Own-initiative opinion of the Committee of the Regions on Priorities for regional and local authorities to prevent violence against women and improve support for victims
Date: 2009-10-07
Institutions: European Committee of the Regions
Subjects: economic and social cohesion, economic consequence, gender equality, help for victims, local authority, public awareness campaign, regional authority, social policy, violence, woman








C_2010079EN.01000701.xml










27.3.2010   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 79/7





Own-initiative opinion of the Committee of the Regions on ‘Priorities for regional and local authorities to prevent violence against women and improve support for victims’
(2010/C 79/02)


I.   POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS
THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS






1.


stresses that violence against women is a violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms and is an obstacle to securing equal opportunities for men and women;










2.


points out that it will be impossible to achieve economic and social cohesion, one of the cornerstones of the European Union, if the personal and professional development of half the population continues to be curbed – and even their physical and psychological well-being are threatened – simply because they happen to be women;










3.


notes that this is a universal problem. It affects all cultures, from East to West. The World Conference on Women, held in Beijing in September 1995, declared that violence against women is the most common crime in the world, yet also the least frequently detected: ‘violence against women is a manifestation of the historically unequal power relations between men and women, which have led to domination over and discrimination against women by men and to the prevention of women's full advancement. Violence against women […] derives essentially from cultural patterns […] that perpetuate the lower status accorded to women in the family, in the workplace, the community and society’;










4.


recognises that over the past century, women have increasingly entered the public arena. They have brought benefits to society as a whole, contributing to culture, academia, politics, science and the economy for example;










5.


supports women's efforts towards freeing themselves and reaching their full potential and condemns the ideas and practices that threaten and restrict them. Violence against women runs counter to the fundamental principles of a democratic society;










6.


highlights the fact that violence against women is a reality throughout society, and in all EU Member States, regardless of social class or level of education;










7.


draws attention to this unacceptable infringement of the rights and freedoms of the women and children who are victims of violence;










8.


notes that both work to prevent violence against women and tackling violence and identifying relevant solutions are priorities in order to maintain women's physical and emotional well-being, secure equality between women and men, and achieve a greater level of economic and social development in regions and local areas;










9.


believes that it is time to evaluate the extent to which gender equality is a reality in society, and use this evaluation as the basis for developing effective measures within the framework of a social policy which is tailored to the needs of local people;










10.


believes that violence against women derives essentially from the way in which the structure of society perpetuates inequality between women and men and that in order to eradicate the problem we need to fast-track policies which focus on achieving true gender equality. Equality implies that women and men must have the same opportunities to shape society and their own lives and presupposes equality of rights, opportunities and responsibilities in all areas of life;




Regional and local self-government and subsidiarity






11.


notes that it is local and regional authorities that are closest to the public and are able to put these values into practice, applying economic, education and social policies to everyday life. The European Charter for Equality of Women and Men in Local Life, drawn up by the Council of European Municipalities and Regions within the context of the Fifth Community Action Programme on Equal Opportunities, acknowledges that policies to promote equal opportunities between men and women can be consolidated most effectively at local and regional level;










12.


notes that the local authorities that signed the Charter recognise in Article 22 that gender-based violence constitutes a violation of fundamental human rights and pledge to establish policies and actions to tackle the problem;










13.


notes that the European institutions recognise that the success of measures will depend on their making best use of the practices and resources that regional and local authorities already have in place. As these bodies are closest to the public, they are the best placed to take forward the opinions and concerns of the population and seek effective solutions to support and promote European policies;










14.


believes that local and regional authorities have a high level of responsibility on these issues, together with a wealth of experience, tried and tested ways of working, and programmes designed specifically for both victims and perpetrators;










15.


emphasises the role played by the European institutions, recognising the importance of the principle of subsidiarity and the part played by local and regional authorities, and supports the continued development and coordination of their actions;




Progress in terms of legislation






16.


highlights the fact that there is growing concern to raise awareness that violence against women is a violation of human rights. International declarations and national legislation have spelt this out;










17.


