Changes from plenary report to adopted text

RemovedEXPLANATORY STATEMENT

RemovedOn the 8th of March 2022, on International Women’s Day 2022, the European Commission presented a long awaited proposal for a Directive on combating violence against women and domestic violence (2022/0066 (COD). The proposal is based on Articles 82(2) and 83(1) TFEU and aims to effectively combat violence against women and domestic violence throughout the EU.

RemovedThe directive was a very welcome response to a long-standing call from the European Parliament. The Parliament has adopted resolutions dating back to 2009 calling for a directive on preventing and combating all forms of violence against women and girls within the Union. As yet, the EU has no binding instrument designed specifically to protect women and girls from violence. Violence against women and girls is a widespread phenomenon in the EU, with one in three women having experienced physical or sexual violence. Around 50 women lose their lives to domestic violence every week, 75% of women within a professional setting have experienced sexual harassment and it is estimated that 1 in 2 young women have experienced gender-based cyber violence. The Commission´s assessment on the criminalisation of gender-based violence against women in European States, including ICT-facilitated violence, indeed concludes that gender-based violence against women needs to be urgently tackled at the European level. These hideous crimes can no longer continue in our Union.

RemovedGender-based violence breaches human rights and is an extreme form of gender-based structural discrimination. It can take many forms, including psychological-, physical-, sexual-, economic-, digital violence, harassment and more. Recent years have seen the emergence of gender-based cyber violence, which potentially have been exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic as even more of people's social lives have shifted online. However, all kinds of gender-based violence have exacerbated due to women and girls being forced to stay home with the perpetrators during the Covid-19 lockdown. Millions of women in the Union are living in a constant fear for when the next hit will come. We must stop this.

RemovedThe co-Rapporteurs welcome the Commission´s historical proposal to finally address violence against women and domestic violence in a comprehensive way at a common European level. However, the co-Rapporteurs believe that the proposal must be further strengthened to ensure that it can properly respond to women´s and girls´ needs and to make Europe a safer place. They have therefore presented a number of proposals.

RemovedFirstly, the co-Rapporteurs emphasize that crime prevention is crucial and key to eliminate the risk of these crimes occuring, although the EU treaties offer only limited possibilities to act in this area. The co-Rapporteurs nevertheless want to highlight the importance of awareness-raising from an early age as men’s violence against women often starts with boy’s violence against girls. The awareness- raising must also include conversations about harmful gender stereotypes and comprehensive and age-appropriate sexual education. Furthermore, relevant professionals, for example in law enforcement, the judiciary, or health care professionals and educational staff, should receive training and information to understand the specific features of gender-based crimes, and also learn how to identify potential cases and how to act appropriately when cases occur. Moreover, coordination and cooperation between relevant actors must also increase at central, regional and local levels, especially when related to reporting crimes of violence against women and domestic violence.

RemovedSecondly, when the crimes occur, the legal processes must be based on women’s needs and should not lead to an additional assault. Irrelevant private questions to the victim shall never be allowed in the courtroom, there must be a clear improvement of knowledge within the judicial system regarding the specific features of these crimes and the woman must always be taken seriously from the first time she reports a crime.

RemovedThirdly, the Union can no longer accept that only a fraction of all crimes reported lead to final conviction. The long-lasting and widespread impunity for perpetrators of violence against women and domestic violence must end. The co-Rapporteurs therefore propose strengthened measures to ensure the victims’ security during the process by stressing the need to use barring, restraining and protection orders as well as arrest and detention as a way to keep women safe and to secure the evidence, thereby preventing the perpetrator to pursue the woman to withdraw her story and guarantee the woman the protection she is legally entitled to. Member States’ authorities must also direct more efforts to secure the evidence, online as well as offline, from the earliest possible moment and electronic monitoring, such as ankle bracelets, should be used to make sure that barring, restraining and protection orders are respected, and can be followed up upon.

RemovedFourthly, regarding the material provisions on the crimes included in the proposal, the co-Rapporteurs suggest to expand the definition of rape to include not only penetration, but also any other non-consensual act of a sexual nature that in view of the gravity of the act is comparable to penetration, as these acts will be equally harmful for the victim. The co-Rapporteurs also wish to expand the definition of consent, highlighting that all surrounding circumstances must be taken into account when making the assessment and include situations where a woman cannot be regarded as having a free and genuine choice, or is unable to refuse or withdraw consent without detriment, due to a state fear, intimidation, unconsciousness, intoxication sleep, illness, bodily injury, disability or in an otherwise particularly vulnerable situation. A specific article dedicated to negligent rape linked to the absence of consent is also put forward by the co-Rapporteurs, thereby including situations where the perpetrator was grossly negligent regarding the absence of consent.

RemovedThe co-Rapporteurs also add forced sterilisation as a new offence as this is a harmful and exploitative practice that is performed for the purpose of preserving and asserting domination over women and girls and exerting social control over girls and women’s sexuality. The co-Rapporteurs also add the crimes sexual exploitation through prostitution of others and purchase of sexual acts, as these offences clearly exploit women in already vulnerable situations, they are a gross violation of a person's right to bodily integrity and implies that both a person and their consent to sexual activity can be purchased for a given sum. For the same reason, the term ‘sex worker’ in the proposal should be replaced with the internationally agreed term ‘women in prostitution’, as an activity exploiting a person cannot and must not be recognised as ‘work’ by the EU.

RemovedTo stop the ongoing harassment against women online and to protect women from the surge of cyber violence and harassment against them, the co-Rapporteurs suggest to expand the proposal’s scope of cybercrimes, in order to cover more situations. Furthermore, as cyber violence particularly targets and impacts public figures such as female politicians, journalists and human rights defenders, the list of aggravating circumstances should cover situations where the offence was committed against a public representative, a journalist or a human rights defender, as these attacks are a clear threat to democracy within the Union. Regarding the list of aggravating circumstances, violence against women where the intention of the crime was to preserve or restore the so called “honour “ of a person, family or community should also be viewed as an aggravating circumstance and these crimes clearly needs an increased attention within the Union to combat.

RemovedLastly, the co-Rapporteurs wants to highlight the importance of always recognizing children who have witnessed violence against women and domestic violence as victims and suggest specific improvements in order to ensure that the best interest of the child is given due weight. This includes ensuring children’s rights at shelters and requiring Member States to ensure that the child’s best interest takes precedence over rights of access of the offender.

Removed27.6.2023