Source: European Parliament
MOTION FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION
on the Gender Equality Strategy 2025
The European Parliament,
– having regard to Articles 2 and 3 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU),
– having regard to Articles 8, 10, 19, 79, 83, 151, 153 and 157 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU),
– having regard to the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, and in particular to Articles 1, 21, 23 and 24 thereof,
– having regard to the European Pillar of Social Rights proclaimed and signed by Parliament, the Council and the Commission on 17 November 2017, and to the Commission communication of 4 March 2021 entitled ‘The European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan’ (COM(2021)0102),
– having regard to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,
– having regard to the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women of 18 December 1979, and its general recommendations,
– having regard to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, adopted on 12 December 2006,
– having regard to the Concluding observations on the combined second and third periodic reports of the European Union, adopted by the UN Committee on the rights of persons with disabilities, on 21 March 2025, and in particular its recommendations under Article 6 thereof,
– having regard to the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination, adopted by the UN General Assembly on 21 December 1965,
– having regard to the UN Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action of 15 September 1995, and to the outcomes of its review conferences,
– having regard to UN Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000) of 31 October 2000 on women, peace and security,
– having regard to the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development of 21 October 2015 and to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set out therein, in particular SDG 5 – ‘Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls’ and SDG 3 – ‘Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages’ (which includes women and girls), and the targets and indicators relating to them,
– having regard to Eurostat report of June 2024 entitled ‘Sustainable development in the European Union: Monitoring report on progress towards the SDGs in an EU context – 2024 edition[1],
– having regard to the Commission report of May 2023 entitled ‘EU Voluntary Review on the Implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’[2],
– having regard to the International Labour Organization Equal Remuneration Convention of 29 June 1951, and to the International Labour Organization Violence and Harassment Convention of 21 June 2019,
– having regard to the resolution of the International Labour Organization of 14 June 2024 concerning decent work and the care economy,
– having regard to the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul Convention) of 11 May 2011, which was ratified by the EU in June 2023, and the country-monitoring reports on its implementation by the Group of Experts on Action against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (GREVIO),
– having regard to the report by the Council of Europe of April 2021 entitled ‘Second General Report on GREVIO Activities’,
– having regard to the recommendations, reports and resolutions of the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights and of the bodies of the Council of Europe,
– having regard to the Yogyakarta Principles, adopted in November 2006, and the Yogyakarta Principles plus 10, adopted in November 2017,
– having regard to the views adopted by the UN Human Rights Committee on 31 March 2016 in Communication No 2324/2013, Mellet v Ireland, supra note 6, paragraph 7.7, and on 29 March 2011 in Communication No 1608/2007, L.M.R. v Argentina, paragraphs 9.3 and 9,
– having regard to the EEC and EU directives adopted from 1975 onwards on various aspects of equal treatment for women and men (Directive 79/7/EEC[3], Directive 86/613/EEC[4], Directive 92/85/EEC[5], Directive 2004/113/EC[6], Directive 2006/54/EC[7], Directive 2010/41/EU[8]),
– having regard to Council Directive 2000/43/EC of 29 June 2000 implementing the principle of equal treatment between persons irrespective of racial or ethnic origin[9] (Race Equality Directive), and to the Commission communication of 18 September 2020 entitled ‘A Union of equality: EU anti-racism action plan 2020-2025’ (COM(2020)0565),
– having regard to the Commission proposal of 2 July 2008 for a Council directive on implementing the principle of equal treatment between persons irrespective of religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation (COM(2008)0426) (horizontal anti-discrimination directive),
– having regard to Directive 2011/99/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 December 2011 on the European protection order[10],
– having regard to Directive 2012/29/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2012 establishing minimum standards on the rights, support and protection of victims of crime, and replacing Council Framework Decision 2001/220/JHA[11],
– having regard to Directive (EU) 2019/882 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 April 2019 on the accessibility requirements for products and services[12],
– having regard to Directive (EU) 2019/1158 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 on work-life balance for parents and carers and repealing Council Directive 2010/18/EU[13] (Work-Life Balance Directive),
– having regard to the working document of the European External Action Service of 4 July 2019 entitled ‘EU Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security (WPS) 2019-2024’ the duration of which was, in November 2023, extended to 2027,
– having regard to the Commission communication of 7 October 2020 entitled ‘A Union of Equality: EU Roma strategic framework for equality, inclusion and participation’ (COM(2020)0620),
– having regard to Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 October 2022 on a Single Market For Digital Services and amending Directive 2000/31/EC (Digital Services Act)[14],
– having regard to Directive (EU) 2022/2381 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 November 2022 on improving the gender balance among directors of listed companies and related measures[15],
– having regard to Directive (EU) 2023/970 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 10 May 2023 to strengthen the application of the principle of equal pay for equal work or work of equal value between men and women through pay transparency and enforcement mechanisms[16],
– having regard to Directive (EU) 2024/1385 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 May 2024 on combating violence against women and domestic violence[17],
– having regard to Directive (EU) 2024/1500 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 May 2024 on standards for equality bodies in the field of equal treatment and equal opportunities between women and men in matters of employment and occupation, and amending Directives 2006/54/EC and 2010/41/EU[18],
– having regard to Directive (EU) 2024/1712 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 June 2024 amending Directive 2011/36/EU on preventing and combating trafficking in human beings and protecting its victims[19] (revised Anti-Trafficking Directive),
– having regard to the Commission proposal of 6 February 2024 for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on combating the sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children and child sexual abuse material and replacing Council Framework Decision 2004/68/JHA (COM(2024)0060),
– having regard to the Commission communication of 5 March 2020 entitled ‘A Union of Equality: Gender Equality Strategy 2020-2025’ (COM(2020)0152),
– having regard to the joint communication from the Commission and the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy of 25 November 2020 entitled ‘EU Gender Action Plan (GAP) III – an ambitious agenda for gender equality and women’s empowerment in EU external action’ (JOIN(2020)0017), which has been extended to 2027, and the accompanying joint staff working document of 25 November 2020 entitled ‘Objectives and Indicators to frame the implementation of the Gender Action Plan III (2021-25)’ (SWD(2020)0284),
– having regard to the Commission communication of 24 June 2020 entitled ‘EU Strategy on victims’ rights (2020-2025)’ (COM(2020)0258),
– having regard to Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan (COM(2021)0044), to the EU’s Mission on Cancer and to the final report of the Special Committee on Beating Cancer,
– having regard to the Commission communication of 3 March 2021 entitled ‘Union of Equality: Strategy for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2021-2030’ (COM(2021)0101),
– having regard to Regulation (EU) 2021/522 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 March 2021 establishing a Programme for the Union’s action in the field of health (‘EU4Health Programme’) for the period 2021-2027, and repealing Regulation (EU) No 282/2014[20],
– having regard to the Commission communication of 7 September 2022 on the European care strategy (COM(2022)0440), which aims to ensure quality, affordable and accessible care services to improve the situation for both care receivers as well as for (formal and informal) carers (who are mostly women),
– having regard to the Council Recommendation of 8 December 2022 on access to affordable high-quality long-term care[21],
– having regard to Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 June 2024 laying down harmonised rules on artificial intelligence and amending Regulations (EC) No 300/2008, (EU) No 167/2013, (EU) No 168/2013, (EU) 2018/858, (EU) 2018/1139 and (EU) 2019/2144 and Directives 2014/90/EU, (EU) 2016/797 and (EU) 2020/1828 (Artificial Intelligence Act)[22],
– having regard to the Commission communication of 25 September 2024 entitled ‘Implementation of the 2020-2025 LGBTIQ equality strategy’ (COM(2024)0420),
– having regard to the political guidelines by Ursula von der Leyen of 18 July 2024 entitled ‘Europe’s Choice – Political Guidelines for the next European Commission 2024-2029’,
– having regard to the Commission communication of 7 March 2025 entitled ‘A Roadmap for Women’s Rights’ (COM(2025)0097),
– having regard to the Commission report of March 2025 entitled ‘2025 report on gender equality in the EU’,
– having regard to the Council conclusions of 2 June 2006 on women’s health[23],
– having regard to the judgment of the Court of Justice 14 December 2021, V.М.А. v Stolichna obshtina, rayon ‘Pancharevo’[24],
– having regard to its resolution of 11 December 2013 on women with disabilities[25],
– having regard to its resolution of 29 November 2018 on the situation of women with disabilities[26],
– having regard to its resolution of 13 February 2019 on experiencing a backlash in women’s rights and gender equality in the EU[27],
– having regard to its resolution of 28 November 2019 on the EU’s accession to the Istanbul Convention and other measures to combat gender-based violence[28],
– having regard to its resolution of 30 January 2020 on the gender pay gap[29],
– having regard to its resolution of 23 October 2020 on Gender Equality in EU’s foreign and security policy[30],
– having regard to its resolution of 21 January 2021 on the EU Strategy for Gender Equality[31],
– having regard to its resolution of 21 January 2021 on the gender perspective in the COVID-19 crisis and post-crisis period[32],
– having regard to its resolution of 21 January 2021 on closing the digital gender gap: women’s participation in the digital economy[33],
– 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[34],
– having regard to its resolution of 10 June 2021 on promoting gender equality in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education and careers[35],
– having regard to its resolution of 24 June 2021 on the situation of sexual and reproductive health and rights in the EU, in the frame of women’s health[36],
– having regard to its resolution of 16 September 2021 with recommendations to the Commission on identifying gender-based violence as a new area of crime listed in Article 83(1) TFEU[37],
– having regard to its resolution of 14 December 2021 with recommendations to the Commission on combating gender-based violence: cyberviolence[38],
– having regard to its resolution of 15 December 2021 on equality between women and men in the European Union in 2018-2020[39],
– having regard to its resolution of 10 March 2022 on the EU Gender Action Plan III[40],
– having regard to its resolution of 3 May 2022 on reaching women’s economic independence through entrepreneurship and self-employment[41],
– having regard to its resolution of 5 July 2022 towards a common European action on care[42],
– having regard to its resolution of 5 July 2022 on women’s poverty in Europe[43],
– having regard to its resolution of 1 June 2023 on sexual harassment in the EU and MeToo evaluation[44],
– having regard to its resolution of 14 September 2023 on the regulation of prostitution in the EU: its cross-border implications and impact on gender equality and women’s rights[45],
– having regard to its resolution of 11 April 2024 on including the right to abortion in the EU Fundamental Rights Charter[46],
– having regard to its recommendation of 19 December 2024 to the Council concerning the EU priorities for the 69th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women[47],
– having regard to the opinion of the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality of 9 April 2025 on a revamped long-term budget for the Union in a changing world,
– having regard to the report of 25 November 2024 by the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), Eurostat and the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) entitled ‘EU gender-based violence survey: key results’,
– having regard to the Gender Equality Index 2024, published by the EIGE on 10 December 2024,
– having regard to the study entitled ‘Policies for long term carers’ published by its Directorate-General for Parliamentary Research Services in November 2021,
– having regard to Rule 55 of its Rules of Procedure,
– having regard to the opinion of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs,
– having regard to the report of the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality (A10-0210/2025),
A. whereas the rights to equal treatment and non-discrimination are fundamental rights recognised in the Treaties[48] and in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, and are essential for EU’s further development; whereas the EU has a key role in eliminating inequalities and promoting equality, as set out in the TFEU[49];
