European & International News

International news globe All the latest news from the European Union, its member states, and beyond.

European & International News
More women on top? A new “Danish model” for women on boards is on its way

Posted on 10 May 2012 |

[Brussels 10 May 2012] At a press conference on 03 May the Danish government revealed a plan for promoting more women in management and boards. The proposal for a new law holds a number of legislative changes targeted at both the public and the private sector.
The basic idea behind the Danish model is simply that it must work! There must be real progress for gender equality in decision-making n Denmark. The law will apply to the 1,100 largest companies, which will be obliged to set targets (...) Read more
European & International News
Egypt women’s NGO sue Islamist Parliament member Azza al-Garf over pro-FGM statements

Posted on 10 May 2012 |

[Brussels, 10 May 2012] The EWL supports the legal challenge initiated by Egypt’s New Women Foundation against Islamist Parliament member Azza al-Garf’s statements in favour of female genital mutilation (FGM), an intolerable practice still widely practiced in Egypt and elsewhere, which causes young girls severe physical damage. Ms. Azza al-Garf had stated that FGM is an Islamic practice and that the anti-FGM laws in Egypt should be amended.
The EWL has joined forces with Amnesty (...) Read more
European & International News
MAMY ROCK, the star of this year’s Festival of Europe in Brussels!

Posted on 8 May 2012 |

[Brussels, 08 May 2012] While the EWL will be in Budapest for its General Assembly, our favourite “grandma DJ”, Ruth Flowers – alias Mamy Rock, will perform in Brussels on 12 May as part of Europe Day celebrations for the year of Active Ageing and Solidarity between Generations. Read the Press Release below:
On May 12th at 5.30 pm, Luxembourg Square, on the doorstep of the European Parliament in Brussels, will turn into a giant outdoor disco. For more than one hour, the most famous “grandma (...) Read more
European & International News
Vogue magazine pledges to use only ‘healthy’ models

Posted on 8 May 2012 |

[Brussels, 08 May 2012] Vogue, the global fashion magazine, has announced a commitment “to not knowingly work with models under the age of 16 or who appear to have an eating disorder”. According to the statement, casting directors will be asked to check models’ IDs at photo shoots, and mentoring programmes will be insstituted for younger models. The strategy also includes encouraging “healthy backstage working conditions”, including food options, and asking “designers to consider the consequences (...) Read more
European & International News
14 year old girl initiates movement against images of women in fashion magazines

Posted on 8 May 2012 |

[Brussels, 08 May 2012] Julia Bluhm, a 14 year old American schoolgirl, has presented a petition signed by more than 46,000 people to Seventeen magazine, asking the industry to publish untouched images of ’real’ women and girls in order to combat the bad body image prevalent among her co-students.
According to an article published on 04 May in The New York Times, Ms. Bluhm is a blogger with Spark, a project that fights the sexualisation of girls, and started the petition online through (...) Read more
European & International News
Michelle Bachelet’s statement to the UN Security Council focuses on women, peace and security

Posted on 3 May 2012 |

[Brussels, 03 May 2012] On 24 April 2012, Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women Michelle Bachelet issued a statement touching upon women’s engagement in conflict resolution, transitional justice and highlighting emerging patterns in recent post-conflict elections.
In 2011, UN Women supported mediation training for over 200 women leaders from West Africa, the Balkans as well as Central and South East Asia, some which have yielded results. However, women’s informal (...) Read more
European & International News
MEPs call on EU humanitarian aid to be free from US restrictions on abortion

Posted on 3 May 2012 |

[Brussels, 03 May 2012] The European Women’s Lobby is happy to share this communication from the Global Justice Center about its 12 August 12 campaign, which calls for the option of abortion to be a part of the medical care offered to women raped in armed conflict, and which the EWL has been supporting since last summer.
Dear Partners & Friends of the GJC’s August 12th Campaign,
The GJC’s August 12th campaign to ensure that the option of abortion is a part of the medical care offered to (...) Read more
European & International News
Ministers back Europe-wide protection of victims of violence

Posted on 3 May 2012 |

[Brussels, 02 May 2012] EU Justice ministers have agreed the legal framework for the European Protection Order (EPO), a bill to protect victims of crime when crossing European borders of particular importance to women victims of domestic violence. Negotiations for an EPO as a legal tool to combat widespread violence against women in the EU were first launched by the Spanish Presidency of the EU in 2009, with strong support from the EWL. The proposal for the European Protection Order was put (...) Read more
European & International News
European Commission launches campaign against discrimination

Posted on 3 May 2012 |

[Brussels, 03 May 2012] The European Commission has launched a new advertising campaign aiming to draw attention to discrimination at work and direct people facing discrimination to their national equality body where they can find further information about their rights and seek advice or help. The campaign focuses on discrimination based on age, sexual orientation, religion, ethnic origin and disability.
‘Discrimination is illegal. Fight it.’ comprises print, outdoor and online advertising, (...) Read more
European & International News
Look at Me! Project draws attention to the effects of misrepresentative media images on older women

Posted on 27 April 2012 |

[Brussels, 27 April 2012] The EWL regularly draws attention to the importance of an objective and balanced representation of women and men in the media to ensure their equal rights. The distorted image of women presented by the media in general, and advertising in particular, which focuses on youth, beauty and sexuality, affects women’s attitudes to their bodies. It also leaves older women feeling invisible. Indeed, as the EWL pointed out for example in the 2010 publication ‘From Beijing to (...) Read more