European & International News

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

European & International News
Binding and voluntary measures needed to achieve parity in politics

Posted on 27 January 2012 |

[Brussels, 26 January 2012] Member States should consider introducing legislative measures such as positive action measures to achieve parity between sexes in political decision making, said the Women’s Rights and Gender Equality Committee of the European Parliement in a report on women in political decision-making adopted on Wednesday 25 January 2012.
"It is important to note that women’s representation in political decision-making has not been increased in recent years, but has developed (...) Read more
European & International News
Italy: Combating violence against women must be high on Italy’s agenda, says UN expert

Posted on 27 January 2012 |

[United Nations, Rome, 27 January 2012] Despite efforts to combat violence against women in Italy, the levels of such violence remain high and there is an urgent need to address the underlying structural causes of inequality and discrimination, the UN independent expert on violence against women, Rashida Manjoo, said on Thursday.
At the end of a 12-day official mission to Italy, the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against women, its causes and consequences, stressed that the current (...) Read more
European & International News
Comment on the PROGRESS programme!

Posted on 26 January 2012 |

[Brussels, 27 January 2012] The European Commission is inviting individuals, organisations and institutions that follow policy debate in the field of employment and social affairs, as well as those involved in national and EU policy-making or implementation, to contribute to the performance monitoring of the PROGRESS Programme by participating in the Annual Survey 2011. PROGRESS is an EU employment and social solidarity programme which works alongside the European Social Fund. It was (...) Read more
European & International News
Study reveals that unsafe abortions are on the rise

Posted on 24 January 2012 |

[IRIN, London, 23 January 2012] A new study by the New York Guttmacher Institute states that the number of women having induced abortions has stayed stubbornly high since the last such report in 2003, and that the marked reduction in the eight years before that has not been maintained.
Almost half of all abortions are categorized by the institute as “unsafe”, and this figure is rising – it estimates 49 percent in this latest (2008) study compared with 44 percent at the time of the baseline (...) Read more
European & International News
European Parliament fails the gender test

Posted on 19 January 2012 |

[European Voice, Brussels, 19 January 2012] Two years ago, when European commissioners were being selected, the European Parliament campaigned against the early list of nominees. There were too few women, they complained. José Manuel Barroso, the European Commission’s president, was grateful for the Parliament’s pressure and urged member states to nominate more women. They did, and the gender balance of the college of Commissioners was tilted away from a complete disgrace towards being merely (...) Read more
European & International News
France : La campagne "2012, L’égalité maintenant" pour inscrire l’égalité femmes-hommes à l’agenda politique dans la campagne présidentielle de 2012

Posted on 19 January 2012 |

[Osez le féminisme, Paris, 19 janvier 2012] La campagne "2012, L’égalité maintenant" était lancée jeudi matin. Avec cette campagne, Osez le féminisme veut inscrire l’égalité femmes-hommes à l’agenda politique dans la campagne présidentielle de 2012. Alors que l’égalité stagne depuis plusieurs années, que la précarité des femmes augmente et que le droit à l’avortement est menacé, alors que le féminisme connaît un nouvel élan, nous refusons que cette question passe à la trappe.
Mobilisons-nous pour parler et (...) Read more
European & International News
New publication from the Global Justice Center addresses U.S.A abortion ban in humanitarian aid

Posted on 18 January 2012 |

[Brussels, 18 January 2012] A human rights legal organization that develops innovative strategies to enforce international law, the Global Justice Center (GJC) has issued two new “Q & A” publications.
The first one, entitled “How the U.S. No Abortion Prohibition on Humanitarian Aid Violates the Rights of Women Raped in Armed Conflict", follows up with the CJG August 12th Campaign. The GJC “August 12th” campaign seeks to address the near universal failure to provide the option of abortion (...) Read more
European & International News
UK: Legal aid cuts will put domestic violence victims at risk, report warns

Posted on 18 January 2012 |

[The Guardian, London, 18 January 2012] Many victims of domestic violence will be unable to obtain legal help in future to help them escape from abusive relationships, according to a report by women’s groups.
Research conducted by Rights of Women and Welsh Women’s Aid suggests that nearly half of domestic violence victims will not be eligible under cuts in legal aid proposed by the Ministry of Justice.
The report is published as the House of Lords examines a further section of the legal (...) Read more
European & International News
European Parliament presidency elections - towards a more democratic parliament?

Posted on 13 January 2012 |

[Brussels, 12 January 2012] The members of the European Parliament will vote on 17 January on who should be their president for the next 30 months. Although the Parliament is fond of speaking about democracy, its internal procedures are not transparent, and women are still largely absent from its leading positions.
Non-democratic elections with a fixed outcome
The presidency of the European Parliament has grown in importance over the past decade. However, the president is still chosen in (...) Read more
European & International News
European Parliament debates Hungary’s controversial laws

Posted on 13 January 2012 |

[European Parliament, Brussels, 12 January 2012] Concerns as to whether the laws implementing Hungary’s new constitution are compatible with EU rules and values were raised by Civil Liberties Committee MEPs in a debate on Wednesday. Some MEPs proposed a "fundamental rights check" to determine whether there is a risk of a serious breach of EU values, while others favoured awaiting the European Commission’s analysis of the laws, due on 17 January, before judging "a decision taken by a sovereign (...) Read more