16 June 2009

Leeds
 OUTLINE
• European Women’s Lobby and VAW

– individuals
– intersectoral
– international

• EWL and our position

• Nordic Baltic Project model

• European Observatory on VAW model

EUROPEAN WOMEN’S LOBBY
• Expert NGO to European Union

• 27 Member States, 3 candidate countries

and 20 European organisations

• Equality policy and legislation, decision

making, social protection and economic
independence, migration…..

• Violence against women (VAW) –

European Policy Action Centre on Violence
Against Women – EPAC VAW
 EWL MISSION

• To work together to achieve equality

between women and men

• To promote the empowerment of all

women

• To combat all forms of violence against

women and to ensure women’s human
rights are taken into consideration in all
EU policy
EWL believes it is necessary to combat all
forms of violence against women
including, rape, sexual assault,
pornography, prostitution, female genital
mutilation, sexual harassment and
domestic violence
 EWL ASSERTS..

• strategies to confront VAW including

prostitution and trafficking must be multi-
faceted addressing on the one hand the needs
of women whose human rights are violated
while at the same time targeting at the client, the
procurer and other people benefiting from the
sex industry
• the definition of male violence includes all
forms of sexual exploitation
 NORDIC BALTIC PROJECT and
the EU ACTION PLAN

• Coordination of EU Actions
• Scoping the problem
• Preventing trafficking
• Reducing the demand
• Investigation and prosecution
• Protecting and supporting victims
• Return and integration
• External relations
EPAC VAW and the EUROPEAN
OBSERVATORY
• Board
• Advisory group

• Networking
• Cookbook

www.epacvaw.org

• Observatory – experts from 30 countries

• National Observatories on VAW

 NATIONAL OBSERVATORIES

Ireland – Monica O’Connor

- women’s action against pornography
- legislation, enforcement
- data on the sex industry
- women’s stories
 WHERE WE STAND – challenging
arguments
Pornography is

• not sexually liberating

• not freedom of expression
• not fantasy – real women
• prostitution
• similar in respect to women and children
 WHERE WE STAND – issues of
concern
• Impacts and consequences for women

• Racism and migrant women

• Links to VAW

• Normalisation

• Impact
 RECOMMENDATIONS
• Research

• Legislation

• Enforcement

• Discussion, debate and education

• Services

• Strategies and actions

 SUMMARY

• NGO action – EWL

• Individual, intersectoral, international

• Universal approach
legislation
research and understanding
services
www.womenlobby.org
www.epacvaw.org
www.5050democracy.eu