B. whereas gender equality is a core value of the EU, a fundamental right and key principle of the European Pillar of Social Rights, and an essential condition for progress that requires the promotion of equal opportunities and outcomes from the earliest stages of education and the elimination of gender stereotypes from childhood; whereas Parliament welcomes the principles included in the Declaration annexed to the Commission communication of 7 March 2025 entitled ‘A Roadmap for Women’s Rights’ as minimum standards, stressing the need for greater ambition;
C. whereas the Member States scored on average 71.0 points out of 100 in the EU Gender Equality Index 2024, a score which is a very moderate improvement of 0.8 points compared to the previous edition of the Index; whereas there is a growing backlash against progress in gender equality and women’s rights that is trying to re-establish outdated gender roles as the norm, questioning the achievements reached in gender equality and blocking further progress; whereas multiple stakeholders, including the UN General Assembly, have acknowledged the active resistance to achievements and advances in gender equality and the growing backlash against women’s rights; whereas anti-gender and anti-rights movements threaten the fundamental rights of women and girls and the achievement of gender equality on a daily basis and the global backlash against women and women’s rights is also felt in the Global South, as cuts in development aid mostly affect women in developing areas and the global gag rule targets women’s rights organisations specifically; whereas there is a clear and urgent need to reaffirm, safeguard and develop gender equality and the human rights of women and girls[50];
D. whereas movements opposing gender equality policies, family diversity, same-sex marriage, sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), and gender mainstreaming try to influence national and European policymaking; whereas far-right parties and anti-democratic, fascist ideologies, which are increasingly successful and popular, seek to undermine established rights, hinder legislative progress, and weaken institutional mechanisms designed to protect women, girls and the most marginalised people in our society; whereas they threaten achievements with regard to women’s rights, gender equality and the rule of law, as well as fundamental rights in general, in the EU and its Member States, including through coordinated disinformation campaigns; whereas the mechanisms by which these movements organise, fundraise, mobilise and exert influence across national borders remain largely under-researched, but a report[51] from 2021 showed a transnational network making strategic financial decisions across international borders; whereas a worrying rise of the so-called manosphere can be witnessed globally with online male social media influencers promoting the false narrative that feminism and gender equality have come at the cost of men’s rights, using extreme language, normalising violence against women and girls, and having growing links to radicalisation and extremist ideologies[52]; whereas the Commission, as the guardian of the Treaties, should also be at the forefront of the protection of women’s rights and gender equality as such developments pose a direct threat to the values of human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality and the rule of law enshrined in Article 2 TEU; whereas certain Commission proposals aiming at regulatory simplification, such as the initial draft of the Horizon Europe work programme for 2025, risk hindering gender equality, as did the announced plan to withdraw the proposal for the horizontal anti-discrimination directive; whereas gender equality is a precondition for strengthening competitiveness and reaching sustainable growth;
E. whereas gender-based violence (GBV) is a systemic issue and is still a globally widespread and endemic phenomenon, including in the EU, and has severe consequences for victims and survivors, including women and girls, and society as a whole, as it reinforces systemic gender inequality and perpetuates harmful structures based on gender stereotype; whereas the adoption in 2024 of the Directive on combating violence against women and domestic violence was an important milestone on the way toward eliminating GBV and whereas it will now be crucial to ensure its full and timely implementation by the Member States, while also recognising that we need to further develop prompt, innovative and effective responses, including through the use of digital tools and artificial intelligence technologies; whereas about one third of women in the EU who have faced sexual harassment experienced it at work[53], with devastating consequences for the victims; whereas this shows the importance of introducing concrete legislative measures to tackle GBV in the workplace, including support for victims, as well as strong prevention measures; whereas all Member States have signed the Istanbul Convention, but five Member States have yet to ratify it; whereas the EU acceded to the Convention in 2023 as regards matters falling under its exclusive competences;
F. whereas trafficking in human beings represents one of the most flagrant violations of fundamental human rights and human dignity and is a growing branch of organised crime, concerning mostly women, minors and children, especially for the purpose of sexual exploitation, often targeting vulnerable women with false promises, only to then coerce them into sexual exploitation and subject them to inhumane living conditions; whereas human trafficking is a form of modern slavery; whereas there is a need to effectively tackle demand that fosters all forms of exploitation related to trafficking in human beings; whereas there is a strong link between trafficking in human beings and sexual exploitation;
G. whereas approaches towards prostitution vary in Member States, ranging from criminalisation of the provider or the user to legalisation; whereas women in prostitution face more egregious human rights violations, violence and exploitation than other women on average, including high levels of gender-based, psychological, physical and sexual violence; whereas numerous factors cause people to enter and stay in prostitution, including poverty stemming from social injustices and exclusion, inequalities, limited employment, intersectional discrimination, and a lack of safe and legal migration opportunities; whereas policies supporting people who wish to exit prostitution should be implemented;
H. whereas sexual and reproductive rights are protected as human rights in international and European human rights law, such as in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the European Convention on Human Rights, and constitute an essential element of comprehensive healthcare provision; whereas, in its resolution of 11 April 2024, Parliament called for the inclusion of SRHR, including the right to abortion, in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights; whereas SRHR[54] are fundamental to the well-being and empowerment of individuals and they include access to contraceptive service and information, safe and legal abortion care and access to scientifically-based and accurate information, fertility treatments, comprehensive and age-appropriate sexuality and relationship education, and quality obstetric and gynaecological care; whereas despite some progress, these services and this information often remain unavailable in practice in some Member States and they have traditionally been seen as women’s issues, which undermines progress and perpetuates gender inequalities; whereas men’s active engagement in SRHR can help challenge harmful gender norms, promote shared responsibility in family planning and support women’s rights and well-being;
I. whereas health rights, particularly sexual and reproductive health rights, are fundamental rights, and should be enhanced and cannot be watered down in any way or removed; whereas violations of sexual and reproductive health and rights, including denial of safe and legal abortion services and all forms of obstetric and gynaecological violence, constitute gender-based violence and breach fundamental human rights, yet more than 20 million women in the EU still lack access to safe and legal abortion and other SRHR; whereas some Member States still have highly restrictive laws prohibiting abortion except in strictly defined circumstances or have practical barriers to accessing it, resulting in women having to seek clandestine abortions, to travel to other countries or to carry their pregnancy to term against their will, which is a violation of human rights and a form of gender-based violence affecting the right to life of women and girls, their physical and mental integrity and safety, equality, non-discrimination and their health and puts them under undue economic and mental stress; whereas the European Citizen’s Initiative named My Voice, My Choice with over 1.2 million signatures calls on the EU to ensure access to safe and legal abortion for all, while respecting the division of competences under the Treaties, and demands that the EU pass legislation that creates a financial mechanism helping Member States that voluntarily join this policy to provide safe abortion care for all those who do not have access to it; whereas new studies on obstetric violence found that between 21 % and 81 % of the women surveyed who had given birth had experienced one or more forms of obstetric violence and the findings show that lack of informed consent, non-consented-to care, verbal and physical abuse and lack of communication are persisting issues in the Member States[55]; whereas the World Health Organization (WHO) states that quality midwifery care is crucial for improving maternal and newborn health outcomes, reducing interventions and enhancing women’s birth experiences[56];
J. whereas in the EU, 31 % of women aged 18-74 experienced physical (including threats) or sexual violence in adulthood and 20 % of women experienced physical (including threats) or sexual violence by a non-partner, according to the latest EU-wide survey[57] and official reports from 17 Member States reveal that 788 women were killed by their intimate partner or a family member in 2022[58]; whereas data shows that for 57 % of victims of GBV, the violence has caused health consequences, from physical injuries to long-term psychological trauma[59], while 31 % of victims of GBV never disclosed their experience to anyone; whereas the support systems for victims of GBV in the EU are still inadequate and research shows that only seven Member States provide enough counselling centres for women, while existing shelters fall far below the Istanbul Convention’s recommended levels[60]; whereas other research performed across the Member States has shown that GBV in public spaces and on collective transport is a highly significant problem and that safety measures and victim support remain insufficient;
K. whereas recorded offences related to sexual assault and rape increased between 2019 and 2022 and data shows that in 2022, there was a 25 % increase in documented cases of sexual assault against women in the EU and reported cases of rape surged by 40 % compared to 2019[61]; whereas, according to the FRA, up to 55 % of women in the European Union have experienced sexual harassment in public transport and there are a multitude of reports on sexual assaults carried out in different modes of transport, such as by the drivers of ride-hailing platforms and taxis; whereas all this data shows that women are not safe at home, at work or in any public sphere and there is an urgent need to act; whereas the collecting of uniform and comparable, gender-disaggregated data, as is provided by the EIGE, is essential to build comprehensive gender equality policies; whereas the Directive on combating violence against women and domestic violence does not contain a harmonised definition of the offence of rape based on the absence of consent; whereas to pave the way for legislation containing such a definition, it is important to extend the list of areas of crime under Article 83(1) TFEU to GBV, because it meets the criteria specified in this article;
L. whereas cyberviolence against women based on gender includes a range of different forms of violence on the grounds of gender or a combination of gender and other factors, and is perpetrated through information and communication technologies (ICT) and the proliferation of artificial intelligence; whereas certain forms of cyberviolence affect women and girls disproportionately, take more severe forms and have specific and vicious consequences and a more incapacitating effect on women and girls such as silencing, censoring and alienation of women and girls and can lead to them avoiding the public sphere; whereas increasing and pervasive cyberviolence is affecting women on a daily basis in the EU and, according to the FRA, women remain the primary target for certain forms of cyberviolence, such as hate crime and hate speech online[62], as well as gendered disinformation, while female politicians, journalists, bloggers, artists, activists, human rights defenders and other women with a public presence, as well as LGBTIQ+ people, are faced with higher levels of violence and abuse in the online world[63], which significantly impacts women’s participation in public life and representation and poses a threat to democracy; whereas child sexual abuse and exploitation has a strong gender component, which disproportionately affects girls online, therefore qualifying as a form of GBV;
M. whereas everyone in the EU has the right of access to the highest standards of physical and mental health and support services, the right to timely, affordable and high-quality access to preventative and diagnostic healthcare, and the right to benefit from medical treatment, including SRHR; whereas the EU has an obligation to ensure a high level of human health protection across all Union policies and activities[64]without discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, sex characteristics or on any other ground;
