Brussels, 7 March 2025
Defending women’s rights: strong EU leadership needed amid global backlash – EP FEMM Committee
Ahead of International Women’s day, Women’s Rights and Gender Equality Committee Chair Lina Gálvez (S&D, ES) made the following statement:
“For decades, the European Parliament has championed gender equality as a fundamental pillar of democracy, peace, and prosperity. But in 2025 progress is not just slowing—it is under attack. Women’s rights are facing a global backlash, and even within the EU, representation and legal protections are being rolled back. The most recent European elections in 2024 marked a concerning regression: for the first time in history, the share of women in the European Parliament declined. This is not just a statistic. It is a wake-up call, and a consequence of the rise of political forces not committed to equality. We need decisive action to ensure equal access to leadership positions and to strengthen policies that break down barriers for women in politics.
“I welcome the adoption of the Roadmap for Women’s Rights today as it sets out a long-term vision with key principles and policy goals for a more gender-equal Europe. The upcoming post-2025 Gender Equality Strategy will build on this Roadmap, reaffirming the EU’s political commitment to advancing gender equality and progress on women’s rights.
“Just yesterday, MEPs discussed the role of women in foreign affairs and defence with national parliaments. Women and girls have always been—and continue to be—disproportionately the victims of war, experiencing rape and other forms of sexual and gender-based violence. They are however mostly excluded from peacebuilding efforts and the political decisions shaping their future. Even in today’s EU, only a handful of women hold positions as foreign or defence ministers. If we are truly committed to peace, we must be equally committed to promoting women’s leadership and ensuring greater gender equality in security and defence—both within the EU and globally.
“A delegation of Women’s Rights and Gender Equality Committee MEPs will be in New York from 17-20 March to participate in the 69th session of the Commission on the Status of Women organised by the United Nations. We will be pushing for stronger global commitments to women’s rights, and our message is clear: equality cannot wait. The EU has to show strong international leadership and push forward progress—faster, stronger, and together.”
Renew Europe: Commission Presents Plan to Advance Gender Equality—EU Must Take the Lead in Making It a Reality
Brussels, 7 March 2025
The Renew Europe Group in the European Parliament welcomes the European Commission’s Roadmap for Women’s Rights, presented ahead of International Women’s Day. This initiative outlines the Commission’s long-term vision for strengthening the protection and promotion of women’s rights across the EU.
Renew Europe has been a strong advocate for reinforcing commitments to gender equality, pushing for key priorities to be reflected in the final version of the Roadmap. Notably, it underscores the urgent need to prevent and combat sexual violence, including rape, by recognising the principle of consent—a long-standing priority for Renew Europe. The Roadmap also commits to tackling gender bias in digital tools, ensuring that emerging technologies do not perpetuate harmful stereotypes.
Taking an intersectional approach, the Roadmap acknowledges that women facing multiple and overlapping forms of discrimination require targeted policies to ensure inclusivity. It also reinforces the EU’s commitment to gender mainstreaming, ensuring that gender perspectives are integrated into policymaking and budgeting processes that directly impact women’s rights. Furthermore, it emphasises the need to protect women’s health, including access to sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), and advances gender-sensitive medical research, clinical trials, and diagnostics.
However, while sexual and reproductive health and rights are acknowledged, the Roadmap stops short of ensuring access to safe and legal abortion, leaving women in some EU countries without essential healthcare and reproductive rights. Renew Europe remains committed to pushing for stronger guarantees to close these gaps and ensure that SRHR are fully recognised as a fundamental right across the EU. At a time when women’s rights are increasingly under pressure, the EU must take the lead in turning these commitments into concrete action.
MEP Abir Al-Sahlani (Centerpartiet/Sweden), Renew Europe Coordinator for the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality, said:
“As women’s rights come under growing attack and hard-won progress is at stake, Europe must remain a champion for equality and quickly jump into action. Now is our chance to actually create real change, and ensure that women’s health, rights, and freedoms are protected and promoted in the EU. Renew Europe will fight every day to make sure we deliver progress for all women.”
Source – Renew Europe (by email)
Roadmap for Women’s Rights: S&Ds reiterate call to protect hard-won rights and achieve true gender equality
Brussels, 7 March 2025
Ahead of International Women’s Day on 8 March 2025, and today’s presentation of the Roadmap on Women’s Rights by Commissioner Hadja Lahbib, the S&D Group reiterates its call on the European Commission to safeguard hard-won rights and push forward the goal of true gender equality in the decades to come.
The S&Ds also urge the Commission to ensure that the Post-2025 Gender Equality Strategy includes concrete commitments and actionable proposals, backed by tangible legislative and non-legislative measures to achieve these goals.
