Activities of Sandra PEREIRA related to 2019/2169(INI)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on the EU Strategy for Gender Equality
Amendments (41)
Amendment 33 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
Aa. taking into account that the pay gap is a reflection of the greater exploitation of and discrimination against women in the labour market and that this discrimination between women and men is deliberately promoted in an effort to facilitate and intensify policies designed to impose low wages and deregulate labour; in the light of the fact that the root causes of wage discrimination between men and women lie in the deregulation and devaluation of labour, but also the absence of measures enabling a proper balance between women’s professional, family and personal lives, as a result of increasingly precarious working conditions that lead to shorter working periods within a lifetime and impose on women more precarious labour situations, such as part-time or temporary work and lower wages;
Amendment 46 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
Ba. whereas, in the long term, the EU's neoliberal policies contribute to inequality between men and women, with rising unemployment, deregulation of the labour market, increased precariousness and low pay affecting women in particular, while cuts in public services, particularly in health and education, further exacerbate the multiple forms of discrimination and inequality that women face;
Amendment 50 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas the EU has adopted important legislation and provided key impulses to achieving gender equality; whereas, however, these efforts have slowed down in recent years, while movements opposing gender equality policies and women’s rights have flourished; whereas these movements are attempting to influence national and European policies's policies have exacerbated inequalities between men and women while, at the same time, movements opposing gender equality policies and women’s rights have flourished;
Amendment 57 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas violence against womeprostitution ins all its forms is a violation of human rights and one of the biggest obstacles to achieving gender equality; whereas a life free from violence is a prerequisite for equality; whereas disinformation campaigns on gender equality also focus on the issue of violence against serious form of violence and exploitation that mostly affects women and children; whereas the root causes of prostitution cannot be detached from socio-economic reality, particularly unemployment, financial need and poverty; whereas the Member States need to increase funding for social support and access to public services for victims of trafficking or sexual exploitation, with psychological and social support from specialised professionals, and to introduce social and economic policies designed to help vulnerable women, as has been seen in relation to the Istanbul Conventnd girls to leave prostitution, including by securing jobs that actually lead to their social inclusion;
Amendment 65 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D a (new)
Recital D a (new)
Da. whereas poverty and social exclusion have structural causes that need to be eradicated and reversed, in particular, through policies on employment, housing, mobility and access to public services;
Amendment 69 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D b (new)
Recital D b (new)
Db. whereas violations of women's sexual and reproductive health and rights, including denying them access to safe and legal induced abortions, are a form of violence against women;
Amendment 70 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D c (new)
Recital D c (new)
Dc. whereas trafficking in persons, particularly women and children, for sexual exploitation is a form of slavery and incompatible with human dignity; whereas, as a result of an increase in organised crime and profitability, human trafficking is on the rise around the world; whereas the prostitution market fuels the trafficking of women and children and exacerbates violence against them;
Amendment 71 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D d (new)
Recital D d (new)
Dd. whereas violations of women's sexual and reproductive health and rights, including denying them induced abortion services, are a form of violence against women;
Amendment 86 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E a (new)
Recital E a (new)
Ea. whereas maternity protection is a right that must be upheld in full and whereas an increase in maternity leave periods with full rights and pay at 100% should be a reality;
Amendment 93 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas the participation of women in the labour market does not secure their equal participation in decision-making or wages and therefore limits women’s potential to change economic, political, social and cultural structures; whereas inequality between men and women also exists in access to employment opportunities, positions and career progression;
Amendment 96 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F a (new)
Recital F a (new)
Fa. whereas almost 30% of women in the EU work part-time and are much more likely to have to give up work to take care of children and/or relatives; whereas, on average, women in the EU earn 15% less per hour than men; taking into account that the unavailability, prohibitive costs and lack of high-quality childcare infrastructure and services, particularly in the public sphere, continue to be a significant barrier to the equal participation of women in all aspects of life, including work;
Amendment 100 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F b (new)
Recital F b (new)
Fb. whereas the right to equal pay for equal work of equal value is not guaranteed, in many circumstances even when it is enshrined in law, and whereas the root cause of that discrimination needs to be tackled, whether by protecting and enhancing labour rights or by stepping up action, including by national labour inspection authorities, to ensure that businesses enforce these rights; taking into account that collective bargaining is key to reversing and overcoming inequalities between men and women;
Amendment 108 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G a (new)
Recital G a (new)
Ga. whereas poverty and social exclusion have structural causes that need to be eradicated and reversed, in particular, through policies on employment, housing, mobility and access to public services; whereas prostitution, trafficking in persons, particularly women and children, for sexual exploitation is a form of slavery and incompatible with human dignity, particularly in countries where the sex industry has been legalised; whereas, as a result of the increase in organised crime and its profitability, human trafficking is on the rise around the world; whereas the prostitution market fuels the trafficking of women and children and exacerbates violence against them, particularly in countries where the sex industry has been legalised;