N. whereas LGBTIQ+ people across Europe still face discrimination when accessing healthcare services, with 16 % of survey respondents reporting that they have felt discriminated against by healthcare or social services staff because of their identity and with trans people reporting especially high levels of transphobic and disrespectful behaviour towards them by healthcare personnel; whereas everyone has the right to bodily autonomy and integrity and should not be subjected to, for example, the practice of forced sterilisation or medicalisation, both of which violate human rights standards; whereas women face multiple challenges that negatively affect their well-being, including delayed diagnoses, pain bias, research disparities, limited access and barriers and challenges in accessing essential services, especially women with disabilities, women in rural areas, migrant women[65] and other women facing intersectional discrimination and in vulnerable situations; whereas men are less likely to seek medical attention, as they are generally less aware of symptoms or tend to downplay them, often not reporting signs of disease or illness[66]; whereas all Member States that are parties to the CEDAW are bound by its commitments, including access to healthcare services; whereas ensuring equitable access to healthcare services is essential to safeguarding public health, promoting social inclusion and reducing inequalities; whereas action is urgently needed to further research and address the persistent gender health gap;
O. whereas women are more likely to experience mental health disorders, such as depression, anxiety and old age loneliness, which can contribute to mental health problems, compared to men; whereas, for instance, in 2019 a higher proportion of women (8.7 %) than men (5.5 %) aged 15 and over in the EU reported chronic depression[67]; whereas four out of five people diagnosed with an autoimmune disease are women; whereas cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains the leading cause of death globally, with women experiencing higher mortality rates and poorer outcomes following acute events, accounting for 37 % of all female deaths compared to 31 % of male deaths; whereas women with CVD are consistently underdiagnosed, undertreated and under-represented in clinical trials, leading to further and deeper inequalities in the field of public health;
P. whereas women, in all their diversity, are consistently placed at a disadvantage by structural and cultural factors and are disproportionately affected by different challenges, for example the consequences of the cost of living crisis, as they tend to be among the poorest part of the population, representing 70 % of the 1.3 billion people living in conditions of poverty, or austerity policies, which have disproportionately impacted women, particularly those from racialised and low-income backgrounds; whereas poverty is increasing across the EU and it is mainly women who are paid less than a living wage, rendering many unable to provide for themselves and their families, and this is especially the case for trans women who are nearly three times as likely to be unemployed; whereas nearly one in three non-EU born women work in precarious jobs in the EU; whereas 18 % of migrant women are at risk of poverty; whereas in most EU countries, long-term residence and work permits are often more accessible to those considered to be highly skilled and well-paid workers, while those relegated to ‘medium and low-skilled’ sectors can be at risk of exploitation and precarious work in undervalued sectors; whereas unique challenges in certain sectors put women at an initial disadvantage, for example female farmers who are faced with gender-specific obstacles such as lack of access to land, difficulty financing agricultural training and education, and equal treatment; 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;
Q. whereas labour market segregation, as well as horizontal and vertical gender segregation in education, remains a key factor contributing to gender inequality in the work domain, while gender stereotyping is a major driver of occupational segregation[68] that women face continuously while also receiving lower wages[69]; whereas labour market disparities, differences in employment for women and men across sectors and regions, including in outermost regions, and a lack of fair working conditions and safety for women workers are still persistent across the EU, and the existing gender pay gap is, to a large extent, the consequence of the systematic undervaluation of work carried out in female-dominated sectors in which there is a prevalence of women and only around 20 % of men participate, such as care, education, health and welfare; whereas the issue of ‘equal pay for equal work or work of equal value’ therefore needs to be tackled to close the gender pay gap; whereas education, especially tertiary education, training and social protection, is essential for gender equality, especially for women over the age of 55 and women living in rural, remote or depopulated areas who face specific and compounded obstacles; whereas education is also essential to allow everyone to adapt to labour market changes and have access to quality job opportunities;
R. whereas in 2023, the gender pay gap in the European Union was 13 %[70] and, on average in 2025, women in the EU earn 15 % less per hour than men; whereas the situation is worse in certain regions, for example rural areas, and in certain sectors, for example the healthcare sector where the gap stands at 24 %[71] and this leads to large disparities in pension payments and contributes to differences in revenues in old age, which leads to women in the EU receiving pension incomes that are 26.1 % lower on average; whereas the right to equal pay for equal work or work of equal value is not guaranteed and the root cause of that discrimination needs to be tackled, whether by applying tools to better define and compare the value of work, protecting and enhancing labour rights, or strengthening collective bargaining, where relevant; whereas building an inclusive economy and addressing gender disparities could significantly boost the Union’s GDP per capita from 6.1 to 9.6 % by 2050[72];
S. whereas the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has disallowed measures adopted by the Spanish Social Security Authorities to improve women’s pensions and reduce the gender gap;
T. whereas women and girls are still under-represented in the area of education and employment, and especially in STEM, digital and AI areas, with only one in six ICT specialists and one in three STEM graduates being women[73]; whereas men account for more than 80 % of professionals in STEM and in the ICT sector[74] and women account for only 41 % of jobs in science and engineering within the Union; whereas even though the number of young women graduating in ICT and STEM fields has been increasing, the gender employment gap and pay gap remains significant, especially with regard to start-ups; whereas women only accounted for 22 % of global AI professionals in 2018, a problem that serves only to perpetuate and entrench stereotypes and bias[75]; whereas this discrepancy not only represents a missed opportunity for the EU’s technological advancement, economic growth, innovation and resilience, but also hampers women’s participation and careers in future labour markets; whereas the growing demand for STEM skills in digital, clean and circular sectors, as well as in aerospace, defence and traditional industries, calls for the strengthening of qualified female talent; whereas the EU is facing many challenges that affect its competitiveness and this underscores the need for increased economic activity that is inclusive of all; whereas access for women, in all their diversity, to all sectors, including ICT and financial sectors, is key for the competitiveness of the European economy; whereas gender equality is a driver of economic growth, innovation and social cohesion;
U. whereas emerging digital technologies, including artificial intelligence, AI-generated scams, the creation and dissemination of deepfakes or nudifying tools, and cyberbullying, are becoming increasingly common and they constitute a risk factor for gender equality, and could perpetuate and deepen existing patterns of gender inequalities, discrimination and violence against women and girls; whereas gender biases are enshrined in technology, including in AI systems, and the existing business models of dominant online platforms, which are based on micro-targeted advertising, play a role in spreading and amplifying hate speech and different forms of cyberviolence; whereas social media channels and the increasingly addictive nature of their algorithms pose a risk factor to the mental well-being of young girls and women and these need to be addressed through a gendered lens; whereas these technologies, if developed ethically and in a gender sensitive manner and used appropriately, can be an opportunity for women and girls;
V. whereas news media coverage often lacks a gender dimension and fails to challenge gender stereotypes; whereas women are under-represented in media sector professions at all levels of the governance structure, including in information production, decision-making processes and media ownership; whereas the Council of Europe stated that ‘women represent only about a quarter of the persons heard, read about or seen in the news, they are rarely represented in an expert capacity’[76]; whereas the data from the 6th edition of the Global Media Monitoring Project found that, in 2020, only 2 % of stories in Europe[77] clearly challenged gender stereotypes[78];
W. whereas across the EU, both informal and formal caregiving responsibilities continue to be disproportionately carried out by women, thereby contributing to structural gender inequalities and feeding the gender care gap by limiting women’s ability to participate in the labour market, which leads to lower earnings and pensions and hinders the possibility for women to reach economic independence on equal terms with men, while exposing them to stress-related health risks[79]; whereas women who return to the labour market after maternity leave or extended caregiving responsibilities often face difficulties in re-entering employment, including skill obsolescence, lower earning potential, reduced career progression opportunities and workplace discrimination; whereas such barriers contribute to the gender employment, pay and pension gaps and adversely affect the well-being of children and other dependants and must be addressed through targeted policy interventions and support schemes;
X. whereas almost 30 % of women in the EU work part-time; whereas women in the EU are much more likely to have to give up paid work to take care of children and/or other dependants and 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; whereas the International Labour Organization has emphasised the lack of public and private investment in childcare and other formal care services, and it stresses that long-standing unequal attitudes towards care activities at large push the economic and social cost of caregiving predominantly onto women; whereas unpaid care responsibilities keep around 7.7 million women in the EU from participating in the labour market and there is a large untapped potential in balancing the care sector for our economies, as highlighted by EIGE estimates that predict that the employment rate could increase to 80 % by 2050 if substantial improvements are made in gender equality[80]; whereas according to Eurofound’s European Quality of Life Survey, 42 % of non-working carers are in the lowest income quartile (compared to 24 % of non-carers), 59 % of non-working carers have difficulty making ends meet (compared to 46 % of non-carers) and 80 % of care is provided by informal carers, predominantly women aged 45-75, which contributes to gender inequalities in terms of employment and income; whereas approximately one in four paid care workers is a migrant, many of whom face exploitation due to a lack of adequate regularisation pathways, which is especially relevant considering that about 9 out of 10 paid care workers are women;
Y. whereas the establishment of a care deal for Europe, minimum wages in the care sector and access to high quality, free public services would contribute to reducing poverty and closing the gender pay gap, pension gap and care gap;
Z. whereas in 2024, the CEDAW Committee issued general recommendation No. 40 on the equal and inclusive representation of women in decision-making systems, and included, in the pillars of the recommendation, 50-50 parity between women and men. in all their diversity. in terms of equal access to and equal power within decision-making systems; whereas the percentage of seats held by women in national parliaments rose from 11.3 % in 1995 to only 27.2 % in 2025[81]; whereas in the EU in 2025 only around a third of parliamentary seats are held by women[82]; whereas, despite many policy and legislative initiatives, women are faced with structural, cultural and institutional barriers and research shows that they are under-represented at all levels of economic and political decision-making worldwide, including at the local and regional levels, and that the achievement of gender parity and representation in political life, as well as in the business sector – particularly within boards of directors – is a distant prospect that requires targeted action at all levels of governance;
AA. whereas the climate emergency and gender inequalities are interlinked and the climate crises perpetuates existing inequalities, including access to education and employment opportunities, access to and control over land and natural resources, and participation in decision-making spaces[83]; whereas the harmful effects of climate change and ecosystem degradation are being borne disproportionately by women and girls, notably those in already marginalised situations, including Indigenous and other natural resource-dependent communities;
