Thread by @AlyssaAhrabare

I was yesterday at the @Europarl_BE to represent @ENoMW in front of the group #LEFT and share our analysis of the directive proposal on violence against #women and girls by the @EuropeanCommiss

There is currently no specific legal instrument that comprehensively addresses violence against women at #EU level. The most comprehensive international framework is the @coe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Girls (Istanbul Convention)

The new proposal for a directive aims to provide for standards for prevention, protection and access to justice, & criminalisation of specific forms of violence against women. It is aimed to be an #EU instrument, with binding obligations on Member States.

We are truly worried about this text that speaks about sexual exploitation without mentioning prostitution, doesn’t use the agreed upon terminology at EU level, blatantly disregards the existing European and International frameworks, completely overlooks reproductive exploitation

The vision of #VAWG that the project of directive contains is poor, limited and partial. It ignores the causes, and sometimes confuses violence with the form in which it is carried out. It provides a non-exhaustive list of VAWG instead of a much needed comprehensive framework.

This text refers to women victims of prostitution as “sex workers” without any legal basis. According to the ILO, #trafficking in human beings generates 150 billion USDs of profit every year. 66% of these profits are made in one criminally controlled activity, the sex trade.

#PalermoProtocol, #CEDAW, #AntiTraffickingDirective, 2014 @EuropeanParl resolution on sexual exploitation all refer as prostitution as a form of sexual exploitation, an obstacle to gender equality and human dignity and one of the root causes of trafficking.

The text completely overlooks p0rnography even though the Human Rights Committee and @coe both recall that this industry hinders women's equal access to their rights and freedoms and the Model law on trafficking in persons states that it is a form of sexual exploitation @UNODC

The text fails to address #surrogacy even though the @EuropeanParl has stated that this practice is against human dignity, a source of human rights violation & a cause of human trafficking and sexual exploitation @CIAMS_Coalition

Undocumented migrant women, particularity at risk, are overlooked both in preventive measures and aggravating circumstances of sexist violence. Nothing on how the provisions against sexual harassment will apply to those who do not have a proper contract (many domestic workers)

Measures on perpetrators are missing: the Istanbul Convention has a stand alone chapter on prosecution, which is crucial in a text addressing #VAWG. Victim support or prevention can never work without a very strong and stand alone pillar of prosecution.

These are just a few of our many and deep concerns about the directive proposal that will now be reviewed by the @EuropeanParl. We call on the MEPs to amend the text extensively to make it live up to what women are entitled to expect as a true standard of protection.

@ENoMW @EuropeanWomen @CIAMS_Coalition @CAPintl @osezlefeminisme @ClefFemmes @coe @EuropeanCommiss @EuropeanParl