Do European Parties Care about Gender Equality?

Aspirational Statements

1 out of 5 

Gender-based violence

“Combat gender-based violence by calling for the ratification of remaining countries to the Istanbul Convention, a harmonised definition of rape based on the lack of consent, and the implementation of EU-wide restraining orders.”

Reform ideas 

4 out of 5 

• Ratification of remaining countries to the Istanbul Convention
• Harmonised definition of rape based on the lack of consent
• Implementation of EU-wide restraining orders
• Expand the EU Crimes list to include gender, sex, and gender identity as areas in which hate crime can manifest itself.

TOTAL: 5 out of 10 (Orange)

Aspirational Statements

5 out of 5 

Employment and workers rights

“We will fight for equal pay for equal work and equal opportunities for all at work. Fully eliminating the gender pay gap through binding measures for all employers is long overdue. The gender pay gap depends on factors such as ethnicity, disability, access to education, and age. Different groups of women experience very different gaps in pay.”

“Universal and equal access to childcare and long-term care facilities and the revision of the Work-Life Balance Directive and the Maternity Leave Directive can move Europe towards fully paid parental leave of equal and sufficient duration.”

“A feminist Europe must guarantee policies that ensure financial independence for women, notably by abolishing tax regimes that discriminate against women and ending the gender pay gap via binding measures for companies and public authorities. We demand universal and equal access to childcare. We call for the revision of the Work Life Balance Directive and the Maternity Leave Directive to advance towards fully paid maternity and paternity leaves of equal length.”

Gender-based violence

“we want to build a world where we all live free from violence, racism, sexism, queerphobia and coercion.”

“All women and girls across Europe, including those marginalised on the grounds of race, gender, gender identity, age, sexual characteristics, sexual orientation, disability, class or migration status have the right to live a life free from violence. Gender-based violence is a brutal human rights violation and an expression of unequal power relations in our societies.” 

“We continue our unswerving fight for comprehensive EU legislation that prevents, responds to, and ends gender-based violence online and offline across the EU and addresses it from an intersectional and structural perspective. Greens emphasise the role of communities in harm prevention and strengthening victims’ rights with specialised support, access to justice, and protection for victims with special attention to marginalised communities. All EU member states must ratify the Istanbul Convention. The EU should add gender-based violence to the list of EU crimes.” 

“Women and racialized people suffer from disproportionate amounts of online hate. The internet must be free from illegal hate speech and discrimination. The EU should use its powers to make particularly harmful manifestations of hate chargeable as EU crimes with minimum rules regarding their definition and related sanctions. We want to give support to platforms, civil society organisations, and media initiatives promoting media literacy and anti-hate strategies.”

Sexual and reproductive health and rights

“We fight for a world where we get to decide over our bodies.”

“We fight to expand reproductive freedom. Sexual and reproductive health and rights, including the right to safe abortion, are fundamental rights. They belong in the EU treaties – as core principles and competences of the EU and in the directly applicable Charter of Fundamental Rights. Safe and legal abortion must be available in all EU member states. Abortion care is an essential health service. We stand up against the devastating regression on reproductive rights all over the world. No one should be criminalised for seeking or accessing abortion services. Women must have access to medical abortions. As Greens, we advocate the provision of free, high-quality contraceptives for all. Young people have the right to comprehensive sexuality education”

Gender Mainstreaming

“Gender mainstreaming must make sure that European money benefits men and women equally.” 

Gender balance and access to power

“We defend a binding parity mechanism for the lists in the European elections and gender balance in EU decision-making, including for the top jobs. The EU Commission and the Council need specific portfolios for women’s rights and gender equality.” 

“Climate and environmental initiatives as well as efforts that strengthen the political, social, and economic participation of women are essential to building peace and providing security through development.” 

“Women and marginalised groups continue to have limited access to power across the world. A feminist foreign policy will put gender equality and human security at the core of our foreign and security policy.”

“We need to ensure political and civic participation of girls, women, and marginalised groups as well as an inclusive quality education for girls and young women. We must promote the economic empowerment of girls, women, and marginalised groups as a key foreign policy objective. This includes the creation of a fund to support local feminist organisations.”

