Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-02-01-Speech-3-169"
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"en.20060201.17.3-169"2
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"Mr President, I fully agree with the report and with what the rapporteur has just said. Violence against women is certainly today the most widespread instance of the violation of human rights worldwide. It is a form of violence that knows no geographical barriers or age limits among the victims, nor does it make any distinction on the basis of class or of cultural or family origins. It is truly the most widespread crime in the world, against which the European Commission and the institutions of the European Union have an institutional and moral duty to take a firm stand.
I particularly welcome the report before us because it addresses the main areas that Europe’s institutions need to tackle. The Commission has launched a number of initiatives to help the Member States adopt strong preventive and reactive policies designed to eradicate violence against women. We are developing legal instruments to encourage close cooperation between Member States on policing activities; on the definitions of crimes, which often do not coincide; and, of course, on strengthening those measures designed to target and eradicate such crimes from civil society and to afford more effective protection for the victims of violence.
Most of the initiatives mentioned in the report come under the Daphne programme, with which we are all familiar: they include victim support and training measures, programmes to reintegrate victims of violence into society, study and research projects, the development of European policies, data gathering, and the definition of indicators, which are unfortunately still lacking.
The Daphne programme, which the Commission intends to continue and develop further, covers all forms of violence, including domestic violence, which is one of the most serious kinds. Unfortunately, these crimes are not represented in legal statistics because, in the vast majority of cases, the victims do not report violent episodes that take place within the family home. The measures in question also include a relentless fight against female genital mutilation, an horrendous practice that we must punish severely, and so-called ‘honour crimes’, which we should rename ‘dishonour crimes’: it is best not to term it an ‘honour’ crime when a man beats a woman for that kind of reason.
The report mentions the need to gather data and draw up statistics, since reliable statistics are one of the basic requirements for making more effective decisions at European level. The Commission is working on that and, in collaboration with Eurostat, has set up a European system of statistics on crime and criminal justice: violence against women is, of course, one of the areas on which we shall very soon publish statistics calculated from the measures and the data that the Member States make available to us. I believe that by June 2006 we shall for the first time be able to publish a series of European statistics on crimes and the judicial response to crimes, and they will obviously contain a chapter devoted to violence against women.
On the subject of female genital mutilation, the Commission has financed a large number of projects, all under the Daphne programme, which have produced positive results. I can also add that, in the area of European immigration and asylum measures, the directive on minimum standards for granting refugee status defines acts of sexual violence against women as sufficient grounds for granting refugee status. I can also assure the rapporteur that, although female genital mutilation is not explicitly included in the text of the directive in question, the Commission does regard it as an act of violence perpetrated for sexual purposes, and it is therefore included among the reasons that, in my view, justify the granting of refugee status.
I have given this example, Mr President, in order to stress the need to tackle the issue of violence against women at a European level and from every possible angle: from trafficking in human beings, to migration policies, to equal opportunities – hence the need for non-discrimination. In more general terms, we need to use the courts, employment policy and social policies as practical enforcement instruments. I feel institutionally, politically and also morally bound by these objectives, which will therefore be specific priorities for our work over the coming months."@en1
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