Activities of Malin BJÖRK related to 2016/0062R(NLE)
Shadow reports (1)
INTERIM REPORT on the proposal for a Council decision on the conclusion, by the European Union, of the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence
Amendments (24)
Amendment 18 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 14 a (new)
Citation 14 a (new)
— having regard to the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action adopted by the Fourth World Conference on Women on 15 September 1995, and to the subsequent outcome documents adopted at the United Nations Beijing +5 (2000), Beijing +10 (2005),Beijing +15 (2010) and Beijing +20 (2015) special sessions,
Amendment 19 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 16 a (new)
Citation 16 a (new)
— having regard to the provisions of the UN legal instruments in the sphere of human rights, in particular those concerning women’s rights, such as the UN Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and its Optional Protocol, the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and the principle of non-refoulement, and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child,
Amendment 26 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 16 b (new)
Citation 16 b (new)
— having regard to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, to which the EU is a State Party, including the 2015 Concluding Observations of the United UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) to the EU, which call on the EU to accede to the Istanbul Convention as a way to protect women and girls with disabilities from violence,
Amendment 33 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 16 c (new)
Citation 16 c (new)
— having regard to its report on the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which calls for the EU to become a party to the Istanbul Convention as a further step in combating violence against women and girls with disabilities,
Amendment 36 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 17 a (new)
Citation 17 a (new)
— having regard to the Commission proposal for a directive on combating violence against women and domestic violence of 8 March 2022,
Amendment 44 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 22 a (new)
Citation 22 a (new)
— having regards to its resolution of 6 October 2021 on the impact of intimate partner violence and custody rights on women and children;
Amendment 56 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas gender equality is a core value of the EU, enshrined in Article 2 of TEU and stressed in Article 23 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights, and must be mainstreamed in EU activities, policies and programmes; whereas the eradication of gender-based violence against women and girls is a prerequisite to achieving real gender equality;
Amendment 79 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas recentlyover the last five years, the estimated cost of gender-based violence and intimate partner violence in the European Union have increased by around one third, and the estimated costs of gender-based violence is EUR 366 billion23 ; _________________ 23 European Institute for Gender Equality, ‘The costs of gender-based violence in the European Union’, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, 2021.
Amendment 94 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas gender-based violence against women may take the form of offences such as sexual exploitation, including the exploitation of the prostitution of others and sexual exploitation for reproductive purposes, including surrogacy, sexual violence, including rape, female genital mutilation, trafficking in women for the purposes of sexual exploitation, sexual harassment, ‘honour crimes’ and forced marriages, denial of safe and legal abortion, femicide, stalking and various forms of cyberviolence;
Amendment 101 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E a (new)
Recital E a (new)
E a. whereas LGBTIQ+ persons are also victims of gender-based violence because of their gender, gender identity, gender expression and sex characteristics; whereas gender-based violence against LGBTIQ+ persons includes physical violence, psychological violence, forced marriages, sexual violence, including ‘corrective’ rape and sexual harassment, female and intersex genital mutilations, forced sterilisation of trans and intersex people, so-called ‘honour’ crimes, conversion therapy, hate speech, both online and offline, bullying and harassment, socio-economic deprivation and violence that occurs within the family and/or domestic unit;
Amendment 105 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E b (new)
Recital E b (new)
E b. whereas several women in the EU have died over recent years because they were denied safe and legal abortion1a; _________________ 1a https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/10/22/two -years-polands-abortion-crackdowns-and- rule-law
Amendment 106 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E c (new)
Recital E c (new)
E c. whereas women’s rights organisations are being harassed and persecuted in the EU for showing their solidarity with victims of inhumane abortion laws1a; _________________ 1a https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/02/06/pol and-womens-rights-activists-targeted
Amendment 112 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas the lack of effectiveness of prosecution, legal frameworks and the judicial systems and, the lack of adequate social and medical services and the risk or re- victimisation and secondary victimisation are frequent reasons for the non- reporting of gender-based violence;
Amendment 117 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F a (new)
Recital F a (new)
Amendment 121 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G a (new)
Recital G a (new)
G a. whereas some groups of women and girls, such as migrant women, women refugees and asylum seekers, women and girls with disabilities, LBTIQ+ women and Roma women, are at risk of multiple discrimination and are therefore even more vulnerable to violence, owing to motives fuelled by sexism coupled with racism, xenophobia, homophobia, transphobia or intersexphobia as well as discrimination based on age, disability, ethnicity or religion; whereas women in Europe face intersecting and multiple forms of discrimination that prevent them from accessing justice and support and protection services and from enjoying their fundamental rights; whereas women should be granted specialist support services in the implementation of protection measures;
Amendment 125 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G b (new)
Recital G b (new)