is interested to note the progress made in terms of legislation to eradicate violence against women in Member States and regional and local authorities and the importance of encouraging the exchange of experience on legislation and its enforcement. It is highlighted how important an issue this is, and how essential legislation is in the campaign to eradicate violence against women, using prevention and integrated support services for victims;










18.


points out that securing equal opportunities between men and women is one of the basic tenets of Community Law, as established in the 1997 Treaty of Amsterdam (Articles 2 and 3) which states that the EU's task is to promote equality between men and women, mainstreaming this principle in all EU policies and programmes;




Definition of violence against women






19.


recognises that violence against women has been defined in various ways, but the most widely accepted definition was established by the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women, which was adopted by Resolution 48/104 on 20 December 1993 at the UN General Assembly. In Article 1, violence against women is defined as ‘any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life’. This definition of violence against women has been used in this opinion;




Comments of the Committee of the Regions






20.


believes that preventing gender-based violence is one of the European Union's priorities for achieving gender equality. The Committee of the Regions recognised this in its opinion, adopted on 6 December 2006, on the Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions: A Roadmap for Equality between women and men (2006-2010);










21.


notes that many States have recognised the scale of the problem and the need to find comprehensive solutions. On 27 November 2006 the Council of Europe launched the Campaign to Combat Violence against Women, which operates on three levels: intergovernmental, parliamentary and local/regional, recognising how important it is to involve those bodies that are closest to the public;










22.


recognises that available data on violence against women does not provide the whole picture by any means. Women are therefore at a clear disadvantage when they want to participate fully in society;










23.


supports the eradication of the problem through the use of preventative measures, advocates mobilising appropriate services and practices to inform migrants, particularly women and children, about the risks of possible fraudulent migration offers and exploitation, raising public awareness of the issue, and organising victim support and protection;










24.


believes that violence against women should be examined from a range of different perspectives, and all forms of violence should be considered, to understand the problem in all its complexity:






—


From a purely legal perspective, gender-based violence undermines democratic principles and the fundamental rights of victims.










—


It is also necessary however to look at the issue from a health point of view, as gender-based violence can have a serious impact on victims' health. (Recommendation 1582 on domestic violence against women which was adopted by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on 27 September 2002 highlights the fact that domestic violence is the main cause of death or permanent disability for women between 16 and 44 years old. Domestic violence causes more deaths among women from this age group than cancer, road accidents or war.










—


In terms of social policy, women should have access to support services such as job services, housing services, and economic benefits.










—


From an education perspective, we should examine not just how schools and universities teach values, but at all the ways in which people are influenced growing up in society, including the impact of family and the media;














25.


supports the initiatives and projects that are being carried out by regional and local authorities to prevent violence against women, and encourages the exchange of good practice;










26.


recognises that combating violence is essential to create an area of freedom, security and justice in the European Union, yet the impact of violence and the measures required to prevent it also have significant economic and social implications;










27.


considers that human sex trafficking and all other forms of exploitation violate fundamental rights of individuals. Human trafficking constitutes a serious violation of personal human dignity and of the right to have control over one's own life and body. Human sex trafficking mainly concerns young women and girls, and is a modern form of human slavery which undermines shared European values and fundamental human rights and therefore constitutes a serious obstacle to social and sexual equality;




Economic impact of violence against women






28.


draws attention to the direct and indirect economic cost of violence against women for local and regional authorities in Member States. Violence affects victims' working lives as well as their physical and mental health and social situation. It also impacts adversely the health and well-being of other members of a family who witness violence against women, particularly children and the costs of dealing with the long term health issues costs often falling on local and regional authorities. These indirect costs – which take their toll on goods, services and victims' well-being – go hand in hand with the direct cost of specific or general resources that are used to deal with the problem. Statistics support the use of prevention programmes as they are inexpensive in comparison with the social cost of violence;










29.


draws attention to the effect of violence on society as a whole, noting that it is a social problem which must be tackled as a priority: violence not only has an impact on individuals, families and communities but also actually slows down the economic development of nations;










30.


is concerned by the figures presented in the 2006 study carried out by Carol Hagemann-White for the Council of Europe on measures adopted by its member states to combat violence against women. The report states that between 12 and 15 % of European women over 16 have experienced abuse in a relationship at some time in their lives, sometimes even after the break-up of the relationship;