AB. whereas the Union is facing multiple crises, including climate disasters, armed conflicts, pandemics and populism, the effects of which are gendered; whereas armed conflicts disproportionately impact women and girls, including through the rise in the use of GBV as a weapon of war[84], and have resulted in an overall deterioration of women’s rights, with detrimental consequences for the full enjoyment of the human rights of women and girls globally; whereas, despite the WPS agenda being central to contemporary global peace and security challenges, women’s participation and leadership in foreign policy, defence, security and peacebuilding is still lacking, to a largely unknown extent due to the shortage of data collection; whereas several projects have been developed with the aim of collecting comprehensive data, such as the #SHEcurity index, that can serve as good practices and examples for data collection at EU level; whereas women are continuously under-represented in peace negotiations and in 2022 they represented only 16 % of negotiators in active peace processes led or co-led by the United Nations[85]; whereas including the gender perspective in the EU’s foreign and security policy means acknowledging and combating the specific gender dimensions and impact of global phenomena such as climate change, migration, trade and security, as well as putting a focus on the experiences and needs of women and groups facing multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination and marginalisation at the centre of policymaking; whereas the gender action plan (GAP) is the EU’s ambitious strategy for contributing to the SDGs, in particular SDG 5, and accelerating progress on gender equality; whereas women’s empowerment is a priority of all EU external policies and actions, having also played an active role in shaping the Agenda 2030; whereas the EU’s external policies include a commitment to ensure that 85 % of all new programmes contribute to gender equality and women’s empowerment; whereas such a commitment is currently missing from the EU’s internal policies, including at Member State level, posing a risk of unequal progress towards gender equality within the EU;
AC. whereas gender equality, as one of the core values of the EU, needs to be reflected and promoted across all EU programmes, policies and activities, including in the delivery of their objectives; whereas gender equality is one of the four horizontal principles in the multiannual financial framework (MFF) 2021-2027, yet according to the European Court of Auditors, gender equality is the least well integrated horizontal priority in the EU’s long-term budget[86]; whereas the current gender expenditure tracking methodology of the EU budget does not contain a category to capture budgetary interventions with a negative impact on gender equality; whereas EU gender budgeting has been applied primarily as a tracking mechanism, rather than being embedded throughout the entire budget cycle, from planning to evaluation; whereas this limits its transformative potential; whereas the implementation of the new post-2025 Gender Equality Strategy depends on the next MFF 2028-2034, which will therefore become a key vehicle for its execution; whereas there is a need to align the targets between the next MFF and the post-2025 Gender Equality Strategy;
AD. whereas discrimination based on the characteristics listed in Article 21 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights is prohibited; whereas many women, girls and vulnerable groups, including people with disabilities, people from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds, people who are racialised, people from ethnic, minority or migrant backgrounds, LGBTIQ+ people, especially trans and intersex women, Roma people, and people experiencing discrimination on the basis of age (both younger and older people) (hereinafter the list of non-discrimination grounds), face intersecting inequalities and discrimination in the EU; whereas women and girls with disabilities constitute 29,2 % of the female population in the EU, and they face exclusion and discrimination in all areas of life, as well as a high rate of GBV; whereas women and LGBTIQ+ individuals, whether in transit or residing in reception facilities, are frequently exposed to specific gender-based risks, including violence, insufficient access to healthcare and legal insecurity; whereas this should be specifically addressed;
AE. whereas gender inequalities are more evident in certain sectors, such as agriculture, financial and consumer services[87], health and care[88], STEM[89], and in some areas, such as rural regions, islands and outermost regions; whereas women from these areas and sectors who experience intersectional discrimination face specific structural barriers that make it difficult to participate in the labour market and access healthcare, education, housing, digital connectivity, and essential public services and infrastructure, and in some cases these are entirely unavailable; whereas depopulation is occurring in rural areas, including in the outermost regions, with young people being more likely to leave, especially girls and women[90], undermining their right to stay in those areas; whereas a targeted and intersectional approach is needed to address the persistent gender gaps, in particular in the aforementioned sectors and regions, and to ensure that women and girls are not left behind in the implementation of the Gender Equality Strategy;
AF. whereas all of the Member States are bound to act in children’s best interest by safeguarding their right to family life and prohibiting discrimination based on their parents’ marital status, sexual orientation or method of conception; whereas around two million children may still face legal uncertainty in cross-border family recognition; whereas in 2022, the Commission proposed a Council regulation[91] on parenthood and the creation of a European Certificate of Parenthood and this still pending in the Council;
AG. whereas the Roadmap for Women’s Rights reaffirms the EU’s strong commitment to safeguarding and advancing gender equality and women’s rights, outlining the principles and long-term vision for progress on which the post-2025 Gender Equality Strategy will rely;
1. Calls on the Commission to present an ambitious Gender Equality Strategy 2026-2030, building on the first Gender Equality Strategy 2020-2025, with concrete, measurable, tangible legislative and non-legislative measures and objectives in the key areas outlined below;
Gender-based violence
2. Calls on the Commission to submit a proposal to the Council to include GBV as a new area of crime listed under Article 83(1) TFEU and to eliminate, without delay, all forms of violence against women and girls, including systemic violence, which constitutes one of the most widespread fundamental rights violations in the EU;
3. Calls on the Commission to swiftly publish its recommendation on the prevention of harmful practices against women and girls, including all forms of obstetric and gynaecological violence, malpractice in medical settings, forced abortion and forced sterilisation, the denial of abortion care, and female and intersex genital mutilation, and to ensure that it complements the Directive (EU) 2024/1385;
4. Calls on the Commission to monitor and encourage a swift transposition of Directive (EU) 2024/1385 on combating violence against women and domestic violence;
5. Urges the Commission to recognise femicide as a distinct and stand-alone crime and emphasises that understanding femicide as ‘the killing of a woman or girl because of her gender’ is critical to understanding its root causes linked to gender discrimination and power imbalances;
6. Calls again for the Commission to develop guidelines for Member States on the implementation of Directive (EU) 2024/1385 on combating violence against women and domestic violence and on violence in all areas of life, including clear guidelines on comprehensive and age appropriate sexuality and relationship education with a focus on consent education in line with international standards, and to pay particular attention to the full implementation and enforcement of all articles of the directive, and especially of Article 35, which addresses the distribution of consent education materials and organisation of awareness-raising campaigns or programmes to increase knowledge of the fact that non-consensual sex is considered a criminal offence;
7. Urges the Commission to highlight the importance of the reporting element of Directive (EU) 2024/1385, in order for the directive to work effectively in preventing and eliminating such violence against women and girls; calls on the Commission to prioritise the prevention of GBV both online and offline, while stressing the importance of adequate, targeted and timely prevention measures, through education, digital literacy, training of professionals, and information and awareness-raising campaigns as a key element in combating violence against women and girls in line with the provisions of the related EU legislation;
8. Calls on the Commission to address the specific needs of victims of GBV, including, but not limited to, psychosocial support, housing for victims, lifelong learning programmes and childcare, and calls for the proper protection of victims and survivors, by ensuring and increasing long-term public investments and guaranteeing effective responses, which should be structural, intersectional and survivor-centred and should address the social, economic and cultural root causes of GBV;
9. Calls on the Commission to urge the Member States that have not yet ratified the Istanbul Convention to do so and to expedite this process; calls on the Commission to ensure, monitor and promote the process of implementation;
10. Underlines that marginalised groups face a heightened risk of violence and that intersecting forms of discrimination intensify the effects of GBV and re-victimisation, including due to law enforcement practices; calls on the Commission, therefore, to develop and, in cooperation with the Member States, implement mandatory, comprehensive training for all legal professionals, including judges and prosecutors, on issues related to GBV, intersectionality and victim support to ensure that legal professionals are adequately equipped to handle cases, both offline and online, in a gender sensitive and intersectional manner and to ensure that victims are not subject to secondary victimisation during legal proceedings;
11. Calls on the Commission to put forward EU legislation to criminalise rape on the basis of the absence of consent in all Member States; notes that 14 Member States still require either some form of violence to criminalise rape or do not mention consent explicitly; reiterates that rape is not only a violation of women’s fundamental rights, bodily autonomy and integrity, but also a form of sexual abuse and exploitation of women and girls, which is an EU crime according to the TFEU[92]; calls on the Member States that still use the definition of rape based on the assumption of violence to commence legislative changes to bring the definition in line with the latest international standards and with Article 36 of the Istanbul Convention;
12. Underlines the Commission’s and Member States’ legal obligation to protect women’s rights and their physical integrity; urges the Commission to ensure the swift and full transposition of the revised Anti-Trafficking Directive setting out stricter rules, providing stronger tools to fight trafficking in human beings, including new forms of sexual exploitation, and organised criminal groups, such as through better cross-border communication, and especially protecting the rights of minority and migrant women; stresses that demand reduction is a key instrument for the prevention and reduction of human trafficking, as it targets financial incentives; urges, furthermore, the Commission and the Member States to support efforts to rescue and rehabilitate victims;
13. Stresses that a society’s approach towards prostitution impacts its understanding of gender equality and women’s rights and conveys messages and norms; calls on the Commission to encourage and support efforts of the Member States to take action in the areas of prevention, decriminalisation of people and especially women in prostitution, demand reduction, punishment of clients, destigmatisation and the elimination of stereotypes, and to ensure sufficiently financed, easily accessible and high-quality exit programmes for those who wish to exit prostitution; calls on the Member States to ensure that people in prostitution are actively involved in policymaking concerning their rights; calls on the Commission to support these efforts;
14. Condemns the practice of surrogacy, which involves the reproductive exploitation and use of women’s bodies for financial or other gain, in particular in the case of especially vulnerable women in third countries; calls on the Commission to take measures to support ending this phenomenon;
15. Calls on the Commission to recommend EU support for studies into the relationship between GBV, intimate partner violence and cancer;
Comprehensive gender-responsive healthcare
16. Emphasises that health is a fundamental right, and therefore everyone must have access to quality, affordable, and accessible healthcare services respecting their informed consent and bodily autonomy; urges the Commission to ensure universal access to gender-responsive and quality-, patient- and outcome-centred healthcare in line with the highest standards for women and girls, in all their diversity, in particular groups experiencing intersectional forms of discrimination, including people with disabilities and from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds, victims of GBV, racialised people and people from ethnic, minority or migrant backgrounds, older, LGBTIQ+ people, especially intersex women, transgender and non-binary individuals, women in rural and remote areas and outermost regions, pregnant women and mothers, especially single mothers; stresses the need for healthcare staff to be trained in gender-sensitive health issues and to respond to gender-based and sexual violence;
17. Calls on the Commission to urgently address the gender health gap, including by tackling gender-specific health needs and risks throughout all life stages, while paying particular attention to diseases that disproportionately affect women, addressing gender disparities and biases in medical research, training and clinical trials and encouraging more women to pursue medical careers; calls on the Commission to put forward a specific action plan to tackle these issues and to further orient forthcoming health-related initiatives towards the concept of gender medicine, as introduced by the WHO[93];
18. Urges the Commission to ensure that the new Gender Equality Strategy includes a strengthened focus on gender equality in public health; calls on the Commission to build on the growing understanding of the factors that affect treatment outcomes by supporting the gathering of more and better-quality disaggregated data to identify health disparities in subgroups that might not otherwise be apparent in the population, designing health interventions addressing subgroups in which disparities exist and monitoring health outcomes in high-risk populations; notes that special attention should be paid to pregnant and breastfeeding women;
