Leo van Doesburg

Last week we marked the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. Globally, 1 in 3 women experiences abuse or violence in her lifetime, and that is true for Europe as well. Looking at the statistics, the situation is worrying. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, figures indicate a sharp rise in domestic violence and in sexual abuse and exploitation. In Romania, Aurora Martin from the National Agency for Equal Opportunities between women and men, invited me as a keynote speaker in two important virtual events. One event was a workshop on “Gender Equality: Opportunities and Challenges”, part of a larger anniversary event of the Dimitrie Cantemir Christian University. The second event was focused on “Women’s Safety in Public and Private Spaces”, organized by the Romanian Institute for Human Rights and the National Agency for Equal Opportunities between women and men. Below you will find my contribution to the two events, as well as a list of recommendations to facil

  Today is the European Day on the Protectionof Children   against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse, an initiative by the Council of Europe. This year’s European Day focuses on preventing risky behaviour by children through child self-generated sexual images and/or videos. The COVID crisis has unfortunately exacerbated the problem of child sexual abuse, as the "EU Strategy for a Most Effective Fight Against Child Sex Abuse" highlighted.   Children are spending more time than before online, possibly unsupervised. While this has allowed them to continue their studies and not fall behind in the education process, there are signs that they are at an increased risk of encountering predators.   Actions to address these problems are therefore needed. To that end, on the 9th of December, ECPM Member of the European Parliament Helmut Geuking , as co-chair of the European Parliament Intergroup on Demographic Challenges, Family-Work Balance and Youth Transitions, will organize