Reform ideas

5 out of 5 

• Universal and equal access to childcare and long-term care facilities 
• the Charter of Fundamental Rights to be directly applicable to European citizens and fundamental rights to be direct EU competencies. 
• Overall assessment of the EU Anti-Discrimination framework, acknowledging the need for an intersectional and comprehensive approach.
• Abolishing tax regimes that discriminate against women
• revision of the Work Life Balance Directive and the Maternity Leave Directive to advance towards fully paid maternity and paternity leaves of equal length
• specific portfolios for women’s rights and gender equality in the EU Commission and the Council
• All EU member states must ratify the Istanbul Convention. 
• The EU should add gender-based violence to the list of EU crimes. 
• Make harmful manifestations of hate chargeable as EU crimes with minimum rules regarding their definition and related sanctions.
• Creation of a fund to support local feminist organisations.

TOTAL 10 out of 10 (green)

Aspirational Statements

4 out of 5

Employment and work rights

“We want to close the gender pay, care, and pension gaps by 2030 with binding measures”

“We want to increase women’s employment in both quantity and quality and ensure a better work-life balance.”

“SMEs, the self-employed, start-ups, cooperatives and social economy enterprises are essential and must be supported, especially female and young entrepreneurs.”

“We need to strengthen the EU’s common agricultural policy to support farmers, especially young, women, and small-scale farmers, and agricultural workers.”

Gender-based violence

“A Europe that stands for an end to gender-based violence and discrimination.”

“We will push for the swift adoption of the Directive on gender-based violence and make violence against women an EU crime, and we will continue to support the “yes means yes” principle.”

“We will introduce legislation that safeguards women of all ages against sexual harassment and exploitation and push the EU and all Member States to fully implement the Istanbul Convention.”

“There must be zero tolerance for sexism”

Sexual and reproductive health and rights

“A feminist Europe that stands up for equal rights, women’s control over their lives and bodies”

“Women must be in control of their own lives and bodies with free and full access to their sexual and reproductive health and rights.” 

Gender Mainstreaming

“The fight for gender equality must be reflected in all policies and budgets.” 

Reform ideas

2 out 5

• The swift adoption of the Directive on gender-based violence and making violence against women an EU crime
• Introduce legislation that safeguards women of all ages against sexual harassment and exploitation and push the EU and all Member States to fully implement the Istanbul Convention.

TOTAL: 6 out of 10 (Orange)

Aspirational Statements

1 out of 5 

Gender balance and access to power

“Europe’s languages represented, gender equality in the institutions and the special needs of each region recognised.”

“Further legislation regarding women’s empowerment and protection has to be developed. To achieve it, women need to be heard. In 2022, the global share of women in national parliaments reached 26.2% – up from 22.4% in 2015. At that pace, it will take another 40 years for women and men to be represented equally in national parliaments. In the European Parliament during the 2019-2024 term, just over 40% of MEPs were women – still well below parity. Addressing this situation would increase the legitimacy of European institutions while bridging the democratic gap between them and the citizens. It would also improve the efficiency and responsiveness of EU policies, better fitting women’s needs.”

“However, we must recognise that the underrepresentation of women is not only a legal matter, but also a result of cultural and social norms that create and maintain gender stereotypes. The EU, its member states and the media must take more action to change mentalities regarding the role of women and take action against cultural stereotypes.”

Reform ideas

None

Total: 1 out of 10 (red)

Aspirational Statements

3 out of 5

Employment and work rights

“We are fully committed to promoting gender equality by ensuring everyone has equal access to education and employment opportunities in key sectors.

• Ensure equal pay for men and women.
• Consider equality as a factor of competitiveness by allowing the integration of all available talent into the productive system. 
• Fight harassment in the workplace and advance gender equality constantly and relentlessly in all aspects of life.”

“We are also firmly convinced that we must increase the representation of girls and women in scientific studies and careers. We will develop mentoring and awareness-raising programmes and build real professional networks”.

Gender-based violence

“We must also eradicate gender-based violence, which remains a major problem in Europe.”

• Eradicate all forms of violence against women and children and gender-based violence.

Sexual and reproductive health and rights

• Guarantee sexual and reproductive rights throughout the European Union.

Reform ideas

none

Total: 3 out of 10 (Red)

Aspirational Statements

5 out of 5 

Employment and workers rights

”Society must invest in public care systems and address the disproportionate responsibility for care work borne by women and girls, supporting its defamilialization and tackling women’s poverty.”

“The EU needs to increase wages and close the gender pay gap”. 

“The majority of workers in the care economy are women. The Party of the European Left is committed to fighting, together with the trade unions and the feminist movement, for socially and financially decent work for women.”

