Brussels – With International Women’s Day just a few days away, the European Union is attempting—at least on paper—to show its sensitivity to the issue of gender equality. The EU Commissioner for Equality, Preparedness and Crisis Management, Hadja Lahbib, and the Commissioner for Skills, Education, Culture, Labour and Social Rights, Roxana Mînzatu, today (5 March) presented the new Strategy for Gender Equality for the 2026–2030 period. The Brussels executive’s measure aims to address gender equality “in all aspects of life” and to manage violence against women more effectively, with a particular focus on “modern threats such as cyber violence and risks related to AI.”
Starting from this last point, Lahbib recalled at the press conference how “a recent survey by the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights highlighted that one in three European women has been a victim of some form of gender-based violence, while according to Eurostat, there are 18 femicides per week in all European countries.” Digital violence, in particular, requires urgent measures: “Girls are disproportionately affected, with 99 per cent of AI-modified pornographic images depicting women,” the Belgian politician emphasised. For this reason, the Strategy provides for measures “to combat sexually explicit deepfakes and deepnudes and improve the protection of women online through structured regulation with major social platforms based on the safeguards provided for in Digital Services Act.” Also of great importance is the issue of defining rape as any sexual act without the “free and current consent” of both parties. For Lahbib, it is necessary that “all EU states adopt national laws to this effect.”
The Commissioner for Equality then highlighted the main change in the new Strategy compared to that for the 2020–2025 period: “For the first time, the issue of women’s health is being treated as a specific policy area.” The proposed initiatives include an EU-WHO (World Health Organisation) project “to improve the quality and accessibility of healthcare for women,” new measures to address gaps in medical research, diagnosis and gender-sensitive treatments in collaboration with the European Medicines Agency (EMA), and a review of clinical trials “to ensure they reflect the diversity of the population, with particular reference to women and vulnerable groups.” Lahbib also announced the launch of a new project, called “SHIELD“, to improve women’s access to sexual and reproductive health. “We have heard loud and clear the call of the‘My Voice, My Choice’initiative for safe abortion,” said the Belgian politician, despite the controversy that arose after the Commission’s “non-response” on 26 February.
The Commission’s Strategy also devotes considerable space to the economic dimension of gender equality. “The crystallisation of gender inequalities has an economic cost: Eurofound data show that the gender pay gap costs the EU €390 billion a year,” warned Commissioner Mînzatu. Achieving full equality, on the other hand, “could increase the continent’s GDP per capita by 9.6 per cent and create 10 million more jobs by 2050,” added the Romanian politician. The Strategy therefore aims to “provide concrete support to Member States in the full implementation of the pay transparency Directive and the one on gender balance on corporate boards.” An Action Plan is also being developed to encourage the presence of women in STEM and the financial sectors.
Political representation is also one of the main areas of focus in the document presented today. According to a recent report by the EU Parliament’s research service, the proportion of female MEPs fell to 38.5 per cent after the 2024 elections (in 2019 it had reached a 41 per cent “peak”) and, as Commissioner Lahbib pointed out, ‘according to a report by UN Women, it would still take 130 years to achieve full equality between men and women in top leadership positions.” Furthermore, “even when women do gain power, they often become targets of hatred and violence.” For this reason, Lahbib announced that the Commission will draft a recommendation on personal security in politics, “in order to protect female candidates and elected representatives from online and offline threats.”
“While others are taking steps backwards, the EU is moving forward, protecting the rights it has achieved, relaunching progress and tackling resistance with courage and clarity,” Lahbib commented, wishing everyone a happy 8 March.
English version by the Translation Service of Withub
