On 17 June, Renew Europe launched its new position paper, No Democracy Without Equality: Europe’s Response to Geopolitical Pressure and Rights Erosion. At its core is a simple warning: attacks on women’s rights, LGBTQI+ rights and fundamental freedoms have become one of the forces reshaping democracy itself. Developed through a cross-committee initiative involving Renew Europe Members from the Committees on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality, Civil Liberties, Foreign Affairs, Human Rights and Budgets, the paper warns that anti-rights and anti-gender movements, democratic backsliding, attacks on the rule of law and geopolitical pressure increasingly reinforce one another.
The paper calls for stronger support for civil society, action against disinformation and foreign interference, greater investment in the Women, Peace and Security agenda, and renewed efforts to defend women’s rights and countering the global gender backlash, LGBTQI+ rights and fundamental freedoms both within the European Union and globally. MEP Abir Al-Sahlani (Centerpartiet/Sweden), Renew coordinator for the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality, said: “Across the world, we are watching authoritarian actors challenge democratic institutions, undermine international law and fuel division within our societies. The defence of women’s rights, LGBTQI+ rights and fundamental freedoms is part of Europe’s response to that challenge. There is no democracy without equality, not someday, but now; not for some, but for all. Ultimately, the strength of our democracies will be measured not by what we say we stand for, but by whose rights we choose to defend when they come under pressure.”