19. Calls on the Commission to address the persisting mental health challenges faced by women and girls and marginalised groups and urges the Commission to ensure universal access to gender-responsive mental healthcare and to increase investment in healthcare facilities in rural areas and develop adaptable solutions such as mobile health clinics;
20. Calls on the Commission to address – at EU level – the gaps, inequalities and barriers to accessing healthcare for women in all their diversity, including women from vulnerable groups;
21. Calls on EU Member States to ensure and guarantee access to essential healthcare services and medications and calls on the Commission to increase investment in gender mainstreaming in health systems; stresses that the training of all medical professionals and healthcare workers should include a gendered approach; calls on the Commission to ensure that no one, especially women with disabilities, is subjected to harmful, invasive or irreversible treatments against their will, and to establish that all medical interventions are based on each individual’s personal, free and fully informed consent;
22. Urges the Commission to develop a comprehensive EU strategy to address women’s highly specific health needs at every life stage and to address the factors that impact the health of women and girls, also by including health in the EU Semester;
23. Stresses the importance of cooperation and exchange of best practices at European level alongside the efficient use of related EU funds to address common challenges in healthcare and calls on the Commission to strengthen inter-service cooperation between relevant policy services to ensure gender equality is systematically integrated across all initiatives related to health; calls on the Commission to encourage and support Member States with the implementation or expansion of national health insurance systems that offer comprehensive and affordable care;
24. Calls on the Commission to develop a gender sensitive approach to healthcare and to address specific issues where challenges persist, such as mental health, cancer, endometriosis or maternal healthcare; calls on the Commission to develop common EU-wide standards in antenatal, childbirth, postnatal midwifery and newborn and maternal healthcare to update the EU Directive on Midwifery[94] in alignment with international standards and to enable healthcare professionals to share best practices in this field; calls for the establishment of an EU framework on the safe use of medicines during pregnancy and lactation;
25. Calls on the Commission to support healthcare systems to develop, implement and evaluate gender-focused disease prevention strategies as prevention can improve women’s and girl’s quality of life; therefore, urges the Commission to implement measures that are both prevention-based and raise awareness about the right to access healthcare services;
26. Stresses the need to address territorial disparities in access to healthcare by ensuring the availability of gender-responsive health services in rural, remote and depopulated areas; calls on the Commission and the Member States to invest in mobile health units, telemedicine and the training and deployment of healthcare professionals in underserved regions;
27. Calls on the Commission to create a comprehensive, binding framework and to ensure full and equal access, to all sexual and reproductive healthcare services, for everyone in the EU regardless of their migration or residence status; notes that these services and rights include respectful and high-quality obstetric, gynaecological, antenatal, childbirth and postnatal midwifery and newborn healthcare, comprehensive information and services on family planning, gender-affirming care and access to medically assisted reproduction and fertility care and treatments, safe and affordable modern contraception methods of one’s choice and the right to safe and legal abortion care services (medical and surgical), age appropriate sexuality and relationship education, STI prevention, post-exposure prophylaxis, detection and treatment services as an integral part of their human rights, without which the rule of law cannot be upheld; emphasises that Member States must ensure these services are accessible, affordable, and non-discriminatory; calls on the Commission to recognise all violations of women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights as a form of GBV;
28. Stresses that any equality strategy should tackle all forms of GBV, 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 abortion care and psychological support for women victims of violence should be considered a priority; calls on the Commission to apply sanctions in cases of regressions in women’s rights, including restrictions on SRHR, access to abortion care or sexuality education, which must be considered violations of EU values and trigger proportionate institutional responses, including infringement procedures and consequences for funding; calls on the Commission to establish a monitoring and accountability mechanism, to swiftly address any retrogressive developments or threats to gender equality and all violations of women’s rights including SRHR and LGBTIQ+ people’s rights, in Member States, as well as to use existing mechanisms to assess compliance with the rule of law or fundamental rights, or as a dedicated mechanism and to include a dedicated sub-pillar on GBV in its annual Rule of Law report; calls on the Commission to encourage and engage men as active allies in the promotion of SRHR to address the broader context of the rising backlash among young men against young women and feminism;
29. Calls on the Member States and the Commission to include Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, including the right to safe and legal abortion care, in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, as laid out in Parliament’s resolution of 11 April 2024;
30. Highlights EU citizen’s broad support for enabling everyone in the EU to have access to safe abortion care, no matter who they are or where they come from, as it is among other things reflected by the successful European citizen’s initiative (ECI) ‘My voice, my choice’ calling on the EU to pass legislation that would create a financial mechanism helping Member States that voluntarily join this policy to provide safe abortion care for all those who lack access to it; urges the Commission to take swift action and follow this ECI demand and to establish a financial solidarity mechanism between Member States to ensure women in the EU can access abortion care;
31. Calls on the Commission to issue Recommendations to Member States on how to combat all forms of obstetric and gynaecological violence, which encompass a variety of neglectful, demeaning, abusive or harmful practices including but not limited to the ‘husband stitch’; calls on the Commission to facilitate exchanges among Member States on the issue of obstetric and gynaecological violence and to mandate EIGE to develop a set of quantitative and qualitative indicators to measure the prevalence and manifestation of obstetric violence and to allocate sufficient resources to addressing it;
32. Calls on the Commission to issue, in the framework of the implementation of the Directive on combating violence against women and domestic violence, clear guidelines on the provision of sexual and reproductive healthcare to victims of sexual violence, in line with international public health and human rights standards, including the WHO standards on the clinical management of rape;
33. Recognises that fertility is a critical aspect of women’s health, and emphasises the need to proactively address the multifaceted factors and challenges related to fertility, such as the lack of access to fertility-related healthcare and treatments, or insufficient information and support services; urges the Commission to ensure that information on fertility preservation is accessible to all;
Gender equality and women’s empowerment in the world of work
34. Calls on the Commission to follow up and report back to Parliament on the implementation of the Adequate Minimum Wage Directive[95]and Pay Transparency Directive[96], including the guarantee of robust pay-reporting requirements, effective access to judicial remedies for victims of pay discrimination, and appropriate sanctions for non-compliance, and the transposition of the Women on Boards Directive[97]; urges the Commission to monitor and guarantee the proper and timely enforcement of these Directives, which is of crucial importance for women on the labour market and will enable them to enjoy equal rights and conditions throughout their career;
35. Highlights that Parliament will firmly oppose any attempt to withdraw or weaken the Pay Transparency Directive;
36. Urges the Commission to actively promote women’s labour market entry and retention, take measures to reduce the employment gap, gender pay and pension gap and invest in lifelong learning programmes for women and girls; calls on the Commission to set EU-wide targets aimed at increasing women’s participation in the labour market, to be monitored within the framework of the European Semester; welcomes the EIGE’s analysis of the main barriers to women’s employment in Europe, including barriers to full-time employment, providing a foundation to Member States to address structural barriers to women’s employment; calls for structural reforms, with gender-responsive public investment and economic redistribution to address systemic gender inequalities; calls on the Commission to encourage the Member States to ensure women’s equal access to work with rights and decent wages, including through collective bargaining; calls on the Commission to encourage the Member States to take firm measures to sanction businesses that discriminate between men and women and fail to comply with labour legislation;
37. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to strengthen policies and funding instruments that support women returning to the labour market after maternity leave or prolonged career breaks related to caregiving responsibilities; underlines the importance of active labour market measures, tailored reskilling and upskilling programmes, and individualised job counselling, and calls on the Commission to promote and support employers in offering flexible, quality employment opportunities to returning women; stresses the need to address the discrimination against women in the workplace, especially women with children; calls on the Commission to ensure that pregnancy and maternity discrimination are combated through flexible working arrangements that are properly designed and communicated; calls on the Commission to propose legislation on teleworking rules and the Right to Disconnect without further delay and to ensure it is done in a gender-responsive manner which does not exacerbate existing gender inequalities; calls on the Commission to support gender sensitive workplaces to ensure women suffering from non-communicable diseases, chronic diseases, disabilities or menopause symptoms have equal rights and opportunities in accessing and remaining in the workplace;
38. Calls on the Commission to propose a legislative framework to tackle GBV in the world of work to ensure the protection of all workers from GBV, including harassment, intimidation and any form of sexual violence in the workplace; calls on the remaining Member States that have not yet done so to ratify ILO Convention 190 on Violence and Harassment in the World of Work and to recognise the right to a world of work free from violence and harassment, including GBV;
39. Urges the Commission to strengthen efforts to address discrimination faced by the most vulnerable women, girls and persons faced with intersectional discrimination, as mentioned in the list of non-discrimination grounds and those affected by the automation of jobs; reiterates that these groups are more likely to encounter specific or disproportionate labour market challenges, such as high unemployment rates, low pay and precarious jobs and difficulties accessing labour protection, maternity leave and social security; calls on the Commission to encourage programmes ensuring equal opportunities, including access to leadership and decision-making roles for all those faced with discrimination and uncertainty in the labour market; notes that this should be done by, among other things, ensuring the implementation of the Employment Equality Directive[98] across the Member States, strengthening equality bodies, as provided for by Directive 2024/1499[99] and ensuring access to minimum wages on an equal basis with others; stresses the need to develop targeted employment and upskilling strategies for women over the age of 55 and women living in rural or structurally disadvantaged regions, who face compounded barriers; calls on the Commission to support the Member States in designing inclusive labour market policies including through cohesion policy instruments and the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+);
40. Calls on the Commission to ensure that the Member States take the gender dimension into account when reforming pension systems and adapting the retirement age, and to consider the differences between the work patterns of women and men, including all unpaid employment practices, taking into account the higher risk of intersectional discrimination faced by women in the labour market; calls on the Commission and the Member States to put forward a comprehensive plan to address the gender pension gap, including by ensuring adequate childcare support and, mitigating the ‘motherhood penalty’ as well as boosting financial literacy for women and improving financial advice to women in particular to narrow the gender investment gap;
41. Calls on the Commission to review the Social Security Directive 79/7[100] to ensure that it enables the adoption of positive action and contributes to closing the gender pension gap;
42. Stresses that women currently represent only one third of entrepreneurs in the EU[101], highlighting the need for targeted action to close the gender gap in entrepreneurship;
43. Urges the Commission to develop guidelines for the Member States, the private sector and civil society to help establish gender equality targets and strategies including equal leadership opportunities in the economy, including for women entrepreneurs and to remove barriers for women to start and own businesses in order to reduce the gender gap in entrepreneurship; calls on the Commission to support the Member States in these efforts, and to promote gender equality in access to finance, and address the persistent gender gap in business leadership and innovation;
