Labour MEP Cyrus Engerer will form part of the European Parliament’s committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality, the party said on Wednesday.
Engerer was chosen to sit on the committee, dubbed FEMM, by the Socialist and Democrats grouping that he forms part of.
He will be the first Maltese MEP to form part of the committee. Engerer also forms part of the EP committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety, as well as a special committee focused on beating cancer.
“The fight towards true and proper equality cannot be done if we remain passive,” he said following his appointment. “There are fights that need to be taken up - the fight for gender parity, the fight against domestic violence and femicide, the fight towards ensuring women are empowered in all sectors of society in order for them to have an equal chance and footing in society.”
The FEMM committee is tasked with dealing with legislation and non-legislative initiatives relating to women’s rights, such as domestic violence, femicide, family rights, female participation in all levels of society and empowerment.
As an S&D MEP, Engerer is expected to push for the grouping’s priorities such as improving maternity and paternity leave rights, promoting equal treatment and pay for men and women, and promoting equal sharing of responsibilities between men and women.
'The problem is patriarchy'
Engerer noted that just 19 men form part of the committee, compared to 81 women.
“And yet the issues discussed in the FEMM Committee, including equality for women, affect all genders. Patriarchy hurts men as much as it hurts women and the rest of society”, he said.
“Patriarchy is not about overvaluing the masculine, but it is about undervaluing the feminine- and it severely harms men specifically because of this aspect. How many times have we heard the phrase “boys don’t cry” or “man up” when it comes to men expressing their emotions? How is it possible that we still say this in a society where out of every 8/10 people who commit suicide are men?
"The problem is patriarchy. People from all genders are literally dying because of patriarchy.”
He said the recent murder of Paulina Dembska was a femicide that had made him think deeply about gender inequalities in Malta.
Dembska was found dead in a Sliema public garden early on January 2. She had been raped and strangled. A 29-year-old, Abner Aquilina, has been charged with her murder.