Belgium’s EU Commissioner Hadja Lahbib (pictured) has called for more to be done to close the gender gap.
This comes after International Women’s Day last weekend, which aimed to promote women’s rights. International Women’s Day gives focus to issues such as gender equality, reproductive rights, and violence and abuse against women.
The EU commissioner was speaking earlier this week in New York to represent the European Union at the 70th session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women.
Commissioner Lahbib said she wanted to reaffirm the EU’s “unwavering commitment to gender equality”.
It was also a chance, she said, to “press for urgent action to be taken to tackle the remaining inequalities faced by women and girls”.
This includes things such as the threat of violence against women, harmful online content and narratives, and barriers to equal pay and gender-sensitive healthcare, she said.
The Commissioner also discussed the EU’s new gender equality strategy, presented last week, and underlined the vital importance of the United Nations for advancing women’s rights globally.
On Tuesday (10 March), the commissioner also took part in a meeting of EU Ministers on empowering girls in the digital age. The Commissioner then attended the UN meeting.
This year’s priority theme is: ‘Ensuring and strengthening access to justice for all women and girls, including by promoting inclusive and equitable legal systems, eliminating discriminatory laws, policies, and practices, and addressing structural barriers’.
On Wednesday (11 March), Commissioner Lahbib was due to deliver opening remarks at the side event organised by the EU on preventing and combatting all forms of cyberviolence against girls.
She will also participate in a side event on humanitarian aid, considering what more can be done for women who give their life to save others.
The Commissioner will also meet with Alexander De Croo, UN Development Programme Administrator, with Citlali Hernádez, Mexican Minister of Women, and will exchange with representatives from civil society and EU Youth Delegates.
On Thursday, the Commissioner will deliver opening remarks at an event dedicated to eliminating violence against women and girls. She will also meet with other senior members of the UN.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, MEPs heard Jackie Fox’s testimony about the cyberbullying her daughter suffered and her subsequent work to protect children and adults against such harm.
Ms Fox recounted how her daughter, a healthy young woman who was targeted by relentless physical and online abuse, tragically ended up taking her own life.
In the aftermath of losing her, Ms Fox discovered that there were no laws to protect adults or children from such bullying attacks.
This motivated her,she told MEPs, to campaign for the adoption of “Coco’s law” against cyberbullying in Ireland.
She implored the European Parliament to make it European law too, to protect all children and adults from similar horrific abuse.
Replying, European Parliament President Roberta Metsola said: “The courage of women who refuse to stay silent continues to shape our societies.
“The European Parliament will always stand with them – defending equality, combating all forms of abuse online and offline and removing the barriers that prevent women from participating fully in public life.”
The debate continued with MEPs calling for equality and for action to fight what they call “the reactionary forces attacking women’s rights and spreading violence”.
They also emphasised the right to safety from all forms of violence and attacks, whether in private or public spaces. Regarding digital violence, MEPs stressed that bullying and hatred have nothing to do with free speech but constitute violence that must be stopped.