44. Reiterates that the gender gap in the digital and AI sectors inevitably results in biased algorithms; calls therefore on the Commission to promote gender equality in companies working on AI- and ICT-related activities, including through financing women-led projects in the digital sector and promoting a minimum number of women researchers participating in AI- and ICT-related research funding calls; calls on the Commission to put forward targeted initiatives to support women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and to motivate girls to consider STEM, ICT and AI-related careers, including by defining a target for the participation of women researchers in STEM and AI projects, in order to close the overall skills and gender gap in this sector; emphasises the need to reflect the interests of women and vulnerable groups in the digital transition; calls on the Commission and Eurostat to enhance the monitoring of the gender composition in STEM professions, such as in the healthcare workforce;
45. Stresses that women empowerment as citizens and economic actors is both an ethical and economic imperative, and that achieving an effective and equitable ‘Union of Skills’ requires dedicated efforts to eliminate the barriers currently limiting labour market participation, particularly for women; urges the Commission to encourage women’s economic activity and ensure equality on all levels throughout everyone’s professional life in the EU, as it is a benefit for European society, the economy and the world of work, given that gender equality is a precondition for European success, competitiveness and sustainable growth; urges the Commission to ensure that proposals for regulatory simplifications do not conflict with the aim of achieving gender equality;
46. Points out that the principle of equal pay for equal work or work of equal value enshrined in EU law must be applied in practice; calls on the Commission to tackle the systemic disparities in pay due to the lack of recognition and undervaluation of work in female-dominated sectors such as care, healthcare, education and retailing; calls for binding EU measures to also ensure equal pay for work of equal value, and to improve working conditions in undervalued female-dominated sectors; urges, therefore, the Commission to work with the Member States and social partners to develop gender neutral job evaluation tools and criteria allowing for an EU-wide definition and comparison of ‘the value of work’ with the aim of fairer valuation and remuneration of work carried out in female-dominated sectors; notes that this should be done by ensuring collective bargaining rights, strengthening labour inspections and guaranteeing equal representation of female workers in social dialogue;
47. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to effectively address the horizontal and vertical segregation of the labour market as one of the main reasons for a persisting gender pay gap, including by targeting the ESF+ funds to support the combating of gender stereotypes in education and labour counselling, and promoting diversity charters and initiatives in the private and public sectors;
Female poverty
48. Calls on the Commission to make the upcoming anti-poverty strategy gender-responsive by putting a strong focus on women’s structural poverty; urges the Commission and the Member States to reinforce economic and social measures to tackle female poverty and women’s social exclusion, particularly with regard to access to decent and affordable housing, energy and transport; underlines that decent and affordable housing is a fundamental right to be protected and recognised as a precondition for the enjoyment of other fundamental rights; recalls that inequality in housing drives many women to live in undignified, unsafe situations, at risk of homelessness and violence; calls for the Commission to take this into account in its upcoming EU affordable housing plan and to pay specific attention to the housing needs of victims of GBV and adequate shelter capacities; stresses that access to social security and housing for all should be effectively safeguarded in Member States and calls on the Commission to promote it continuously; urges the Commission to continue the fight against menstrual poverty, which is the lack of adequate access to menstrual hygiene products and facilities, affecting an estimated 10 % of the menstruating population in the Union, and disproportionately affecting marginalised and vulnerable groups, limiting participation in social, educational and professional life; calls on the Commission to ensure access to free and accessible menstrual products and, as a first step, to initiate a review of Directive 2004/113/EC with the aim of removing VAT from menstrual products and eliminating unjustified price differences – often referred to as a ‘pink tax’ – that result in higher costs for healthcare products and services marketed to women;
Women’s rights and gender equality in education, training and the digital sphere
49. Highlights the importance of ensuring access to quality education for girls as a precondition for gender equality, women’s empowerment and full enjoyment of their rights; urges the Commission to ensure gender- and age-inclusive access to all levels of education and training promoting gender equality and dismantling gender stereotypes and harmful societal norms and to especially support the most vulnerable women, girls and persons faced with intersectional discrimination in their education journey; urges the Commission to ensure that the Union of Skills addresses gender imbalances, with the aim of empowering all individuals across the EU;
50. Urges the Commission to invest in the professional development of educators to better combat gender stereotypes throughout childhood and adult education, vocational education and training, on-the-job training, in all formal and non-formal learning educational pathways and to provide publishers with guidelines on eliminating gender bias in educational materials; calls on the Commission to encourage mandatory training programmes for everyone working in the education sector, including informal education and volunteers, as well as safe infrastructure, confidential reporting mechanisms and disciplinary actions;
51. Calls on the Commission to recognise consent-based, comprehensive, scientifically accurate and age-appropriate sexuality and relationship education founded on human rights and gender equality as a key part of breaking down gender stereotypes and addressing harmful behaviours and to develop EU guidelines for such education for Member States; notes that the aim should be to equip young people with knowledge about bodily autonomy, healthy relationships, reproductive health and the prevention of GBV and discrimination; stresses the importance of protecting minors online from violent and harmful pornographic content;
52. Urges the Commission and the Member States to take measures to reduce the gender gap, particularly in the STEM, AI and digital sectors, by promoting an integrated strategy to strengthen women’s and girls’ education from an early age in these sectors; stresses that such a strategy should include initiatives aiming at motivating women and girls to enter STEM pathways, and calls on the Commission to ensure women’s equal access to vocational training courses, internships and awareness-raising courses in these subjects by promoting training and lifelong learning, disseminating successful and inclusive educational best practices, promoting women role models and encouraging women to acquire knowledge and develop the skills essential for them to have equal access to job opportunities in emerging fields such as the digital sector, the green transition and in the economy and business in general and to prioritise diversity and inclusion in STEM; notes that equally boys should be encouraged to enter the EHW (education, health and welfare) sector; underlines that digital technology and platforms are becoming key in the overall process of providing education and training for women and girls as well as in many work selection processes; regrets the negative impacts of unequal access to technology, which may hinder the development of women’s and girls’ digital literacy; calls on the Commission to ensure that women and girls in all their diversity are not disproportionately affected by lack of access to technology;
53. Calls on the Commission to maintain and continue to develop a zero tolerance policy vis-à-vis all forms of GBV in the digital environment; recalls that non-consensual sharing of intimate material, including deepfakes, cyber stalking, cyber harassment and cyber incitement to violence or hatred (hate speech) are criminalised under Directive (EU) 2024/1385 on combating violence against women and domestic violence and definitions of these criminal offences should be properly implemented by Member States’ national laws; calls for enhanced EU-wide cooperation in detecting and prosecuting digital gender-based offences, such as cyber harassment and non-consensual dissemination of manipulated media; highlights the need for cross-border digital forensic capacity and judicial training; calls on the Commission to further monitor, and develop policy regarding other types of online GBV, especially targeting girls and LGBTQI+ youths;
54. Calls on the Commission to embed preventive measures and safeguards across all areas of digital policy, with particular attention to gender equality, GBV, and human rights, as well as the protection of minors online; urges the Commission to ensure full enforcement of the risk assessment and mitigation obligations under existing instruments such as the DSA, including its code of conduct, and the Artificial Intelligence Act while also developing new policy proposals, for example under the European democracy shield and the digital fairness act; calls for public scrutiny of annual risk assessments related to GBV and of mitigation measures introduced by very large online platforms (VLOPs) and very large online search engines (VLOSEs) to facilitate research and better understanding of the phenomenon;
55. Calls on the Commission to pay particular attention to the ways in which algorithms may reproduce and amplify sexist or degrading content, by imposing greater transparency and by isolating AI-generated data by gender in order to identify patterns of discrimination; urges the Commission and the Member States to establish policies and implement educational and awareness-raising programmes aimed at preventing, recognising and responding to GBV, especially among young people; calls on the Commission to invest in research that tracks gender equality in media and digital industries, including with an intersectional perspective;
Reconciliation of private and professional life and addressing gender inequalities in care provision
56. Calls on the Commission to operationalise the right to care and to be cared for as recognised in Principle 18 of the European Pillar of Social Rights; stresses that care work must be recognised, remunerated and supported, including as a public good, and calls for the establishment of high-quality, affordable and accessible care systems that ensure dignity for both care recipients and care workers;
57. Calls therefore on the Commission to develop the European Care Strategy into a comprehensive European Care Deal, addressing both formal and informal carers (predominantly women in both cases), equipped with binding legislative and financial tools for investing in and ensuring universal access to affordable and high-quality childcare, educational after-school programmes and long-term care services; reiterates that the Care Deal should be a rights based approach to care, and the financing of care infrastructure should be done through progressive taxation and public provision; emphasises the need for EU and national policies for informal carers aiming for financial support and respite, training, inclusion in pension and health systems in order to mitigate the adverse effects of caregiving on women’s careers and economic independence; calls on the Commission to increase investments to improve working conditions and health and safety in the care sector, in which the majority of workers are women;
58. Calls on the Commission to facilitate legal pathways to formalise the status of female migrant care workers who are disproportionately affected by intersectional discrimination, to recognise their qualifications and acknowledge their important contributions to care systems in the EU, to provide access to quality jobs in line with the forthcoming quality-jobs roadmap and to ensure fair working conditions for them, promoting equal opportunities within the care sector;
59. Calls on the Commission to set specific quantitative targets under the European Care Deal, including a goal of dedicating at least 2 % of EU GDP to care services by 2030, with binding national objectives and regular monitoring to ensure progress towards accessible, affordable and publicly funded, high-quality care services, with specific attention paid to low-income households and single-parent families;
60. Calls on the Commission to urge Member States to ensure the prompt and full transposition of the Work-Life Balance Directive and the measures it includes; further calls on the Commission to establish the robust enforcement, monitoring and annual reporting mechanisms envisaged in the directive and where necessary, to initiate infringement proceedings or other enforcement measures to secure full compliance and to allocate dedicated funding under the next MFF, and to propose a recommendation for binding EU-level quality standards for long-term care services, including staffing, training and quality assurance; calls on the Commission to review the Work-Life Balance Directive to ensure it is fit for purpose, to strengthen it by further developing and expanding maternity, paternity and shared parental care leave, and improving incentives for the second parent to take parental leave, further protecting parents and facilitating the combination of paid employment and caregiving responsibilities; urges the Commission to extend paid maternity and paternity leave periods across Member States, promote non-transferable parental leave, and adopt measures to redistribute caregiving responsibilities within households and between the state and families;
