Preventing violence against women

Preventing violence against women is the theme of this year's International Women's Day held on 8 March. Not only is violence a violation of human rights, but it also amounts to gender-based discrimination that denies women the opportunity to fully participate in economic, social, political and cultural life. The European  Parliament is organizing several special events to call attention to this issue.

On 5 March the Parliament's women's rights committee holds an interparliamentary meeting titled "Preventing violence against women – a challenge for all" . Together with representatives of national parliaments, they will exchange experiences and discuss legislation at national level and measures that could be implemented at the European level. During this meeting, the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights will present the results of an EU-wide survey on gender-based violence against women. For this more data has been collected than for any previous study in this field.

On 5 March, it is possible to join a European Parliament Facebook chat with Mikael Gustafsson, a Swedish member of the GUE/NGL, who is the chair of the women’s rights committee. He will field questions on how to tackle violence against women and achieve true gender equality.

The Parliament organizes a seminar for journalists on 4 and 5 March  called "Women and the elections: Will this time be different?”. The aim is to discuss women's role in European politics ahead of the European elections in May.

Starting 8 March, French/German broadcaster ARTE will make the film "Die Fremde" by Feo Aladag available to watch for free online for three months. The story of the film, which won the LUX Prize in 2010, ties in with the theme of preventing violence against women. The film can be watched  in all of the EU's 24 languages.