly gendered phenomenon with nearly three quarters reported victims in the EU being women and girls who were predominantly trafficked for sexual exploitation; whereas THB is a growing part of organised crime and a human rights violation; whereas 78 % of all children trafficked are girls and 68 % of adults trafficked are women;
Amendment 73 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D c (new)
Recital D c (new)
Amendment 77 #
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 in the EU, 40,3% of single parents households were at risk of poverty or social exclusion in 2019;
Amendment 87 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas the EU gender pay gap is 16%, with variations between the Member States; whereas this gender pay gap has a number of implications, not least a 37% difference in corresponding pension entitlements, placing older women at greater risk of poverty and social exclusion; whereas the right to equal pay for equal work and work of equal value is not always guaranteed and remains one of the biggest challenges to be met in efforts to combat pay discrimination; whereas gender-equal sharing of parental days is important for tackling the gender pay gap;
Amendment 91 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F a (new)
Recital F a (new)
F a. whereas work in mostly female- dominated sectors such as care, cleaning, retail, education are essential and of high socio-economic value but often less valued and lower paid than work in men dominated sectors; whereas this fact highlights the urgent need to reassess the adequacy of wages in these female- dominated sectors;
Amendment 96 #
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 respectraditional gender roles and stereotypes still influence the division of labour at home, in education, at the workplace and in society; whereas unpaid care work, mostly carried out by women, imposes a disproportionate burden on women and contributes to the gender pay and pension gap; whereas everyone, regardless of gender, has the right to work and to balance professional and private life;
Amendment 105 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H
Recital H
H. whereas EU neoliberal policies are, in the long term, contributing tothe Commission adopted the Gender Equality Strategy 2020-2025 on 5 March 2020 to set an ambitious framework on how to advance gender inequality, with women being disproportionately affected by rising unemployment, deregulation of the labour market and of working hours, increased precariousness and low pay, not to mention multiple forms of inequality and discrimination resulting from cuts to public services, particularly health, education and welfare benefit in the EU; whereas the strategy includes a dual approach, consisting of targeted measures and the consistent application of gender mainstreaming and intersectionality as cross-cutting principles; whereas policies are not contributing enough to advance gender equality; whereas the strategy however remains vague on the issue of timelines for several, highly welcomed, measures and sets neither concrete gender equality targets to be achieved by 2025 nor clear monitoring tools; whereas the European Parliament has called on the Commission to establish a concrete roadmap with timeframes, objectives, a yearly review and monitoring mechanism, clear and measurable indicators of success and additional targeted actions;
Amendment 111 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H a (new)
Recital H a (new)
H a. whereas gender equality and the green and digital transitions are interlinked and the inclusion of women in decision-making is a prerequisite for sustainable development and the efficient management of both the green and digital transitions in order to achieve fair and just transitions that leaves no one behind; whereas all climate action and digital policies must include a gender- and an intersectional perspective;
Amendment 117 #
Motion for a resolution
Subheading 1
Subheading 1
Amendment 126 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1 a. Underlines that equal opportunities and higher labour market participation among women can increase jobs, economic prosperity and competitiveness in Europe; calls on the Commission and Member States to set goals to eliminate precarious jobs and involuntary part-time work in order to improve the situation for women in the labour market. Full-time work should be the norm, and part-time a possibility;
Amendment 129 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Calls on the Member States to take practical measures to ensure that women have equal access to work with rights and decent pay; stresses the need to promote collective bargaining as a determining factor in reversing and overcoming inequality and tackling discrimination against women and calls for de jure and de facto compliance with the principle of equal pay for equal work of equal value; welcomes in this regard the Commission’s proposal for a directive to strengthen the application of the principle of equal pay for equal work or work of equal value between men and women through pay transparency:
Amendment 149 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Calls on the EU and its Member States to further underpin maternity and paternity entitlements, for example by increasing periods of full leave with no loss of pay, taking into account the World Health Organization recommendation that children be exclusively breastfed forEmphasises the importance to ensure that everyone, regardless of gender, has the right to work, and to balance professional and private life, as highlighted by the fDirst six months of their livesective for Work-Life Balance; calls foron the right to a reduction in working hours following maternity leave to be guaranteed in practice, enabling mothers to breastfeed their children until they are at least two years old,Member States to replace gender-specific maternity leave and ensure long periods of gender-neutral paid parental leave accompanied by investment in a public network of freeffordable, quality childcare and education services accessible for all;
Amendment 159 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. CStresses that women’s employment rate in the EU must increase; calls for measures to achieve work, employee and pay enhancement, effectively combat joblessnessunemployment and promote full-time employment for all women; 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 paynotes that men and women face different risks at work and stresses therefore the importance of a gender- sensitive approach to occupational safety and health;
Amendment 164 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5 a. Stresses the importance of addressing gender equality aspects related to the future world of work, including greening and digitalising the economy; regrets the weak link between the EU Strategy for Gender Equality and the European Green Deal; calls on the Commission to strengthening the connection between climate change and digitalisation policies and gender equality;
Amendment 168 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 b (new)
Paragraph 5 b (new)
5 b. Urges the Commission and Member states, in order to better apply the principle of equal pay for work of equal value between men and women across different occupational sectors, to develop in close cooperation with social partners and while respecting the social partner’s autonomy, collective agreements, and national labour market traditions and models, gender-neutral job evaluation tools and classification criteria taking into account factors such as qualification, working conditions, the degree of responsibility conferred on the worker, physical and mental requirements of the work, with the aim to better valuation and consequently fairer remuneration of work in highly feminised sectors;
