CommitteeonWomenʼsRightsandGenderEquality(FEMM

NoWomanAlone: Accordingtoa2021reportbytheEuropeanInstituteofGenderEquality,casesof domesticviolenceagainstwomenandgirlshaveincreasedsignificantlysincethebeginningofthe COVID-19pandemic.Withurgentactionrequiredtosafeguardtherightsofwomenandgirlsand protectthemfromdomesticviolence,whatmeasuresshouldtheEUtaketoensurethesafetyofits citizens?

byFraneSkaro(DE)andKirstenYoung(DE)

1. Backgroundandrelevance

Aer being declared a pandemic in early 2020, COVID-19 has had a significant impact on everyone. Across theEUandtherestoftheworld,manynationalgovernmentsplacedtheircountriesinastateof lockdown with the goal of preventing the spread of the virus. Whilelockdownscanbeausefultool to contain the virus, they have had some hidden effects.Oneoftheirmostpressingsideeffectsisthe increaseindomesticviolencecases,particularlybetweenintimatepartners.

While the data on this topic is still rather scarce, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), some countries are reporting up to a 60% increase in cases of emergency calls placed by women experiencing intimate partner violence. WhilethisisbynomeansonlyaEuropeanissue,severalofthe biggest increases in domestic violence cases since the beginningofthepandemichavebeenreported intheEUinMemberStatessuchas Belgium,France,Ireland,andSpain.

The measures used to stop the transmission of COVID-19 have however challenged the ability to prevent and respond togender-basedviolence26 anddomesticviolence.Notonlyisithardertocall for help if the perpetrator is always athome,withmorepeopleworkingfromhome,butthereisalsoa lack of options for places to go to defuse tensions within the home, and resolvetheconflictinacalm andnon-violentmanner.

Many EU Member States have created national action plans to combat this issue, but comprehensive measures are still lacking and the pandemic has shown that there is still a lot to bedoneinthisarea, particularly to decrease strain on support providers and networks. The strain here is caused in particularbytheincreaseincasesandthelackofincreaseinresources.

26 Gender-Basedviolencereferstoharmfulactsdirectedatanindividualbasedontheirgender

ImageSource:EuropeanInstituteforGenderEquality

2. Keystakeholders

At the very centre of this topic are the people themselves, particularly women and girls who are subject to various forms of domestic violence. The map below shows the different actors who play a roleinprotectingtherightsoftheseindividuals,aswellasthelegislativeaspectofthetopic. As the executive arm of the EU, the European Commission is responsible for proposing legislation. The Commission has specialised departments that deal with particular areas, called

Directorate-Generals. Here, Directorate-General Justice and Consumers (DG JUST) is relevant, as it is the department responsible for gender equality, amongst other things. With regard to promoting gender equality and preventing domestic violence, DG JUST is responsible for the Commissionʼs policiesinthisarea.

As this is a matter of justice, the EU has shared competences, which essentially means both the EU andMemberStatescanact.

Here, it is important to note that the Council of Europe is not an EU instrument but an international human rights organisation of particular importance because it is the creator of the Council ofEurope Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, better knownastheIstanbulConvention.

A further actor which is not directly connected to the EU, but nonetheless still of importance is UN Women. The task of UN Women is to support UN Member States in setting standards for achieving gender equality. It also works with national governments to design laws, policies, programmes and services that ensure that these standards are effectively implemented and benefit women and girls worldwide.

ClickheretoviewthisStakeholderMaponMiro.

3. Challengesandmeasuresinplace

In recent years, the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence, also known as the Istanbul Convention, has been the most prominent and influental legislation aiming to protect women from any kind of violence and harassment, including psychological violence, stalking, physical violence, sexual violence and sexual harassment, even beyond the borders of the EU. Under the Convention, gender-based violence is explicitly recognised as a human rights violationandaformofdiscrimination.Aratifyingcountry, for instance, must ensure that hotlines, shelters, medical care, counseling, and legal aid areavailable to women. According to the European Commission, it remains a priority for the EU to finalise its accession to the Istanbul Convention, by encouraging all Member States to ratify and implement the Convention. Generally, the Convention is built upon the pillars of prevention, protection, and prosecution in regards to violence against womenwhichhaveshapedtheEUʼspolicyapproachinthe combat against gender-based violence eversince. It is important to note that there however, is

currently no universally recognised and utilised definition of gender-based violence. Moreover, someEUcountriessuchastheCzechRepublic,Hungary,andBulgariahavenotratifiedtheConvention yetduetoconcernsthatitwouldpropagatetheideaofmanynon-binarygenderidentities.

Prevention

When it comes to thepreventionofgender-basedviolence,theneedforawareness-raisingliesatthe root of the problem in addition to the education on the equality of men and women in all areas of society. With the Mutual Learning Programme in Gender Equality, the EU has tried to educate its citizens on various aspects of ending domestic violence against womenbyofferingdifferentseminars on gender equality, sexism, stereotypesinmediaandsexualharassmentamongothers.Inadditionto that, the EU Gender Equality Strategy 2020-2025 includes a set of actions to achieve a gender-equal Europe by combating gender-based violence, sex discrimination, and structural inequality between men and women. On an international level, the EU and the UN in a common initiative have established the Generation Equality Forum which launched the Global Acceleration Plan for Gender Equality. However, the EU does not currently have a specific binding instrument designed to directly protect women from violence. Moreover, challenging deeply rooted stereotypes is a long term goal thatrequiresfurtherresearchontheissue.

