The evolution and history of European women coincide with the evolution and the history of Europe itself. Categorically, modern-day women in Europe are women who live in or are from the European continent.
Equality between women and men is one of the European Union’s founding values. It goes back to 1957 when the principle of equal pay for equal work became part of the Treaty of Rome.
The Commissioner for Human Rights published a Human Rights Comment on 6 March 2014 calling for hate speech against women to be specifically tackled in all member states. Against a background of proliferating hate speech, notably on the Internet, with daily calls for violence against women and threats of murder, sexual assault or rape, the Commissioner urged member states to prohibit by law any advocacy of gender hatred that constituted incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence. The Commissioner stressed that political and opinion leaders in Europe should send a signal to the public that clearly shows that violent discourse against women has no place in a democratic society and will not be tolerated.
The Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul Convention) came into force on 1 August 2014.  The Commissioner for Human Rights called on all member states of the Council of Europe to ratify this landmark treaty, as it addresses all forms of violence against women (either in the context of domestic violence or through stalking, sexual harassment, sexual violence and rape, forced marriage, female genital mutilation and forced abortion and sterilisation). The Convention clearly spells out the state obligation to prevent violence, protect victims and punish the perpetrators, and offers a holistic set of measures to take action where it is needed.
Text extracted from https://rm.coe.int/ref/CommDH(2015)4
Other resources:
http://ec.europa.eu/justice/gender-equality/
https://ec.europa.eu/info/strategy/justice-and-fundamental-rights/discrimination/gender-equality_en
http://ec.europa.eu/justice/gender-equality/document/files/strategic_engagement_en.pdf