On the occasion of International Women's Day we would like to stress that, despite the EU’s recognition of gender equality as a fundamental right enshrined in the Treaty, a lack of political will and the prevalence of stereotypes mean that women still cannot participate in society on an equal footing with men and do not enjoy the same rights.

One particularly serious aspect of this is gender-based violence. According to statistics, a quarter of all women suffer physical abuse at some point in their lives. There has been no decrease in the scale of trafficking in women for prostitution, and acts of violence committed under the cloak of tradition and religion are much too common.
This is unacceptable. The situation requires a firm commitment at European and national level. Council of Europe conventions should be ratified, the large body of existing legislation should be implemented, indicators to assess the nature of gender-based violence should be created and specific prevention and protection programmes should be launched or revived.

We are pleased that the Spanish EU Presidency has made combating violence against women a priority.
Prevention and protection programmes should be implemented urgently, but we also need to address social and cultural factors that tend to foster violence against women, such as financial dependence, low levels of education, gender stereotypes and difficulties in accessing the job market. In this context empowerment through education and equality in job and career opportunities seem key, and these aspects also play an important role in achieving equality in decision-making.

In recent years, the EESC has adopted 15 opinions on crucial aspects of gender equality. At its plenary session later this month it will discuss an opinion on the evaluation of the European Commission's “Roadmap for equality between men and women 2006-2010” as well as proposals for a follow-up strategy. Equality between men and women must be a strong component of the new EU2020 Strategy.

In 1910, exactly 100 years ago, 8 March was proposed as International Women’s Day. 15 years ago, the World Conference on Women’s Rights in Beijing adopted the "Declaration and Platform for Action", establishing the main areas in which action needed to be taken to achieve gender equality. On 1 March, the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) looked at the 15 years which followed that conference. 2010 should mark a big leap forward in gender equality.

The EESC is using International Women's Day as the occasion to launch a photo exhibition called "Faces of women", showing photographic portraits of women taken in Egypt and Iran. You can find more information here:

http://www.eesc.europa.eu/events/2010-03-08-women-portraits/index_en.asp

Mario S EPI

President of the European Economic and Social Committee

Leila KURKI

President of the EESC Section for Employment, Social Affairs and Citizenship