Protection

In additiontothepreventionofgender-basedviolence,thedirectprotectionofwomenfacinganykind of domestic violence is an equally important aspect. Therefore, in cases of domestic violence, the accessibility of support services, shelters, and reporting mechanismsplayanimportantrole.Through the Victims' Rights Directive the EU has tried to strengthen victimsʼ rights regardless of where an offence took place, their nationality or residence status. However, this directive does not specifically refer tovictimsofdomesticviolence.Inaddition,theEuropeanParliamenthasfoundthatthedirective has not been fully implemented across the EU, in particular when it comes to the access to support services.

With the European Protection Order (EPO) the EU aims to guarantee the protection of crime victims throughout the European Union by partially harmonising European crime law. In this case however, differences between judicial systems are obstructing the use of EPO. Stalking, for instance, is not considered a criminal offence in all EU countries. In addition to that, there is a lack of a common definitionofgender-basedviolenceacrossMemberStates.

Prosecution

As the last step, a serious prosecution of domestic violence against women is crucial. According to a report by the Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA), over two out of three women (68%) do not report incidents of violence to the police. Consequently, effective prosecution needs to be ensured while protecting victims' righttoprivacy.Victimblamingandalackofempowermentoenhinderwomen from standing up for their rights. Consequently, they tend not to report cases ofdomesticviolenceto

the authorities. ThisisrelatedtothefactthatintheEuropeancrimelawtheviolenceagainstwomenis not directly covered by any directive. In fact, Parliament called on theCounciltoaddviolenceagainst women to the areas of particularly serious crime listed inArt.83(1)intheTreatyontheFunctioningof the European Union, however, this has notbeenimplementedyet.TheCommissionWorkProgramme 2022 only states that the EU intends to do so and to work on a new proposal to fight gender-based violence in the near future. Until then, the prosecution of domestic abuse is mostly covered by Directive 2012/29/EU on the rights and protection of victims of crime, which once again is only a general directive with no specific focus on gender-based or domestic violence. Consequently, the current state of the legislative system counteracts the idea of victim empowerment leading to victims of violence feeling less confident to open up about their experiences. Additionally, post-prosecutionmeasuresdealingwiththerecoveryofvictimsarestillinsufficient.

4. Furtherquestions

● How do you think we, as individuals, can open dialogue surrounding this difficult topic and createasafespacetodiscuss? ● In what further way can women be encouraged to report cases of domestic violence to the authorities? ● Whatroledoyouthinkeducationplaysinthematter? ● Whydoyouthinkthisissuehasbeenexacerbatedduringthepandemic? ● What legislative measures should the EU take to emphasise the importance of combating gender-basedviolenceandtherebyempoweringvictimstospeakup? ● Howcantheaccessibilityofsupportingservicesbefurtherimproved?

5. Oneforall,allforone

Through school-based interventions, the project ʻGender Equality Awareness-Raising against Intimate Partner Violenceʼ (GEAR against IPV) is designed to promote awarenessamonghighschool students and teachers about the harm caused by gender stereotypes and how this affects gender-based violence. Instead of being taught,adolescentsareguidedthroughexperientialactivities to examine their own personal gender stereotypes and the impact on their lives in order to develop and apply life skills. Ultimately, the goal is to promote healthy, equalrelationshipsbetweenthesexes andfosterazero-tolerancepolicytowardsviolence.

The GEAR against IPVprogrammehasbeenimplementedinGreece,Spain,Croatia,andCyprusamong other Member States. The European Institute for the Mediterranean has selected GEAR against IPV as one of the twelve most effective advocacy practices topromotewomen'sequalityandrights.External evaluation of the programme shows that it has had a considerable effect on stopping gender-based

violence and allowing adolescents to understand, confirm and seek to exercise gender equality. The evaluations show that both teachers and students are highly satisfiedwiththeprojectandthatithas changedinbigpartstheirthinkingaboutgenderequalityandrelationships.

6. Materialforfurtherresearch

EssentialEngagement

- WatchthisvideobyiSchoolAfricaaboutthedifferentformsofgender-basedviolence - ReadthispublicationbytheEuropeanInstituteforGenderEqualitygivingcomprehensiveadvice topolicymakersonhowtocombatgender-basedviolence - ReadthisEIGEreportonTheCovid-19pandemicandintimatepartnerviolenceagainstwomen intheEU - TakealookatthisUNWomenpublicationonviolenceagainstwomenduringCOVID-19

AdditionalEngagement: - ReadthisarticlebySylwiaSpurekt regardingtheIstanbulConvention - WatchthisTEDTalkbymedicaldoctorAliceHanframinggenderbasedviolenceasadisease - ReadthisstatementbytheEuropeanParliamentrelatedtothecurrentlackofacomprehensive

Directiveregardinggenderbasedviolence - ReadthispublicationbytheEuropeanCouncilaboutgenderbasedviolenceduringtheCOVID-19 pandemic - HavealookatthiswebpagefromtheEWLontheCoordinationofGreekWomenʼsNGOsforthe

EWL