Activities of Karen MELCHIOR related to 2021/2020(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Equality between women and men in the European Union in 2018-2020 (debate)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on equality between women and men in the European Union in 2018-2020
Amendments (32)
Amendment 22 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 11 a (new)
Citation 11 a (new)
— having regard to its resolution of 11 February 2021 on challenges ahead for women’s rights in Europe: more than 25 years after the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action,
Amendment 24 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 11 b (new)
Citation 11 b (new)
— having regard to its resolution of 17 December 2020 on the need for a dedicated Council configuration on gender equality,
Amendment 25 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 11 c (new)
Citation 11 c (new)
— having regard to itsresolution of 21 January 2021 on the gender perspective in the COVID-19 crisisand post-crisis period,
Amendment 45 #
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 lifsignificant challenge; 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, LBTIQ+ women and young and elderly women;
Amendment 67 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas violence against women may be of differing appearance, intensity and form; whereas a society free of gender-based violence must be acknowledged as an absolute prerequisite for equality;
Amendment 82 #
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;
Amendment 86 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas the EU gender pay gap is 164.1%, with variations between the Member States; whereas this gender pay gap has a number of implications, not least a 3729.5% 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 or work of equal value is not always guaranteed and remains one of the biggest challenges to be met in efforts to combat pay discrimination;1a 1a https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/default/files /aid_development_cooperation_fundamen tal_rights/annual_report_ge_2021_en.pdf
Amendment 99 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G
Recital G
G. whereas their rolegender stereotypes often places women as primary caregivers within the family and this imposes a disproportionate burden of unpaid care and domestic work on women, who play a vital role in this respect;
Amendment 106 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H
Recital H
H. whereas EU neoliberal policies are, in the long term, contributing to 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 benefitsdigitalisation of the labour market offers countless opportunities but also presents new challenges for gender equality such as long working hours, increased precariousness and low pay;
Amendment 112 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H a (new)
Recital H a (new)
H a. whereas the effects on families of involving men and fatherhood show that caring men are important to the optimal development of children, and that they can improve the work life balance and help redress gender inequitable relationships; whereas male engagement can contribute to preventing violence in families and contribute to more equitable societies;
Amendment 114 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H b (new)
Recital H b (new)
H b. whereas the persistence of gender stereotypes and expectations of men's and boys’ roles can restrain them from showing, their positive emotions and internalizing negative emotions such as sadness and anxiety and can result in men and boys expressing greater levels of aggression and anger than women; whereas this can result of men and boys who are more likely to perpetrate violence such as gender-based violence;
Amendment 124 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Stresses that respect for the right to equal pay and equal treatment in work is an essential precondition if women are effectively to enjoy equal rights, economic independence and career fulfilment and therefore insists that precarious employment should be eradicated through mandatory compliance with the principle that every permanent job must entail an effective employment relationship with recognition and enhancement of rights at the workplace;; recognizes the right of all workers to fair remuneration sufficient for a decent standard of living for themselves and their families, through statutory minimum wage setting mechanisms as well as collective agreements.
Amendment 132 #
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 womenequal pay; acknowledges the role of socialpartners in promoting gender equality and addressing pay discrimination, and calls for de jure and de facto compliance with the principle of equal pay for equal work of equal value;
Amendment 143 #
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 encouragegainst gender discrimination and gender bias;
Amendment 144 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3 a. Calls on Member States, employers and associations to ensure that they have proper procedures in place for preventing gender discrimination, sexual harassment and gender-based violence, which create a toxic environment and insists that they protect the victims of and accountability for gender-based violence committed within the workplace or their organisation;
Amendment 152 #
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 for the first six months of their livebetter implement the work life balance directive, which introduced paternity leave of at least 10 working days, extended the right to request flexible working arrangements to working parents, and ensured that two out of the four months of parental leave are non- transferable between parents; calls for 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, accompanied by investment in a public network of free childcare and education services;
Amendment 155 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
Amendment 167 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5 a. Calls on all member states and the EU as a legal entity to ratify and implement the Istanbul convention, which stresses the misconceptions about gender roles in our society such as “traditional family values” and combat repressive views on women;
Amendment 189 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Stresses the urgent need to counter the exploitationunequal treatment and harassment of women at work and combat the inequalities, discrimination and violence affecting them, noting that harassment in the workplace excludes women from their chosen careers and sectors;
Amendment 194 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Calls for women who suffer domestic violence to be afforded proper protection, ensuring the deployment of increased resources and more effective responses by the StateMember States; recalls that the perpetrators of domestic abuse killings follow an eight-stage pattern also known as a “homicide timeline" that could be identified and tracked by police and other authorities to help prevent deaths;
Amendment 200 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7 a. Calls on Member States to implement preventive programmes, including through education on issues such as skills necessary to create safe and healthy relationships, awareness about the ingrained preconceptions about the gender care gap, equality between women and men, mutual respect, non-violent conflict resolution in interpersonal relationships, gender-based violence against women and the right to personal integrity, and age appropriate sexuality education;
Amendment 205 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 b (new)
Paragraph 7 b (new)
Amendment 212 #
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 prostRecalls that nearly three quarters of all victims in the EU are women and girls, mainly trafficked for sexual exploitation. Calls on the Commission in cooperation with the Member States, to examine how the demand for sexual services could drive trafficking and calls on the Commission to prioritise the prevention of the crime of trafficking for sexual exploituation are inextricably intertwined with social and economic realities, particularly unemployment, financial need and poverty, including through information, awareness-raising and education campaigns, adopting measures and programmes to discourage and reduce demand, and to possibly adopt future dedicated legislation; 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 220 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8 a. Recalls the Commission's long standing defence of gender equality and equal rights, and regrets the backlash and regression in women’s rights especially against sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR);
Amendment 224 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
Amendment 231 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
Amendment 236 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10 a. Calls on the Commission to strongly condemn the backsliding in women’s rights and SRHR, and to use its full capability to strengthen its actions to counter it; calls on the Commission and the Member States to step up their political support for human rights defenders, healthcare providers working to advance SRHR, women’s rights and SRHR civil society organisations which are key actors for gender-equal societies and crucial providers of SRH services and information;
Amendment 241 #
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; recalls that SRH services are essential healthcare services that should be available to all and include comprehensive, evidence-based and age-appropriate sexuality and relationship education;
Amendment 248 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Stresses the need for Member States to adopt a policy placing special emphasis on improved public health and the prevention of disease by guaranteeing freaffordable, universal and high-quality healthcare and ensuring the availability of the necessary resources to combat the main public health problems;
Amendment 256 #
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 publiccare service that is genuinely accessible to all children and families wishing to avail themselves of it is an overarching social responsibility;
Amendment 264 #
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 benefitsby addressing work-life balance, the gender pay gap and resulting gender pension gap, and gender stereotypes that hamper equality in the workplace and labour market ;
Amendment 272 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Recognises that it is essential to ensure a broad set of effective economic and social measures to combat discriminatory attitudes and practicestargeted measures to achieve equal opportunities and equal pay for work of equal work and enabling women to exercise their civic and political rights on an equal basis;