G b. whereas violence against women, including domestic violence, is too often considered as a private issue and too easily tolerated; whereas in fact it constitutes a crossborder, systemic violation of fundamental rights and a serious crime that must be punished as such; whereas impunity must end by ensuring that perpetrators are prosecuted and that women and girls who are survivors of violence receive proper support and remedy from law enforcement and the judicial system, in order to break the vicious circle of silence for those who have been the victims of violence, independently of their geographic origin or social class;
Amendment 134 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H a (new)
Recital H a (new)
H a. whereas only a mix of policies combining legislative and non-legislative measures, such as infrastructural, legal, judicial, cultural, educational, social and health actions, and measures to facilitate victims’ access to housing and employment, including providing shelter for victims, as well as financial autonomy and equal participation of women in all areas of society, can significantly reduce violence against women and gender-based violence and its consequences; whereas civil society, and women’s organisations in particular, make a very important contribution to preventing and combating all forms of violence and their work should be recognised, encouraged, supported and state-funded so that they can carry it out in the best possible way;
Amendment 140 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I
Recital I
I. whereas the Istanbul Convention is a unique tool to combat gender-basedpreventing and combating violence against women and gender-based violence, including domestic violence at European level and beyond;
Amendment 179 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Strongly condemns all forms of gender-based violence, including the denial of access to sexual and reproductive health and rights, against women and girls and against LGBTIQ+ persons; deplores the fact that women and girls are often exposed to domestic violence, sexual harassment, psychological and physical violence, stalking, sexual violence, rape, forced marriage, female genital mutilation (FGM), forced pregnancy, forced sterilisation, sexual exploitation, prostitution, human trafficking and other forms of violence, which constitute a serious violation of their human rights and dignity; stresses that the Istanbul Convention lays down that culture, custom, religion, tradition or so-called ‘honour’ cannot be a justification of any acts of violence against women; denounces the fact that more and more women and girls are victims of gender- based violence on the internet and on social media; calls on the Member States to adopt concrete measures to address these new forms of crime, including sex- extortion, grooming, voyeurism and revenge pornography, and to protect the victims;
Amendment 188 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3 a. Calls on the Member States and the Commission within their work to combat gender-based violence to ensure that all legislative and non-legislative initiatives aim to eradicate all forms of gender-based violence, specifically including women in all their diversity and violence against LGBTIQ+ persons on the grounds of gender identity, gender expression and sex characteristics;
Amendment 191 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 b (new)
Paragraph 3 b (new)
3 b. Strongly affirms that the denial of sexual and reproductive health and rights services, including access to safe and legal abortion, is a form of violence against women and girls; reiterates that women and girls must have control over their bodies and sexualities; calls on all the Member States to guarantee comprehensive sexuality education, ready access for women to family planning, and the full range of reproductive and sexual health services, including modern contraceptive methods and safe and legal abortion; stresses that forced pregnancy is defined as a crime against humanity in Article 7 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court of 17 July 1998 and is a form of gender-based violence against women that constitutes a serious violation of the human rights and dignity of women and girls;
Amendment 236 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Points out that while all Member States have already signed the Istanbul Convention, sixBulgaria, Czechia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, and Slovakia have not ratified it yet; underlines that the EU’s accession to the Istanbul Convention does not exempt Member States from national ratification and thus strongly encourages the remaining Member States that have not already done so to ratify the Convention without delay;
Amendment 276 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Recognises the pivotal role of and incredible amount of work performed by civil society organisations, in particular women’s human rights organisations, in preventing and combating violence against women and girls and their efforts to provide assistance to the victims of gender- based violence; urgescalls on the Member States to support these activities by providing sufficient human andand long-term financial resources;
Amendment 283 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Urges the Council to step up procedures in order to ensure the EU’s swift ratification of the Istanbul Convention; and to ensure, despite the signing of the EU’s accession to the Istanbul Convention, a broad EU accession of all Member States to the Convention without any limitations; urges the Council furthermore a) to make sure that the Member States enforce the Istanbul Convention and allocate adequate financial and human resources to preventing and combating violence against women and gender-based violence, including domestic violence, empowering women and girls, and protecting victims and enabling them to be compensated, especially in the case of those living in areas where protection services for victims do not exist or are very limited; b) to ask the Commission to draw up a holistic EU strategy on combating violence against women and gender-based violence that includes a comprehensive plan including prevention, protection measures and funding, integrating all EU efforts to eradicate violence against women and combating all forms of gender inequalities; c) to designate an EU Coordinator to act as representative of the EU to the Committee of the Parties at the Council of Europe once the Istanbul Convention is ratified by the EU;this coordinator would be responsible for the coordination, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and measures to prevent and combat all forms of violence against women and girls; d) to ensure that Parliament will be fully engaged in the monitoring process of the Istanbul Convention following the EU’s accession; to proceed with a swift agreement on a code of conduct concerning cooperation between the EU and its Member States for the implementation of the Convention, which should also involve civil society organisations, particularly women´s rights organisations;