Amendment 183 #
Motion for a resolution
Subheading 2
Subheading 2
Eradication of violence against womengender-based violence
Amendment 185 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 b (new)
Paragraph 5 b (new)
5 b. Condemns all forms of violence against women and girls in all their diversity;
Amendment 186 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 d (new)
Paragraph 5 d (new)
5 d. Welcomes the Commission’s commitment to come up with a proposal in 2021 for a Directive to prevent and combat all forms of gender-based violence; stresses the urgent need to conclude the EU’s ratification of the Istanbul Convention and to advocate its ratification by Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania and Slovakia; calls on the Commission to extend the areas of crime to encompass specific forms of gender-based violence in accordance with Article 83 TFEU;
Amendment 188 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Stresses the urgent need to counter the exploitation of women at work and combat the inequalities, discrimination and violence affecting them; calls on the Member States to adopt International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention 189; urges the Commission to present a Metoo-directive addressing sexual harassment at the workplace;
Amendment 202 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7 a. Underlines that violations of sexual and reproductive rights, including the denial of safe and legal abortion care, are a form of violence against women and girls; stresses that girls' and women's autonomy and ability to free and independent decisions about their bodies and lives are preconditions for their economic independence and thus for gender equality and the elimination of gender-based violence;
Amendment 203 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 b (new)
Paragraph 7 b (new)
7 b. Welcomes that the Commission intends to propose measures to tackle cyber violence against women; considers that the cross-border dimensions of cyber violence against women and girls needs a common Union response; calls on the Member States and the Commission to adopt specific measures to eradicate all forms of online violence;
Amendment 207 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 c (new)
Paragraph 7 c (new)
7 c. Underlines that men’s violence against women starts with boys violence against girls; considers therefore that preventive measures and gender-sensitive education must start at an early age;
Amendment 208 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 d (new)
Paragraph 7 d (new)
7 d. Calls for effective prevention of gender inequality and gender-based violence, including educational measures directed towards, and implemented with, young people, as well as ensuring that all young people benefit from comprehensive sexual, reproductive, health, rights and relationship education;
Amendment 209 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 e (new)
Paragraph 7 e (new)
7 e. Calls for further measures to combatting gender stereotypes as well as violence prevention measures focusing on men, boys and destructive masculinities; calls on Member States to implement clearer measures to target these norms as gender stereotypes are a root cause of gender inequality and affect all areas of society;
Amendment 213 #
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 povertypower structures linked to gender, sexuality, ethnicity and socio- economic situation are significant for why people are exposed to prostitution and human trafficking; underlines, however, that prostitution and human trafficking for sexual purposes are driven by demand; stresses that the work to combat human trafficking and prostitution must be focused on preventive work and to stop the demand; stresses the need for Member States to increase funding for social support and access to public services for victims of trafficking or sexual exploitation;
Amendment 221 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8 a. Insists that all legislation on sexual offences must be based on consent; insists that only voluntary sexual acts should be considered legal;
Amendment 222 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 b (new)
Paragraph 8 b (new)
8 b. Stresses that consent cannot be bought, therefore considers all forms of sex purchase to be sexual exploitation; calls on Member States to recognise sex purchase as a form of violence against women; calls on Member States to criminalise sex purchase in line with the Swedish Equality Model introduced in Sweden in 1999 and implemented by, among other countries, France and Ireland;
Amendment 242 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Stresses that access to sexual, reproductive and other forms of healthcare for women is a fundamental right that must be underpinned and may not be in any way watered down or withdrawn; condemns the actions of anti-gender and anti-feminist movements in Europe and worldwide that systematically attack women’s and LGBTIQ+ rights, including sexual and reproductive rights;
Amendment 259 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)
Paragraph 13 a (new)
13 a. Welcomes the Commission’s proposal Towards a European Education Area by 2021 and its aim to promote a gender equal workplace, culture, and help combat racism and all forms of discrimination, including gender stereotyping; calls on the Member States to ensure that women and men, girls and boys have the same opportunities to personal development as well as full access to equal opportunities to reach their full potential without being hindered by structures, prejudices and stereotypical perceptions based on gender;
Amendment 263 #
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; draws attention to the high gender pension gap resulting from, among other things, joint taxation; stresses that individual taxation is important in terms of achieving tax fairness as it creates an incentive for women to enter the labour market, as women's incomes would no longer be seen as part of the husband’s income;
Amendment 276 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)
Paragraph 15 a (new)
15 a. Reiterates that the gender equality strategy shall be implemented using intersectionality; urges the Commission and Member States to strengthen the implementation of the intersectional framework;
Amendment 278 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 b (new)
Paragraph 15 b (new)
15 b. Reiterates the importance of gender mainstreaming as a systematic approach to achieving gender equality; welcomes, therefore, the Commission’s established taskforce on equality; underlines the importance of transparency and the involvement of women’s rights and civil society organisations from diverse backgrounds;
Amendment 282 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 c (new)
Paragraph 15 c (new)
15 c. Stresses the importance of gender- budgeting, as an application of the principle of gender mainstreaming in all budgetary processes;
Amendment 284 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 d (new)
Paragraph 15 d (new)
Amendment 286 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 e (new)
Paragraph 15 e (new)
15 e. Regrets the weak link between the new EU Strategy for Gender Equality and the European Green Deal; calls on the Commission to strengthening the connection between climate change policies and gender equality in its upcoming proposals;