EU must ensure safety and security to women and children

by Roxana Lazarescu

April 2018. A woman and her one-year-old daughter were stabbed to death at a subway station in central Hamburg by the woman’s ex-husband, German police said.

September 2021. Police in eastern Germany say they have arrested a 30-year-old man on suspicion of killing his wife and young child.

Change the name of the town and of the country with ANY town or village in ANY country in Europe. The story repeats itself. The COVID 19 pandemic has only made a horrid situation worse.

During separation proceedings, the risk for women and children is that they would have to be in contact with an abuser. Shared custody can mean staying in contact with an abuser in the long-term.

Renew Europe strongly supports an initiative that calls on all Member States of the EU to condemn all form of gender-based violence, domestic violence and violence against women and act now.

We ask for:

• the mandatory training for judicial and law enforcement officers and the establishment of specialized courts and judicial offices

• the addition of gender violence to the list of EU crimes

• measures to ensure the unrestricted and free provision of sexual and reproductive health services

• the implementation of specific measures to tackle economic violence

• the swift ratification and implementation of the Istanbul Convention

MEP Karen Melchior (Det Radikale Venstre, Denmark) is the shadow rapporteur from Renew Europe on the Legal Affairs Committee.

We must address intimate partner values in all its forms. It is not only a question of a black eye or a broken rib. Psychological violence most often accompanies and predates physical violence. And the violence can continue after the end of the relationship. Furthermore we must not allow our children to be weaponized, through withholding custody and visitation rights for the other parent. We must prevent gender based violence — violence against women, just because they are women — which is why we call on all EU member states ratify and implement of the Istanbul convention.”

MEP Chrysoula ZACHAROPOULOU (La Republique en Marche, France) is the shadow rapporteur from Renew Europe in the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality.

“An violent man is not a good husband. A violent husband is never a good father. Let’s protect the children. Let’s protect the women, Let’s deconstruct this patriarchy”.

According to a survey by the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights, an estimated 22% of women have experienced physical and/or sexual violence, and 43% have experienced psychological violence by their partner. Two thirds of the victims do not report the abuse to the authorities, most of the times because they are afraid or they think that intimate partner violence is a private matter.