Amendment 129 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I a (new)
Recital I a (new)
Ia. whereas health rights, particularly sexual and reproductive health rights, are women's fundamental rights, and should be enhanced and cannot be watered down in any way or removed;
Amendment 135 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital J a (new)
Recital J a (new)
Ja. whereas the COVID-19 outbreak has disproportionately affected women; whereas, on the front line against the epidemic, some 70% of workers in the social and health sector were women, whether nurses, doctors or cleaners; whereas women who were teleworking, unemployed or working part-time were subject to even greater pressure, continuing to carry out the majority of domestic and family tasks; whereas, on the basis of complaints submitted, during the COVID-19 period, the number of women who were victims of violence and harassment went up;
Amendment 138 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital J b (new)
Recital J b (new)
Jb. whereas violence between men and women rises during emergencies of any kind – whether economic crises, conflicts or disease outbreaks; whereas inequalities, the economic and social stress caused by confinement during the epidemic and the social isolation and movement-restricting measures led to an increase in violence against women; whereas many women were confined at home with their aggressors; whereas in some Member States, such as Portugal and France, domestic violence rose by 30% during that period;
Amendment 139 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital J c (new)
Recital J c (new)
Jc. whereas the adoption over the decades of 'structural adjustment' plans and neoliberal reforms at European and international level severely weakened public services and national industrial capacity, leading to shortages of masks, medication and hospital capacity, thus increasing reliance on third country states to supply this equipment; whereas there is a real need to put an end to these policies with a view to investing in and bolstering public infrastructure, particularly health infrastructure and to promote the re- industrialisation of states, countering foreign dependency and boosting their sovereignty; whereas, in this context, the provision of high-quality, free and universal public healthcare services;
Amendment 170 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. WelcomesTakes note of the announcement of several complementary strategies and calls for a strategic framework to connect them, and for an intersectional approach to be adopted in all of them;
Amendment 206 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Stresses that any equality strategy should tackle all forms of violence against women, including backsliding over and violations of women's sexual and reproductive health and rights; reiterates that access to healthcare and public services, particularly access to induced abortion services and psychological support for women victims of violence should be considered a priority;
Amendment 218 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Calls for proper protection of women victims of domestic violence to be ensured, increasing states' means and effective responses;
Amendment 232 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Welcomes the proposed specific measures to tackle cyber violence; calls forurges the Member States to adopt binding legislative measures to combat these forms of violence and to support Member States in the development of training tools for the police force, the justice system and the information and communication technology sector;
Amendment 241 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Urges the Commission to present the long-awaited EU strategy on the eradication of trafficking in human beings and underlines the need for a clear gender focus, as women and girls are the most affected and are trafficked for purposes of sexual exploitation; insists on the importance of including measures and strategies to reduce demand; stresses that there are a number of links between prostitution and trafficking and acknowledges that prostitution – both in the EU and elsewhere around the world – fuels the trafficking of vulnerable women and minors;
Amendment 248 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8a. Takes the view that prostitution is a serious form of violence and exploitation;
Amendment 249 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 b (new)
Paragraph 8 b (new)
8b. Acknowledges that prostitution and sexual exploitation are unacceptable forms of exploitation and violation of human dignity and run counter to human rights principles, including equality between men and women; stresses that the normalisation of prostitution has an impact on young people’s perception of sexuality and of the relationship between women and men; urges the Member States to provide financial support for the adoption of specific programmes for prostituted women seeking to gain their freedom from that form of exploitation and violence; takes the view that practical measures should be taken to protect women's rights, preventing social exclusion, which in many cases lead to prostitution networks;
Amendment 269 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10a. Stresses the need to create a public crèche and pre-school education network: this is a broad social responsibility and should be a universal public service that is actually accessible to all children and families who wish to use this network;
Amendment 276 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 b (new)
Paragraph 10 b (new)
10b. Stresses the need to boost investment in public services significantly, particularly healthcare, education and transport services, with a view to addressing populations' needs and contributing to the independence, equality and emancipation of women;
Amendment 279 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 c (new)
Paragraph 10 c (new)
10c. Maintains that public, universal and compassionate social security, free and high-quality public and healthcare services should be provided, access to justice should be ensured and the right to housing should be enshrined;
Amendment 291 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 a (new)
Paragraph 11 a (new)
11a. Takes the view that there is a central element to tackling inequalities; encourages the Member States to promote policies that enhance the status of work, increase real wages and safeguard rights, outlawing job insecurity, tackling the deregulation of labour relations and working hours, and imposing severe restrictions on the use of solutions such as part-time and temporary work; supports collective bargaining as a means not only to place value on working conditions but also to tackle inequalities between men and women;