61. Highlights that inadequate transport infrastructure, lack of public transport connectivity, and unaffordable mobility options constitute a gendered structural barrier to women’s access to employment, education, healthcare, and care services, particularly in rural, remote, and low-income areas; calls on the Commission and the Member States to prioritise investment in inclusive, safe, affordable and sustainable transport systems that take into account women’s specific mobility patterns and needs, as part of broader efforts to reduce transport poverty and promote territorial equality;
62. Stresses the need to implement an ‘equal earner – equal carer’ model in the EU with the aim of achieving a more equal gender balance concerning care responsibilities for all EU Member States, and in the EU institutions; calls for strong promotion of paternity leave, introduced by the Work-Life Balance Directive, as well as awareness raising on the close link between the measures for work-life balance and the gender care gap, which feeds into the employment, pay and pension gap; underlines that caregiving responsibilities must not be a barrier to women’s career progression;
63. Calls for the introduction of a European Day of Work-Life Balance on 20 March each year, symbolically reflecting the spring day-night equality;
Equal representation and political participation
64. Stresses that women remain significantly under-represented on all levels of political decision-making; urges the Commission to promote substantive gender equality, including by introducing permanent or temporary special measures to achieve 50:50 gender parity, such as legislative gender quotas and zipping-based lists, as well as monitoring mechanisms, for all elections including on local, regional, national and European level, in line with CEDAW general recommendation No.40 and to address all obstacles to gender equality, equal participation and representation in the political sphere;
65. Stresses that the European Parliament and College of Commissioners must serve as a role model in this regard and ensure that gender parity mechanisms are in place ahead of the 2029 European elections; urges the Commission to develop guidelines for Member States, the private sector and civil society to help establish gender equality targets and strategies including equal leadership opportunities;
Climate, environment and gender equality
66. Underlines the harmful effects that environmental degradation has on the health of women and girls, especially the impact of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and urges the Commission to raise awareness of these links and to ensure a coordinated and comprehensive approach to this climate change-gender equality nexus in all its work and to enforce policies to prevent the continued destruction of the environment and the ongoing degradation of the health of women, girls and vulnerable groups;
67. Recalls that a just green transition is necessary to avoid severe future crises and increased poverty; recalls, furthermore, that the green transition will only be socially fair if it includes a gender perspective and guarantees equal opportunities for women and those experiencing intersectional discrimination as well as their meaningful inclusion in the policymaking process; calls, therefore, on the Commission to appoint an EU gender and climate coordinator with sufficient staff and funding, and to introduce gender impact assessments in all EU policies and legislation, in particular in European Green Deal initiatives;
Feminist foreign policy
68. Calls on the Commission to promote and advance a feminist foreign, security, trade and development policy that gives priority to gender equality and protects women’s rights in line with the three ‘R’s (rights, representation and resources) and entails a gender transformative vision, putting the need to address unequal structures and power relations at its centre; highlights that such a policy must advocate for systemic changes and the dismantlement of systems of oppression, including colonialism, racism and patriarchy; calls on the Commission to put forward concrete Feminist Foreign Policy actions and measures to ensure equal and meaningful participation and leadership of women in foreign policy, defence and security, and conflict prevention, management and resolution, peace negotiations, as well as peacebuilding, peacekeeping and humanitarian response; calls on the Commission to develop a common tracking methodology for collecting data on women’s participation in these sectors; as studies show the success of Feminist Foreign Policy, given that peace agreements with women signatories have higher rates of implementation and last longer[102]; highlights the need to ensure that the EU leads by example and ensures a balanced gender representation in its external actions;
69. Underlines that foreign policy, security and defence should be understood in their broadest sense, through a human-centred approach, including social, educational, environmental and cultural dimensions, social and climate justice, all of which require strong democracies and equality, including gender equality; stresses the need to implement the Women, Peace and Security agenda as a core principal of the EU’s common foreign and security policy (CFSP) and reiterates that all CFSP-related financing must take this into account while acknowledging the broader aspects of security; calls on the Commission to take stock of the progress made in implementing the Women, Peace and Security agenda at EU level and present its conclusions to the Council and the European Parliament; urges the Commission to put forward, based on the stock-taking exercise, a follow-up Action Plan to the Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security 2019-2024, adapting and extending it to the changing nature of conflicts and new threats and presenting actions to achieve gender-balanced and gender-responsive leadership at all EU decision-making levels and sufficient in-house capacity to systemically integrate a holistic gender perspective and conduct gender analysis; calls for the advancement of the implementation of UN Resolution 1325 through National Action Plans on Women, Peace and Security (NAP 1325-IV) and calls on the Commission and the Member States to reinforce the recruitment, retention and advancement of women in national armed forces and civilian missions, and to integrate gender perspectives into all phases of security and defence policymaking, planning and implementation;
70. Calls on the Commission to ensure consistent and sustainable budgeting for all gender-related activities in the EU defence and security sector, in line with the EU Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security; emphasises the need for dedicated funding for gender-related actions within common security and defence policy (CSDP) missions, including a specific budget line for gender advisors on civilian CSDP missions;
71. Emphasises that crises, such as armed conflicts, occupation of territory, natural disasters and humanitarian crises, energy poverty, climate change and the cost-of-living crisis exacerbate existing inequalities; feminist, LGBTIQ+ and SRHR human rights defenders working on these issues must be protected through dedicated mechanisms, especially in countries experiencing democratic backsliding; calls on the Commission to add crisis management, preparedness and security to the future post-2025 Gender Equality Strategy;
72. Calls on the Commission to undertake another revision of the progress achieved in implementing the current Gender Action Plan (GAP III) and to continue to implement the mechanism to track the amount of EU funding for gender equality allocated and disbursed in partner countries and report on it through GAP III; urges the Commission to keep the pace and the level of ambition for the implementation of the plan high and calls on the Commission to start preparations for an ambitious Gender Action Plan post-2027 (GAP IV) to ensure its timely adoption, including by setting aside adequate funding for the implementation of the plan in the upcoming proposal for the 2028-2034 MFF; highlights that the key principles of GAP III – a human-rights based approach, including SRHR, intersectionality and a gender-transformative approach – should be an integral part of GAP IV and their concrete implementation should be strengthened; calls on the Commission to increase political and financial support for gender-equality initiatives and UN agencies such as UN Women and the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), with a specific focus on the UNFPA Supply Partnership and to ensure that the next MFF contains strengthened gender equality targets in external actions with 85 % of all EU official development assistance (ODA) mainstreaming gender (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) marker G1) and 20 % of ODA dedicated to gender-targeted projects (OECD marker 2);
73. Stresses that gender equality and SRHR must be an indivisible and non-negotiable pillar of the EU’s feminist foreign, development and external policy, including GAP IV, and calls on the Commission to ensure adequate, predictable and long-term funding for gender equality and SRHR initiatives, particularly in low-and-middle-income countries, including by ensuring access to SRHR for survivors of GBV, to emergency contraception, safe and legal abortion, post-abortion care and comprehensive high-quality obstetric, gynaecological, antenatal, childbirth and postnatal midwifery and newborn healthcare as well as post-exposure prophylaxis in all EU-funded humanitarian responses; by supporting feminist and grassroots movements, strengthening and partnering with women’s rights organisations and civil society organisations working on SRHR in all, but especially restrictive contexts, by advocating for the removal of legal and policy barriers that criminalise abortion, same-sex relations and gender-affirming healthcare and to ensure access to education, healthcare and economic opportunities; calls on the Commission to systematically integrate a feminist dimension into its response to international crisis and conflicts, including through the strict condemnation of the use of sexual and other GBV as a weapon of war and the mobilisation of dedicated funding to eradicate this crime;
74. Calls on the Commission to establish a dedicated support service operating through EU Diplomatic Representations in third countries, with a specific mandate to provide support for women’s rights defenders and organisations globally in order to counter anti-gender movements and to allocate targeted funding to Permanent Representations to enable them to effectively carry out this task; urges the Commission and the Member States to reaffirm their commitment to gender equality and women’s empowerment globally and to increase funding for women’s organisations, especially in the Global South and in regions where gender equality is under attack so as to step into the gaps in development aid for women’s rights organisations that were caused by the cuts in aid from the US Agency for International Development (USAID);
75. Urges the Commission to guarantee coherence across the internal and external policies on gender equality, namely in the upcoming post 2025 Gender Equality Strategy (GAP III and GAP IV) and to ensure that they are coordinated with all other relevant existing and forthcoming strategies, frameworks and action plans, such as the EU Disability Strategy 2021-2030, EU Roma Strategic Framework on equality, inclusion and participation, EU Strategy on Victims’ Rights, LGBTIQ Strategy and the EU Action Plan against Racism; calls on the Commission to ensure greater transparency and stakeholder involvement in the implementation of all gender-related initiatives, and to involve Parliament more systematically in the scrutiny and evaluation of these actions;
Protecting civil society and women’s rights organisations and countering anti-gender movements
76. Notes with concern the alarming rise in hate crimes and hate speech targeting women, LGBTIQ+ individuals, racial or ethnic minorities and other marginalised groups, and emphasises the link between deteriorating rule of law and democratic standards and the violation of fundamental rights, particularly women’s and minorities’ rights; highlights that the inconsistent implementation of safeguards across Member States leads to inadequate protection and exposes certain groups to higher risks of discrimination and violence; expresses concern over the lack of progress on the implementation of equality and anti-discrimination laws in some Member States and urges the Commission to address this in the post 2025 Gender Equality Strategy; welcomes the reversal of the decision to withdraw the horizontal anti-discrimination directive and urges the Member States to adopt the legislation without delay;
77. Urges the Commission to ensure a comprehensive monitoring and accountability mechanism to swiftly address the continuing erosion of democracy, women’s rights and gender equality, including SRHR and the rights of LGBTIQ+ persons, which are intrinsically linked; calls on the Commission to build on the existing mechanisms to assess compliance with the rule of law or fundamental rights and to progressively develop a dedicated mechanism encompassing all Union values under Article 2 TEU, including democracy, the rule of law and fundamental and human rights, including women’s rights, operating under an interinstitutional agreement between the Commission, Parliament, and the Council, ensuring a unified approach to annual monitoring across all Member States and a clear link to concrete Union measures for cases in which deficiencies remain unaddressed; notes all measures to counter backsliding should reflect an intersectional perspective; urges the Commission to conduct in-depth research on anti-gender movements to gain deeper insights into their current operations and financing strategies; stresses that understanding these dynamics is crucial for safeguarding a modern, inclusive and tolerant Europe;
78. Highlights with great concern the growth of the ‘manosphere’; underlines that algorithms used by social media platforms amplify extreme misogynistic content; urges the Commission to investigate and sanction VPLOs that do not fulfil their obligations to remove harmful content; urges the Commission to explore the growing divergence in attitudes between young men and women towards feminism and gender equality, to assess its societal consequences, particularly in online spaces, and to develop measures to address and counter the rise of misogynistic, far-right values among boys and young men concerning gender equality and women’s rights; calls therefore on the Commission to promote comprehensive, age appropriate sexuality and relationship education in schools, strengthen critical media literacy, counter gender misinformation and disinformation and address gender stereotypes; stresses the need for a deeper understanding of the incel phenomenon and ideology and emphasises the importance of prevention by more active policies to counter them and their narratives together with potential underlying mental health issues and security issues;
