Monitoring of Chapter 7 of the EU-CELAC Action Plan on Gender 2015-2017

Violence against women (VAW) and, in particular femicide/feminicide, is a phenomenon highly prevalent in Latin America and Europe and one of the main causes of death, disability and disease among women on both continents. It is a serious public health problem but,

above all, a serious democratic deficit, as fundamental rights are denied to women. So this deeply rooted, persistent and often tolerated form of crime requires the states to implement adequate policies to approach and eradicate it.

Therefore, the 1st EU-CELAC Summit in Santiago de Chile in January 2013, in response to the requests from various women's organizations, included a chapter specifically dedicated to ensuring gender equality and the protection, effectiveness and promotion of the rights of women, including the eradication of all forms of VAW as one of its axes, in its 2013-2015 Action Plan. This chapter was also integrated into the 2015-2017 Action Plan, confirming the political will of both regions to work on the development of policies that guarantee human rights for women and especially the elimination of all forms of gender-based violence.