Amendment 299 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 b (new)
Paragraph 11 b (new)
11b. Calls on the EU and its Member States to further protect mothers and fathers, including by increasing periods of leave, taking into account the World Health Organisation recommendation that children be exclusively breastfed for the first six months of their lives, and ensuring that these parents are paid at 100%, without loss of pay; calls for the right, after the end of maternity leave, to a reduction in working hours to be ensured so that mothers can breastfeed their children until they are at least two years old, and for practical measures to be taken to ensure that protection, alongside investment in the establishment of a free public network of childcare and education services;
Amendment 301 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 c (new)
Paragraph 11 c (new)
11c. Takes the view that the participation of women in all activity sectors must be increased; takes the view that investment in states' public services and social functions is a means to ensure access, on an equal basis, to healthcare, education, culture, social security and justice; urges the Member States to take specific social measures to tackle the risk of social exclusion and poverty, particularly with regard to access to housing, transport and energy at accessible prices;
Amendment 303 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 d (new)
Paragraph 11 d (new)
11d. Calls on the Member States to take measures to ensure access for migrant and refugee women to healthcare, employment, food and information services and to mitigate protection risks, particularly violence between men and women and trafficking of women;
Amendment 304 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 e (new)
Paragraph 11 e (new)
11e. Encourages the Member States to take firm measures to sanction businesses that fail to comply with labour legislation and discriminate between men and women; takes the view, furthermore, that conditionality should be applied in the allocation of EU funds to companies that have high working standards and do not discriminate against women;
Amendment 305 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 f (new)
Paragraph 11 f (new)
11f. 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; takes the view that income inequalities between men and women in retirement must be overcome and this calls for pensions to be increased, and for public, universal and solidarity-based social security systems to be maintained and enhanced, ensuring that they are redistributive and provide a fair and decent income after a lifetime of work, safeguarding the sustainability of public social security systems by creating jobs with rights and improving wages;
Amendment 306 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 g (new)
Paragraph 11 g (new)
11g. Calls on the Member States to take practical measures to ensure women's equal access to work with rights and decent wages; takes the view that collective bargaining is a determining factor in reversing and overcoming inequality and tackling discrimination against women, and that the principle of equal pay for equal work of equal value must be enshrined in law and life;
Amendment 349 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)
Paragraph 15 a (new)
15a. Takes the view that, for the EU's budgetary resources to be reflected in the Member States' implementation of equality strategies, the Multiannual Financial Framework 2021-2027 must be stepped up significantly, particularly its wealth redistribution role through support intended to further real economic and social convergence between Member States – structural and investment and cohesion funds – and support for productive sectors and employment with rights, by giving Member States grants (rather than loans);
Amendment 355 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 b (new)
Paragraph 15 b (new)
15b. Reiterates the need to apply conditionality in the allocation of EU funds to companies that fail to meet high labour standards and discriminate against women;
Amendment 356 #
15c. Stresses that the response to the COVID-19 epidemic could be used to establish additional budget resources that the Member States could mobilise to support victims of violence; urges the Member States to provide greater labour and social protection for women, including through a firm commitment to tackling precariousness, low salaries and unregulated working hours, and through support for unemployed or economically and socially vulnerable women; takes the view that all EU-funded investments in measures intended to address the COVID- 19 outbreak and its consequences, which have exacerbated existing economic and social problems, may be financed at a rate of 100%;
Amendment 357 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 d (new)
Paragraph 15 d (new)
15d. Acknowledges that new and improved educational and social infrastructure for children, the young and the elderly are necessary, including more (and better) opportunities to access education and eliminate discrimination, through specific measures; urges the Member States to create the conditions to eradicate and reverse the structural causes of poverty and social exclusion; to promote access to a variety of types of social provisions for children, young people, adults, the elderly, and persons with disabilities, among other social groups, seeking to provide public responses where they are lacking; to provide better housing conditions and mobility options and to take action in the areas that determine social inclusion, such as family settings, urban spaces, education and health promotion, leisure time and spaces and access to culture, sport and information and knowledge;
Amendment 376 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Notes that tax policies have varying impacts on different types of households; stresses that individual taxation is instrumental in terms of achieving tax fairness for women;
Amendment 395 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Reiterates the need for a regular exchange between Member States and the Commission on gender aspects in health, including guidelines for comprehensive sex and relationship education, gender- sensitive responses to epidemics and sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR); calls on the Commission to include SRHR in its next EU Health Strategy, and to support Member States in providingurges the Member States to promote SRHR and strengthen public, universal and high- quality and low-threshold access to healthcare services;
Amendment 422 #
20a. Acknowledges the unambiguous defence, anywhere in the world, of all freedoms, condemning measures that undermine rights, freedoms and guarantees and all forms of discrimination, including on the grounds of sexual orientation;