Pd and M5S vote against the directive on gender violence
Sexual harassment, abuse, genital mutilation, forced marriages, sending sexual photos online, these are just some of the most well-known and terrible forms of violence against women. This is a growing phenomenon of gender violence in Italy and Europe, one in three Europeans has suffered it.
And yesterday the European Parliament said yes, by an overwhelming majority, to a law that aims to prevent and protect victims. The new directive would constitute the following crimes in the EU: female genital mutilation, forced marriage, non-consensual sharing of intimate or manipulated material, online stalking, online harassment, incitement to hatred or violence online.
Once adopted, the new directive will establish common rules on the definition of such crimes and related sanctions. In particular, as regards forced marriage, a new article 6c introduces it, also with an extraterritorial dimension as regards forced marriages concluded in countries other than the country of residence. The directive will also introduce aggravating circumstances such as the recurrence of violence against women, the commission of acts of violence against vulnerable people or minors and the use of extremely serious levels of violence.
A vote that seemed to be almost taken for granted, and which in fact had a very large majority in favor, yet two Italian parties, PD and Five Star voted no to this first step in defense of the female gender. The vote against by the Pd and M5s came despite the Italian Coordination of the European Women's Lobby having sent an appeal to MEPs inviting all European parliamentarians to vote in favour, explaining in a letter how “the EWL (European Women's Lobby) fought strenuously for the inclusion of Article 5 in the Directive, which proposed a harmonized definition of rape based on the standards of the Istanbul Convention”.
However, at this point in the negotiations, it is impossible to include any amendment without setting aside the agreement reached by the European Parliament and thus jeopardizing the adoption of the directive indefinitely. It is essential, therefore, to seize this opportunity to adopt the first ever directive on combating violence against women, which will have a significant impact on their lives, both today and in the future.”
Instead, Ely Schlein's party, always very attentive to women's rights, and Giuseppe Conte's party preferred to say no to the directive, with difficult to understand justifications, “Today I voted against the directive on gender VIOLENCE because the text represents a 'missed opportunity, a downward mediation made once again on the body of WOMEN. Due to the short-sightedness and arrogance of national governments, a far-sighted and innovative text approved by Parliament and the Commission has been emptied”, said Pina Picierno, Pd MEP and vice-president of the European Parliament, according to whom the agreement reached would actually be a The fact remains that the directive obtained 522 votes in favor and only 29 against and 72 abstentions. The comment of the co-president of the ECR, Nicola Procaccini, was very harsh: “Frankly, I find the vote against the Pd and 5Stelle on the directive disconcerting. to combat violence against women, especially in the domestic sphere. A senseless attitude. For once we were all in agreement, from right to left, including the socialist rapporteur, the Pd and 5 Star MEPs chose the vote against almost alone''.
For Procaccini, it sends a “message of distance and disinterest to Italian and European women. This directive allows women to escape from fear and prescribes severe rules against violence, but also adequate health and psychological assistance to the victims. A measure that garnered the consensus of practically the entire Parliament, except our 'civil rights champions'. In short, a decision that actually leaves us rather perplexed, considering how the Democratic Party and Five Star are very careful when it comes to quotas for women and women's rights. The directive requires that priority be given to the safety and well-being of victims, including through access to sheltered accommodation. It will be mandatory to make healthcare accessible to them, including sexual and reproductive health services. Furthermore, national authorities will have increased reporting and evidence-gathering obligations and will have to raise public awareness that non-consensual sex is considered a crime. The European Parliament requested and obtained that the European Commission reports every five years on the opportunity to review the legislation. The text had already been informally agreed with the EU Council on 6 February in Strasbourg, after a long negotiation (five rounds since last July). On that occasion, the negotiators of the European Parliament had failed to convince a large group of Member States (including France, Germany, the Netherlands, Austria and Hungary) to agree on a common European definition of the crime of rape as an act based on coercion, not necessarily violent, to a non-consensual sexual act. The periodic review of the directive by the Commission could serve, at least so we hope, to return to this definition, when circumstances are more favourable.
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