- Femicide is the gender-based killing of women; it is the most extreme form of violence against women
- The resolution recognises that femicide exists in Europe, too
- Civil society has played a major role in the adoption of this resolution
Brussels, March 31, 2014. On Saturday March 29th, the European Latin-American Parliamentary Assembly (EuroLat) adopted at its meeting in Athens an emergency resolution entitled "Femicide in the European Union and Latin America" by Gloria Flórez (Andean Parliament) and Raül Romeva i Rueda (European Parliament).
The civil society ALOP, CIFCA, Grupo Sur, Oidhaco together with the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung European Union, celebrate this resolution calling on Member States implement common action to end femicide in Europe and Latin America. These organisations have participated in the drafting process of resolution and have accompanied the amendment process while ensuring the participation of women's groups from both regions.
To achieve this resolution, a common bi-regional campaign has been organised to raise awareness of the problem of femincides, where the resolution was an instrument to lobby public officials and politicians to allocate economic resources and political will to end violence against women.
We welcome again the introduction of a chapter on gender in the bi-regional dialogue between the Community of Latin American and the Caribbean and the European Union (EU-CELAC). However, as the resolutions calls on, we pledge the EU- CELAC summit to include in a consistently regular and effective way gender violence, sexual violence, femicide and impunity in Latin America and Europe ensuring the participation of the civil society.
Among other demands, following civil society demands for many years, the resolution calls on concrete steps to eradicate femicide, as the creation of specific indicators, defining evaluation mechanisms, and the inclusion of civil society.
After the adoption of the resolution, Greens/EFA MEP Raül Romeva appreciated the work of civil society and called that "we have spent many years working together in the European Parliament in EuroLat, but also in Latin America to raise awareness of violence against women and demand end impunity that perpetrators get."
Congresswoman Gloria Florez said that "this decision is a step in the defense of women's rights and equality, we ask to improve statistics to make visible how many women die from violence and improve police, we demand better judicial and administration process to end impunity and institutional violence against women, we call on protect victims and increasing prevention” and added that “this explicit resolution is ambitious and has clear demands thanks to the work done from the feminist movement, women's organisations and organisations defending human rights in the two regions”.
Finally, this is the first time that EuroLat adopts a resolution which recognises that femicide exists in Europe and called on the EU and Member States to ratify the Istanbul Convention on preventing and combating violence against women. ALOP, CIFCA, Grupo Sur and Oidhaco and the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung European Union, along with the political parties involved in this resolution, congratulates the work done and are committed to keep on working so that this resolution will not remain a dead letter.
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