79. Recalls the crucial and indispensable role that civil society organisations (CSOs) play , in a system of checks and balances in a healthy democracy, especially women’s rights organisations and women human rights defenders including those working in the humanitarian sector, in defending and advancing gender equality, human rights, and fundamental freedoms, especially during times of political, social, and institutional backlash; calls on the Commission to recognise, protect, ensure the safety of, and support civil society organisations, women’s human rights organisations and defenders, feminist, LGBTIQ+ and sexual and reproductive rights movements which are essential in advocating for inclusive policy reforms, challenging discriminatory practices, and mobilising communities in the defence of fundamental rights in the EU and globally; notes that they are increasingly being targeted by far right and anti-right actors; calls on the Commission to include as a horizontal pillar in EU policies and in the post 2025 Gender Equality Strategy actions and recommendations on the safeguarding and support of civil society organisations working on women’s rights, gender equality and anti-discrimination;
80. Urges the Commission to ensure sustainable and accessible funding for women’s rights organisations, including through the new MFF and to maintain and strengthen its commitment to supporting civil society, including financially through the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values Programme (CERV), ensuring that it remains a robust tool for addressing emerging threats to rights and freedoms; calls in particular on the Commission to maintain CERV as a stand-alone programme under direct management and substantially increase its funding in order to respond to the needs of underfunded CSOs and to the increasing threats and challenges to civic space and EU values; urges the Commission to maintain the programmes dedicated strand to gender equality and women’s rights, including SRHR, as well as dedicated strands such as Daphne, which should remain an autonomous programme with a separate budget line in the new MFF to combat GBV and discrimination including against LGBTIQ people;
81. Warns that a significant portion of the funding driving the growth of anti-gender movements across the EU comes from foreign actors; reiterates that all funding must align with the common values of the Union as enshrined in Article 2 TEU and the Charter of Fundamental Rights, ensuring that financial support reinforces the democratic values of the EU; calls on the Commission to revise and audit all current funding, in a gender-responsive manner on a ‘do no harm’ principle in order to ensure that no EU funds go towards anti-democratic and anti-gender objectives and projects; urges the Commission to closely monitor the implementation in Member States of funds under shared management aimed at promoting gender equality and supporting civil society, including women non-governmental organisations, in order to ensure that calls for proposals to obtain such funds are not being deliberately paused or withheld;
82. Calls on the Commission to closely monitor the implementation by the Member States of judgments from both the European Court of Human Rights and the CJEU, with particular attention to those related to gender equality, non-discrimination and minority rights, ensuring full adherence to international obligations;
Cross-cutting means of achieving gender equality
83. Reiterates that all efforts to achieve progress in gender equality must follow the principles of gender mainstreaming, ensuring that gender perspectives are integrated into all policies, actions and processes across all levels of governance, within the EU; calls on the Commission to recommit, to gender mainstreaming in all sectors, including in non-social sectors such as trade, energy, agriculture; calls on the Commission to mainstream gender equality in all EU migration and asylum policies with special focus on women, girls and LGBTIQ+ people, and to mitigate protection risks; calls on the Commission to continue to undertake a formal evaluation of the gender impact of EU financed programmes, including modalities such as budget support, and to report back to the European Parliament; stresses that this evaluation should be based on gender-disaggregated data and that its result should be integrated in future programming; reiterates the importance of financial resources for gender mainstreaming;
84. Calls on the Commission to ensure and strengthen the application of gender mainstreaming in its structures, methods and tools, and to ensure that the gender perspective is integrated into all of the Commission’s proposals, including all budgetary procedures;
85. Calls on the Commission to support the setting up of a gender-equality policy expert group to support the existing Commission task force on addressing the specific challenges that impact women’s quality of life and participation in society, foster collaboration and exchange of best practices, drive the women’s health, social, research and education agenda across the EU and meet the EU Treaty’s goal to eliminate inequalities and promote equality;
86. Calls on the Commission to ensure, in the framework of the next MFF, a gender-budgeting approach across all pillars, funding instruments and budget lines and to ensure that they all actively contribute to gender equality goals at all stages; urges the Commission to further develop the current ‘tracking-only’ stage into fully fledged gender budgeting, embedding the gender equality perspective across the entire budget cycle, from planning and allocation to monitoring of financial resources, especially to address gaps in terms of collecting gender-disaggregated data and to clarify scoring criteria, including implementing a score category to capture budgetary interventions with a negative impact on gender equality, as this is currently lacking, and to ensure that it is done in time for the upcoming MFF 2028-2034; stresses that this requires setting clear priorities, commitments and indicators on gender equality via a targeted approach, as well as setting concrete criteria to measure progress;
87. Calls for adequate funding for EU research on gender equality, including for the EIGE and the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights, and through tools such as projects of the gender equality plans funded by Horizon Europe; calls for an improved methodology that should identify not only the beneficiaries of EU funds, but also the transformative potential of the programmes; urges the Commission to ensure that EU funds are only granted to projects that comply with the fundamental rights and principles of the EU, including gender equality, access to SRHR and the elimination of GBV; urges the Commission to ensure a just and socially fair transition that works for all by developing a gender-transformative intersectional strategy to address key issues and stresses the need to boost investment in essential social services significantly with a view to contributing to the independence, equality and emancipation of women;
88. Acknowledges that many women face intersecting inequalities and discrimination in the EU and urges the Commission to further develop the application of intersectionality as a cross-cutting principle in the new post-2025 Gender Equality Strategy and within all legislative and non-legislative measures;
89. Urges the Commission and the Member States to address intersectionality in all policies related to gender equality, acknowledging that GBV and discrimination are also compounded by factors such as age, race, ethnicity, minority or migration status, disability, gender identity and sexual orientation, and that the intersection of these factors creates multiple and unique forms of discrimination that require targeted, context-specific measures;
90. Calls on the Commission to explicitly include trans people, especially trans women and girls, in all gender equality measures, to standardise access to legal gender recognition, and to develop specific actions against transphobia, especially in healthcare, employment and education;
91. Calls on the Commission to ensure that measures cover all EU territory and that they provide effective instruments to address regional disparities in gender equality both between and within EU Member States and their regions; stresses that these measures should be adaptable and adequately resourced to tackle gender disparities, taking into account the available resources, accessibility and level of progress of each region;
92. Regrets that despite the vital role women in rural areas play in maintaining their communities and keeping agriculture viable, their contribution is often unacknowledged and they continue to face numerous challenges, including limited employment opportunities, poorer access to services, less developed infrastructure and under-representation in decision-making; calls on the Commission to create and implement sub-programmes and activities dedicated to women in rural areas;
Institutional environment for achieving gender equality
93. Calls on the Commission to continue to ensure annual publication of reports on the implementation of the post-2025 Gender Equality Strategy and to present them to the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality (FEMM) in order to enable Parliament to contribute to the strategy’s scrutiny and oversight;
94. Calls on the Commission to enhance and support the Council configuration on gender equality gathering ministers and secretaries of state in charge of gender equality, dedicated to the questions of women’s rights and gender equality to deliver common and concrete measures including through the Council presidencies, and to ensure that gender-equality issues are discussed at the highest political level;
95. Urges the Commission to monitor and encourage swift implementation of the Directive on standards for equality bodies (Directive 2024/1499) and to put forward a recommendation to Member States regarding standards for their functioning and tasks in order to facilitate the correct transposition of the directive and ensure harmonisation of the set-up of equality bodies across the Union; stresses the importance of the EU’s accession to the European Convention on Human Rights and calls on the Commission to take action towards achieving this goal by requesting the CJEU’s legal opinion;
96. Praises the EIGE’s constructive cooperation and its dedicated work, which plays a crucial role in adequate data collection, analysis of comparable disaggregated data, providing research and guidance to EU institutions and Member States, as well as monitoring the implementation of gender-relevant EU legislation across all the EU Member States; calls on the Commission to ensure that the EIGE has sufficient financial and human resources and capacity to be able to effectively perform its tasks; recalls that the EIGE has experienced persistent issues with understaffing, which were further aggravated by the sharp increase in requests for technical assistance; calls therefore for the EIGE to be allocated new temporary agents;
97. Calls on the Commission to actively consult and involve women and girls in all their diversity, including through representative organisations, in the preparation and implementation of the post 2025 Gender Equality Strategy;
98. Calls on the Commission to recognise the important role that CSOs and actors on different levels, such as rural communities, local action groups, local and regional municipalities, as well as academia and institutions such as the Committee of the Regions, play in realising gender equality; calls, therefore, on the Commission to follow an inclusive approach and closely involve all these stakeholders in helping achieve the goals of the post-2025 Gender Equality Strategy;
99. Emphasises the importance of cooperating with experts in the field; calls on the Commission to also ensure that gender equality policies are properly funded and are supported at local and regional levels and that the EU’s cohesion and recovery funds include requirements for clear gender equality objectives, to ensure that regional development contributes to reducing gender disparities rather than exacerbating inequalities, as they have a direct influence on a range of areas affecting gender equality, such as employment, education, care infrastructure, health, support for women who are victims of violence, and gender-sensitive urban planning and transport;
100. Calls on the Commission to ensure and improve – in cooperation with the EIGE and Eurostat – regular, reliable and adequate collection, reporting and analysis of comparable gender-disaggregated data at the EU and the Member State levels; calls on the Commission to develop a common tracking methodology for collecting data, where not available, and underlines the need for the development of horizontal EU definitions, to facilitate gender impact assessments in Union policy areas; calls on the Commission to improve, in particular, data collection on the prevention, prosecution and sanctioning of GBV, including femicide, rape and other sexual violence through recording comprehensive and comparable data on both victims and perpetrators disaggregated by sex, age group, relationship between the victim and the offender and type of offence as listed in the directive on combating violence against women and domestic violence and, where possible gender, gender identity, racial or ethnic origin, sexual orientation, sex characteristics, disability and citizenship status, and to ensure that the data is reviewed regularly and used to inform policymaking, resource allocation and other measures aimed at preventing and addressing sexual and other GBV; encourages the cooperation of the Member States with civil society in ensuring victims’ rights and in designing specific policies;
101. Emphasises that the precondition for developing policies on gender equality is allocating adequate resources and implementing the post-2025 Gender Equality Strategy;
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102. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and the Commission.