31.


supports the Daphne initiatives, which were launched in 1997, to combat violence against women in the European Union. The Daphne III programme was adopted for the period 2007-2013. The project has a budget of EUR 116,85 million to develop programmes to protect children, young people and women from all forms of violence and attain high levels of health protection and social cohesion. The programme also supports the use of multi-disciplinary networks. As the different projects financed under the scheme are rolled out, lessons can be learnt on the needs of the bodies responsible for the projects and on the types of action they have taken;




Recommendations of the Committee of the Regions






32.


suggests that EU local and regional authorities follow the recommendations of the World Health Organisation, which highlights the need to ‘support research on the causes, consequences, and costs of violence against women and on effective prevention measures’ so that research can provide a starting point for action and prevention and offer a deeper understanding of the effectiveness of the action taken;










33.


emphasises the need for all studies to provide data according to gender, age, social class and other relevant indicators. This will provide a clearer picture of the situation, ensuring that social and economic strategies and measures can be tailored to bring about a more egalitarian society, with greater levels of progress and economic and social well-being;










34.


calls for the creation of a system and reliable procedures for obtaining standardised, comparable data on violence and gender equality policy in all regional and local authorities in order to raise awareness of the problem and suggest changes in the way political, economic and other relevant decisions are taken;










35.


calls for a study to be carried out at European level on the prevalence of violence against women in the different regions of the EU in order to gain an understanding of the extent of the problem and ensure innovative proposals can be developed to prevent violence. The research should be carried out in line with a standardised set of criteria which defines the concepts and sets out guidelines for intervention;










36.


emphasises the need to focus more on education, as education, together with family influences, are the factors which have the greatest impact on children growing up in society. There is a particular need to promote the principle of equal opportunities between women and men and develop training programmes and strategies to prevent violence against women and raise awareness of the problem at all levels of the education community and throughout all disciplines;










37.


suggests that measures should be taken to raise awareness of the problem among the whole population so that people stop thinking of gender-based violence as a private matter and get involved in finding solutions;










38.


calls for action to be taken against aggressive and discriminatory behaviour which insults the dignity of women, and for specific messages to be used to target different sectors of society (young people, female victims, male perpetrators, minors, as well as men and women who are not directly affected by the issue) to ensure that the whole population is involved. Sanctions against the perpetrators should be enforced;










39.


insists on the need to eliminate from society ways of seeing masculinity and femininity that involve unequal economic, social or political power and are propagated through advertising, the media and educational material for example. Alternative ways of seeing masculinity and femininity must be put forward which are fairer and more egalitarian;










40.


confirms that in the countries in which professionals working in education, law, health, psychology, social services, and law enforcement agencies have received specialised training, improvements have been made in detecting gender-based violence early and in providing more specialised victim support services;










41.


calls for protection measures to be stepped up for women who are victims of violence in all regional and local authorities. Among other targeted measures, more police personnel and technological resources should be freed up to safeguard victims' emotional and physical well-being;










42.


encourages the important work of NGOs involved in combating violence against women at the different levels and supports active co-operation with these NGOs, including appropriate logistic and financial support;










43.


suggests that local and regional authorities adopt measures to ensure that women victims and their dependents have access to specialist resources and integrated support services. Temporary accommodation should where possible be immediately available. Specific intervention programmes should be implemented for minors, who should also be considered victims of gender-based violence as they are particularly vulnerable because of their youth and dependence on parents;










44.


encourages decision-makers at the local and regional level to take into account women's safety and means to prevent violent acts in public places in their planning and administration, in particular with regard to necessary measures such as public lighting, the organisation of public transport and taxi services, the design and planning of car parks and residential and public buildings;










45.


calls on regional and local authorities to support legislating bodies' efforts to legislate on gender issues and equal opportunities, and to take a joined-up, holistic approach to gender-based violence by considering the issue in terms of discrimination and the principle of equality. All public authorities and local people need to take a firm stance on the issue: violence against women should be tackled as a structural and political problem;










46.


