Brussels: Europe and the Arabs
On the occasion of International Women's Day today, March 8, a joint statement was issued by the European Commission and the Office of the Supreme Coordinator of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, stating:
“The growing global repression of women and girls, and attacks on their human rights, is alarming. We stand with women in Iran, where their freedoms are systematically curtailed. And those in Afghanistan, where the Taliban are trying to erase the very existence of women and girls from the public space, as well as in Nowhere else in the world are women's rights and fundamental freedoms threatened or denied.
We are also deeply concerned by reports that sexual violence against women and children in Ukraine is being used by the Russian Armed Forces as a weapon of war. These acts constitute war crimes and the perpetrators must be brought to justice. We will continue to work with our international partners to make Russia pay for these atrocities.
To promote global accountability, the European Union has adopted a package of sanctions against perpetrators of sexual and gender-based violence.
There is also good news. The European Union has taken historic decisions to ensure that women in the European Union have the same opportunities as men. For example, with new EU rules on gender balance on company boards or pay transparency. We also want to establish EU-wide rules to combat violence against women and domestic violence.”