“The European Left demands equal opportunities for women. It wants to put an end to the inequality that women suffer in Europe simply because they are working women.”

“We denounce the persistent gender pay and pension gap and fight for the recognition and redistribution of care work, which still falls almost exclusively on women’s shoulders. We demand the promotion of public care systems.”

“Feminist economics and gender equality are fundamental to a human economy; they are a core component of the new, fairer, human economy we want to achieve. It is now time to address and fully recognise the role of unpaid and underpaid care work.”

Gender-based violence

“The Party of the European Left considers feminism fundamental to building a Europe of peace, self- determination, freedom, and equality, free from violence against women. In war, we see the most extreme expression of patriarchal violence. The feminist ideal is therefore the logical antithesis to any kind of militarism and armament.”

“We oppose all forms of oppression based on class, gender, ethnicity, colour, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, disability and age.”

“Together with feminist movements, we fight against the sexist violence and machismo that women suffer throughout their lives and demand a comprehensive legal and political framework to deal with gender-based violence in all its forms.”

“EU accession to the Istanbul Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence; there is a need for a comprehensive EU policy framework to eliminate all gender-based violence in all European countries.”

“Recognition of the term ‘femicide’ in EU and Member State legislation and adoption of a common definition of rape in the EU Guaranteed decent work for women – targeted policies to ensure equal opportunities for men and women.”

sexual and reproductive health and rights

“The European Left defends the right of women to make autonomous decisions about motherhood and their bodies. It demands that the right to universally accessible contraceptive services and safe abortion be guaranteed by the European Treaties throughout Europe.”

gender mainstreaming

“The Party of the European Left wants to make a feminist perspective the criterion for the EU’s economic, environmental and social policies, as well as in health, education and culture”

gender balance and access to power

“Women’s empowerment and leadership, together with their access to decision-making on equal terms, is an essential key factor in a just transition.”

Reform ideas

 5 out of 5

• Adopt an EU directive against social inequalities and discrimination in education based on class, gender, sexual orientation and gender identity
• the right to universally accessible contraceptive services and safe abortion guaranteed by the European Treaties throughout Europe.
• EU accession to the Istanbul Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence
• Recognition of the term ‘femicide’ in EU and Member State legislation and adoption of a common definition of rape in the EU Guaranteed decent work for women 
• Immediate transposition of the EU Equal Pay Directive into national law in all Member States.
• Increased and guaranteed pensions for women.
• An EU Directive requiring EU Member States to provide access to antenatal and maternal health services, voluntary family planning and free, safe and legal abortion.

Total:10 out of 10 (Green)

Aspirational Statements

2 out of 5 

Employment and workers rights

“We are fighting for equal opportunities for women in the labour market. We want to ensure that men and women receive equal pay for equal work.”

Gender-based violence

“We want women to live without fear of any form of violence. The fight against organised crime is also a fight for the rights of oppressed women”

“Forced marriage, female genital mutilation and any other form of violence against women under religious or cultural pretext must not be tolerated. Figures on violence against women in daily life are alarming: one in two women has experienced a form of sexual harassment.” “Domestic violence is too often a daily reality. On average, two women in the EU are killed by a partner or family member every day. Only a third of cases of physical or sexual abuse within families is reported to the police. The EU is taking decisive steps towards ending violence against women. We led negotiations to criminalise violence against women everywhere in Europe. This means that EU Member States are compelled to punish perpetrators of violence against women, including cyber violence. The Istanbul Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence must be fully implemented throughout the EU. Violence against women in the digital space must be combatted vigorously and the issue must be raised at all political levels to swiftly act to support victims, their needs and their security. Enabling and empowering women is crucial

and, to do so, education is key. No woman should be afraid of walking freely on the streets or fear retaliation from a partner or endure any form of abuse in her private or professional life.”

Reform ideas

2 out of 5

• The Istanbul Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence must be fully implemented throughout the EU
• funding programme to significantly increase the number of women-led start-ups in areas of technological innovation such as AI.
• 1,000 officers to be deployed in a Europol special unit to combat prostitution and trafficking of women and girls.

Total: 4 out of 10 (red)

Aspirational Statements

0 out of 5

Reform ideas

None

Total: 0 out of 10 (black)

Aspirational Statements

0 out of 5

Reform ideas

None

Total: 0 out of 10 (black)