By Georgia Kallis (AWO Greece)
A quarter of a century after Beijing, 47 Government delegations, 867 participants, and representatives from 81 Civil Society Organizations gathered at the U.N. in Geneva for the Beijing +25 ECE Regional Review. National reports showed that although some progress has been made by some of the EU Member States on gender equality in the domains of education and health, progress in other areas such as work, pay, violence and time has slowed, stalled or even regressed.
In the 28 EU Member States, 7.7 million women do not work due to motherhood or caring for elderly, and 9 million women work only part-time. Furthermore, it was noted that still very few women hold managerial positions in companies across the region, and that there is an under-representation of women in politics/governments.
Social Protection data in the EU reported the following:
- 16% Pay Gap stagnated between women and men in the past decade
- 36% Pension Gap exists between women and men
- 1 in 3 women experience violence/discrimination/sexual harassment
- Cyberviolence has increased against women and girls.
Violence Against Women and Girls was covered extensively with a separate session and a side event at the Beijing +25 Regional Review. Violence against women is a cause of persisting gender inequalities in the areas of work, health, education, power and time. Unfortunately, many Member States did not provide data on Femicide, FGM and Trafficking from their countries. The EU Representative stated that verbal abuse and humiliation are a violation of Human Rights. During the session, it was stressed that more countries need to ratify and implement the Istanbul Convention.
Recommendations by Member States and civil society organizations for Ending Violence Against Women and Girls were:
- Collection of comparable data, disaggregated by sex, is essential to the development of EU strategies on preventing and eliminating violence against women across Member States.
- Training for law enforcement and judges.
- Engaging men & boys in changing gender norms in platforms such as “Brand New Man”.
- Educating from pre-K on about gender stereotypes and harmful masculinity.
- Increasing funds for women's shelters.
- Initiating change in the media by working more closely with feminist groups.
Another cross-cutting issue was Climate Change and its effects on rural women, women’s health and children. Only 16 countries reported on their Climate Action plans and policies in their National Reports. More Climate Change investors/funders and young female Climate Change activists are needed to bring forward better Climate Change results on a global level.
In conclusion, it was stated that in order to reach SDG #5 by 2030, all countries in the region must commit to step up implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action by allocating more funds from their national budgets to address all gender equality issues and prevent violence against women and girls by ratifying and implementing the Istanbul Convention. Until then, women's civil society organizations will continue being the “watch dog” for gender equality.