Preventing violence against women: a challenge for all

"International Women's Day is above all a day to remind us about the efforts and initiatives that should be taken every day to achieve gender equality", declared Joseph Daul MEP, President of the European People's Party (EPP) and Chairman of the EPP Group in the European Parliament, and Mariya Gabriel MEP, EPP Group Spokeswoman in the EP’s Women's Rights and Gender Equality Committee, on Thursday, two days ahead of the IWD.

"It is urgent to end violence against women: it is a plague which is even more serious because violence against women takes various forms and it affects all Member States. IWD 2014 is dedicated to this phenomenon and the EPP Group insists on highlighting the key role of prevention, particularly through information campaigns", they said.

"Another major challenge for many years in the European Union has been the greater participation of women on the labour market and equal treatment. 'Equal pay for equal work'. This slogan is particularly true in these difficult times of economic crisis which has highlighted inequalities", explained Mariya Gabriel.

"On the one hand, we must promote women's participation in traditionally male-dominated sectors, including the new technology sector; and, on the other hand, provide new solutions for the reconciliation of work and family life, for both women and men", she insisted.

"Finally, women's participation in economic and political decision-making represents another challenge, as well as one of the EPP Group's priorities. Women still represent only 16.6% of non-executive administrators of listed companies (on average in the EU). This is unacceptable and we should keep on working on the proposal for a Directive!", stated Mariya Gabriel. "As for women's participation in political decision-making, political parties have a key role to play!", she concluded.