The European Commission is planning to unveil legislative proposals to fight online and offline violence against women. In a written interview ahead of International Women’s Day, European Commissioner for Equality HELENA DALLI tells Sarah Carabott that at least one in two young women experienced gender-based cyberviolence in 2020.
Q: Violence against women reportedly increased during the pandemic. Does the Commission have any data to illustrate this?
A: Comprehensive EU data on violence against women during the pandemic is not yet available. Nonetheless, organisations offering victim support, police authorities and national governments around the EU reported significant spikes in the number of domestic violence cases since the outbreak of the COVID pandemic.
For instance, in Cyprus, helplines registered a 30 per cent increase in calls during the early stages of the pandemic, and in France, reports of domestic violence grew by 30 per cent during the first lockdown.
This further confirmed that violence against women and domestic violence are widespread societal problems that affect all social groups, and which are highly prevalent in all EU countries, especially in moments of uncertainty like the one presented by the pandemic.
We will strengthen the collection of comparable administrative data on violence against women and domestic violence at the EU level and promise to make EU-wide survey data collection obligatory in all member states.
Q: How will legislative proposals be different from the Istanbul Convention?
A: When it comes to addressing violence against women and domestic violence, the Council of Europe’s Istanbul Convention will continue to be our gold standard. Our proposal builds on the Istanbul Convention and our commitment to finalise the EU’s accession to the convention remains.
An area of innovation relates to our intention to address online violence against women.
Cyberviolence is just as prevalent as other forms of violence against women today. It is estimated that in 2020, one in two young women experienced gender-based cyberviolence.
Women in general, typically experience cyberviolence based on their sex or gender. It is therefore important that all EU member states address this issue systematically and introduce minimum criminal sanctions to address it.
With our proposal, we will introduce a set of other harmonised EU-level criminal offences supplementing those that most member states already have in national legislation. We will ensure that all states – including those which have not ratified the Istanbul Convention – have the required minimum level of measures in place to tackle violence against women and domestic violence.
This means the ability to report violence, coordination between the relevant authorities to ensure effective referrals between services and special support services for victims of violence.
As is customary, states may maintain higher standards that may already exist in national law or introduce standards that are more robust, thus exceeding the minimum.
Q: Victims of domestic violence or gender-based violence are more likely to experience unwanted pregnancy. Malta is the only EU country that bans abortion in all cases while Poland has a near-total ban. Other countries could also decide to backtrack/water down abortion legalisation. How will the legislative proposals tackle abortion and reproductive rights?
A: The treaties are clear. The EU has no competence on abortion rights. Legislation in this area is therefore up to member states. Needless to say, our legislative proposal on combatting violence against women and domestic violence will not address abortion and reproductive rights.
Our proposal builds on the Istanbul Convention
Member states are encouraged to safeguard women’s equal access to quality healthcare services.
The European Commission equally provides full support to all states’ efforts in implementing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals relevant to women’s health, such as on universal access to sexual and reproductive care, family planning and education.
Q: There have been some recent high-profile cases of violence against women, such as the murder of Paulina Dembska in Malta and Aisling Murphy in Ireland. How have these cases impacted you and your legislative proposals?
A: Every single victim is one victim too many. Inadequate responses and glitches to existing systems leave many women and girls feeling violated, unsupported and ignored by their judicial systems.
During the preparation of the upcoming legislative proposal, we examined the legislative landscape in this sector within all states and focused on EU-added value. In our proposal, we introduce criminal sanctions that will inform all EU states’ laws.
In parallel to our proposal, we will continue to fund projects and policy development tackling violence against women through the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values programme.
We know that these actions and interventions provide critical support to victims and survivors. Crucially, they also strengthen efforts to end violence in the first place.