reminds EU local and regional authorities of their duty to ensure equal treatment between men and women in all fields – economy, education, politics and employment – as stated in Directives 2006/54/EC on the implementation of the principle of equal opportunities and equal treatment of men and women in matters of employment and occupation and 2004/113/EC implementing the principle of equal treatment between women and men in the access to and supply of goods and services. Progress in justice and economic and social development can only be achieved in the regional and local authorities that really take a stand on enforcing equal opportunities between men and women;










47.


stresses the need to encourage local and regional authorities to share good practice on campaigns to raise awareness, prevention, training professionals and support services for women who are victims of violence;










48.


recommends setting up dedicated units, insofar as they do not already exist, within law enforcement agencies, health organisations, and legal and social services to offer specialised support services in cases of violence against women. Additionally, the introduction of emergency services such as anonymous, free of charge telephone helplines and the use of new ICT facilities to provide online counselling and complaints procedures for victims of violence and/or persons confronted or threatened by situations of violence should be explored; these services should also facilitate access to the appropriate medical and forensic medical examination and treatment, as well as to post-traumatic psychological and social support and legal assistance;










49.


suggests rolling out programmes for changing the behaviour of male perpetrators and using quality criteria. Exchange of experience should be encouraged to optimise the use of resources;










50.


calls on the EU institutions and regional and local authorities to implement dedicated programmes – using quality criteria – which offer of the necessary support and follow-up services for women who are victims or have been victims of gender-based violence, together with their dependents;










51.


calls on regional and local authorities to use the definition of violence against women which is set out in Resolution 48/104 of the UN General Assembly, and was adopted on 20 December 1993;










52.


recommends ensuring tailored services are provided for particularly vulnerable women: women with disabilities for example, women immigrants, and women living in areas which are less well covered by social services, such as deprived urban or rural areas, as well as women with special needs arising from multiple social issues such as mental health problems and drug addiction;










53.


believes that robust efforts are needed to combat human trafficking or other means of exploitation for the purpose of sexual exploitation, for exploitative labour (domestic work, the catering industry, caring for children, the elderly and the sick, etc.), for the commercial marriage market and for organ trading, and to combat the practices of female genital mutilation and forced marriage. It is equally needed to develop and evaluate existing national and international models and methods to prevent and to put an end to these forms of violence. General measures to opinion-forming and awareness–raising of citizens are crucial in order to solve the problem;










54.


recommends the adoption of the measures to raise awareness, prevention and attention to women victims of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM);










55.


suggests that regional and local authorities should roll out programmes which help women who have been victims of abuse or exposed to violence get back to work and get on with their lives, by encouraging employers to take on these women or encouraging their self employment, and using training and action plans to advance their careers and help them become financially independent;










56.


calls on local and regional authorities to set up joint, co-ordinated ways of working across all departments and sectors to improve the provision of holistic support services for victims of violence, as well as facilitate the prosecution of individuals accused of domestic violence against women;










57.


calls on all relevant institutions dealing with violence against women (police, medical and social services) to draw up medium- and long-term co-ordinated action plans to combat violence and ensure the protection of victims; The media can be a useful means for disseminating information on such co-ordinated action plans and should be used to raise awareness about these issues;










58.


calls on the media working at all levels to play their part in awareness-raising so that prevention work is carried out and everything is done to eradicate gender-based violence, and to ensure the processes are in place to ensure information on violence against women is properly circulated;










59.


suggests that an EU observatory on violence against women should be set up. This observatory shall function within the existing European Institute for Gender Equality, created by Regulation (CE) 1922/2006, and would promote and coordinate measures adopted on the issue by local and regional authorities to promote and co-ordinate measures adopted on the issue through active networking;










60.


with the support of all the European institutions, the Committee of the Regions intends to promote a Community policy ensuring that women are completely emancipated and able to participate fully in society, starting with local and regional authorities. This will be achieved by implementing effective procedures to prevent violence through education and social policy. The procedures will improve services for victims by training professionals, and providing a social support network which will ensure women are better protected.





Brussels, 7 October 2009


The President of the Committee of the Regions

Luc VAN DEN BRANDE