Heléne Fritzon, S&D vice-president for a feminist Europe, said:
“With the rise of anti-gender movements threatening the rights we have fought for across generations, the European Commission must set out a bold political agenda that goes beyond a five-year mandate and lays the foundation for an ambitious Post-2025 Gender Equality Strategy.
“This strategy must guarantee universal access to sexual and reproductive health and rights within and beyond the EU, while taking decisive action to eliminate gender-based violence, both online and offline.
“We also call on the EU and its member states to work together to address the root causes of the persistent gender pay gap and female poverty. This requires tackling horizontal pay and labour market segregation, as well as the systematic undervaluation of work in female-dominated sectors, such as care, which is essential to our societies.
“Additionally, feminist foreign policy must become a true cornerstone of the EU’s foreign affairs strategy. With geopolitics in turmoil, prioritising women’s rights in defence, security, and peace-building efforts is crucial to achieving just and lasting peace across Europe and beyond.”
Source – S&D (by email)
Europa-SPD: Diese Pläne reichen nicht aus
Brüssel, 7. März 2025
Von Maria Noichl und Birgit Sippel
Die liberale EU-Gleichstellungskommissarin Hadja Lahbib hat soeben in Brüssel einen EU-Fahrplan für Frauenrechte für die kommenden Jahre veröffentlicht.
Über den internationalen feministischen Kampftag am Samstag, 8. März, hinaus machen Aktivistinnen auf ihren Kampf gegen Diskriminierung und fehlende Gleichstellung aufmerksam.
Maria Noichl, gleichstellungspolitische Sprecherin der SPD-Europaabgeordneten:
“EU-Kommissarin Hadja Lahbib hatte bereits vorab klargemacht, dass dieses Dokument zwar eine generelle Richtung vorgeben solle. Neue konkrete Maßnahmen und Ziele aber erst im nächsten Jahr mit der Neuauflage der Gleichstellungs-Strategie vorgelegt werden würden. Der Fahrplan greift die Kernbereiche europäischer Gleichstellungspolitik auf. Diese Aneinanderreihung grober Ziele, die wir seit Jahren wiederholen, reicht in der derzeitigen Situation allerdings nicht aus.
Wir nehmen wohlwollend zur Kenntnis, dass die EU-Kommission auch kontroverse Themen aufgreift, wie sexuelle und reproduktive Rechte. Eine langfristige und ambitionierte Vision gegen die Rückabwicklung von Frauenrechten und Gleichstellung, die auch Demokratie und Rechtsstaatlichkeit bedrohen, sieht allerdings anders aus.
Wir brauchen die Zusage, dass Gleichstellungspolitik, auch im Kontext des Rechtsrucks und mit dem Fokus auf Sicherheits- und Verteidigungspolitik, nicht untergehen wird. Bisher müssen wir aber leider davon ausgehen, dass Ursula von der Leyens EU-Kommission mit dem derzeitigen politischen Rechtsruck mit rückt. Gleichstellung wird, wie bereits im Portfolio der EU-Kommissarin, nur unter ferner liefen, verortet.“
Birgit Sippel, innenpolitische Sprecherin der S&D-Fraktion:
“Wir müssen die Pandemie der Gewalt gegen Frauen endlich stoppen! Dafür reicht eine Roadmap mit einer allgemeinen Auflistung schöner Prinzipien und nett klingender Ziele allein nicht ansatzweise aus: Wir brauchen eine EU-Charta der Frauenrechte mit einem Katalog zu schützender Grundrechte und Mindeststandards. Dazu gehören zum Beispiel der Schutz der sexuellen und reproduktiven Gesundheit durch sicheren und legalen Zugang zu Verhütung und Schwangerschaftsabbrüchen. Auch Sexual- und Beziehungserziehung müssen zugänglich gemacht werden.
Die EU-Richtlinie gegen geschlechtsspezifische Gewalt von 2024 war zwar ein erster Erfolg, um EU-weite Mindeststandards zum Schutz von Frauen festzulegen. Doch wir kämpfen weiter für eine rechtliche Definition von Vergewaltigung, die auf fehlender Einwilligung basiert. Nur Ja heißt Ja! Gegen solch eine Definition hatten sich die Mitgliedstaaten im Rat – unter anderem das damals FDP-geleitete Justizministerium – geweigert. Schließlich muss die EU-Kommission endlich dem Rat einen Vorschlag vorlegen, um geschlechtsspezifische Gewalt als eine besonders schwere Straftat nach Artikel 83 des Arbeitsvertrags der EU zu definieren.”
Quelle – Europa-SPD