The European Union (EU) plays a crucial role in advancing gender equality across its Member States. With its authority, it can compel Member States to adopt progressive measures aimed at fostering a feminist, free, and equal Europe. One significant avenue through which we have been advocating for the EU to promote gender equality is by leveraging its funding mechanisms. By incorporating gender equality and intersectionality into the distribution of EU funds, resources can be allocated more effectively to support initiatives aimed at advancing women’s and LGBTIQ+ rights, both within the EU and internationally. We worked relentlessly for the first ever EU Directive on violence against women, through which the Union is pushing Member States to take more measures to protect women and girls from gender-based violence, online and offline. Our feminist MEPs are committed to shape an EU which works towards holding digital platforms accountable for facilitating hate speech, so-called revenge porn and other forms of gender-based online. We want to secure that new emerging technology, including AI, doesn’t discriminate or set back our rights and freedoms.We were part of making history through the adoption of the Pay Transparency directive, which will force employers to make information about their employers salaries more transparent and establish measures to close the gendered pay gap in companies.
Through the Women on Boards Directive we pushed to take the a first step towards achieving more gender balance in company boards, and pushing for more gender equality at the top of corporate
Furthermore, we are committed to protecting the rights of the LGBTIQ+ community and ensuring that sexual and reproductive health and rights are upheld through legislation and empowering societal change.
Keywords: gender equality, feminism, social inclusion, human rights, sexual equality, women’s empowerment
