Gender inequalities and poverty 

Gender inequalities and poverty are intrinsically linked, and form part of a vicious cycle. Because of gender inequalities, women have access to fewer resources, are less-well paid and have more precarious jobs, if they manage to access the job market at all. Poverty leads women to more frequent instances of violence and discrimination, including in access to justice or access to healthcare. Depending on various criteria such as age, ethnic origin or disability, some women have even higher risks to live in poverty and to experience discrimination.  

Building bridges between equality bodies and women in poverty 

Because of their mandate and the scope of their work, equality bodies can often help identify the specific needs and injustices suffered by various groups of women in poverty. Therefore, they can assist them when they are victims of unfair treatment. But in order to do that, they need to be better informed of the issues faced by these women and to engage in a constructive dialogue with them.  

Online Roundtable “Women in Poverty: Breaking the Cycle”  

On 22 October 2020, Equinet will organise, together with the Institute of Women and for Equal Opportunities in Spain, an online roundtable to create space for discussion on breaking the cycle of women in poverty. The event will build bridges by bringing together equality bodies and civil society organisations working on women in poverty. 

The objectives of the event are to: 

• Give a platform for women in poverty to tell their stories 
• Identify their specific needs 
• Explore how equality bodies can support them 

By hearing concrete examples, equality bodies and organisations of women in poverty will gain a better understanding of the issues and develop potential actions to address the injustices and inequalities, and ultimately better assist women in poverty.  
 
The event will take place online on Zoom.  
Live interpretation into English/Spanish will be provided.  
 
Please note that there are two sessions: a roundtable session in the morning, and smaller group discussions in the afternoon. The morning session is open to all, while for the afternoon session there will be limited availability. In the afternoon, staff of national equality bodies and civil society organisations will be given priority due to the limited number of spots available in both working groups. 

We kindly ask you to register by 14 October in order to receive relevant material ahead of and following the event.

Register for the morning session here. 
Register for the afternoon session here.

Draft Agenda

To download the agenda click here. 

On Thursday, the Civil Liberties, Culture, and Petitions committees will hold a public hearing on the initiative that collected “one million signatures for diversity in Europe”.

The initiative’s organisers aim to improve the protection of people belonging to national and linguistic minorities, and to strengthen cultural and linguistic diversity in the EU. They will present their proposals for potential legal acts, in the presence of MEPs from several EP committees and representatives of the European Commission, the Council of Europe, the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights, and the Committee of the Regions.

The joint hearing is organised by the Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee and the Culture and Education Committee, in association with the Committee on Petitions. It is the first European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) hearing to take place remotely.

When: 15 October 2020, 9:00 - 13:00.

Where: European Parliament in Brussels, József Antall building, room 4Q2, with remote participation.

You can watch the hearing live here. Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, journalists are strongly advised to follow it online.

Background

The EU introduced European Citizens’ Initiatives in order to enhance direct democracy. A group of citizens can put forward an initiative and, if more than one million citizens from at least seven member states support it, then the European Commission has to take action.

Parliament was instrumental in 2019 in reforming the rules for ECIs to strengthen citizens’ voices, and again in 2020 in ensuring that the COVID-19 pandemic will not impede ongoing and future initiatives.

Después de analizar el caso, la síndica de greuges de Barcelona, Maria Assumpció Vilà, ha concluido que la promotora de la queja ha actuado de forma adecuada y suficiente, pero ha habido un problema de coordinación interadministrativa.

Barcelona, 13 de octubre de 2020 – El pasado 20 de junio de 2020 una ciudadana pidió la intervención de la síndica de greuges de Barcelona por una supuesta falta de respuesta a las peticiones que había formulado sobre acreditación de los servicios prestados y antigüedad al Instituto Municipal de Educación de Barcelona.

La promotora de la queja reside en la ciudad de Logroño y, en uso de los impresos ordinarios con la cabecera del Ayuntamiento destinados a presentar instancias, formalizó dos escritos en el registro del Ministerio de Política Territorial y Función Pública, Delegación del Gobierno en la Rioja.

Dear PACE members,

It is a pleasure to meet with you today, although only from cyberspace. I would have preferred to get together with you last April at your plenary session to discuss my annual report. Regrettably, the pandemic made it impossible and I was only able to circulate my report without a discussion. I trust you have had a chance to read it, and I will be happy to answer any questions you may have about it later. Instead of going through the activity report, I would today like to focus on pressing human rights issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic and the measures adopted to cope with it.

During this Standing Committee meeting you are going to discuss four reports linked to the impact of COVID-19 on human rights, democracy, the rule of law, migrants, gender equality and discrimination. I consider these reports very timely.

The COVID-19 pandemic has put a strain on the functioning of our democracies and has exacerbated long-standing human rights problems. Some emergency decrees, often adopted without parliamentary debates, have had a disproportionate impact on particular groups of people.

The case of older persons is emblematic. In many of our member states they have paid the highest toll, not only due to the health vulnerability associated with age, but also on account of the bad management of the health crisis, including neglect, abuse and lack of preparedness in long-term care facilities. Those living independently also suffered because of the lockdown measures that further isolated them from their families and the rest of the community, and little was done to limit or reduce this suffering.

These issues predate the pandemic. They are the result of structural failings that have been neglected over the years.

The human rights of migrants have also been disproportionally affected by the measures adopted to contain the spread of COVID-19. Migrants in distress at sea have found themselves in an even more precarious situation, as if that were possible. Member states have become even more reluctant to carry out rescues. Disembarkation of survivors has often been delayed for prolonged periods, including for lack of solidarity, thus endangering the health and lives of the migrants and those who rescued them.

The pandemic also seems to have reinforced member states’ already strong tendency to ensure that asylum seekers and migrants arriving irregularly are kept out at all costs, even when this entails clear violations of the right to apply for asylum, of freedom from ill-treatment, and of the prohibition of collective expulsions. Reports of pushbacks have become even more frequent, and the way they are being carried out is more blatant, while governments have often proved unwilling to investigate credible allegations.

The pandemic has also put a magnifying glass on continuing violence against women, gender inequalities and barriers in women’s access to sexual and reproductive health care. The lockdowns imposed in several European countries placed women at greater risk of gender-based violence, in particular domestic violence and sexual violence. Women’s access to sexual and reproductive health and rights has also continued to be hindered by pre-existing and new barriers, such as the sometimes high cost of contraception, economic difficulties or limited freedom of movement.

In several European states there have been reports of harmful practices imposed on women in childbirth, medically unjustified separations of mothers and new-born babies, refusal of a birth companion’s presence and other failures to ensure adequate standards of care and respect for women’s rights, dignity and autonomy in childbirth. These practices, as well as legislative initiatives that may undermine women’s human rights, are still being implemented in a number of countries and may impede women’s access to sexual and reproductive health and rights.

(...)

When:

 16 October 2020

Where:

 Warsaw, Poland

FRA and the European Commission Representation in Poland

Website:

 A Long Way to Go for LGBTI Equality(link is external)

Joint event

The FRA Director, Michael O’Flaherty will deliver a video message to an online seminar discussing its ‘A long way to go for LGBTI equality’ report.

• DOWNLOAD REPORT ON LGBTI EQUALITY

FRA and the European Commission Representation in Poland organised the Europe of Equal Rights event. Helena Dalli, the EU Equality Commissioner will also participate in the event on 16 October.