Last Friday, ahead of International Women’s Day, the European Commission has presented its Roadmap for Women’s Rights and the 2025 Report on Gender Equality.
In a week where the political attention has been focusing on defence and security, the Equality Commissioner Hadja Lahbib emphasized that this is a crucial moment to address women’s rights.
As the world marks 30 years since the adoption of the Beijing Declaration, there is a global backlash against gender equality, diversity, and reproductive rights.
The Commissioner stressed that the Roadmap confirms the EU’s strong political reaffirmation of its commitment to gender equality and women’s rights and the EU’s political vision to counteract these challenges. While the focus of the press conference was largely on attacks on women’s rights from across the Atlantic, similar worrying trends are emerging within Europe itself, next to some EU governments who are actively cutting financial support for women’s rights programmes.
She highlighted that despite progress, major challenges remain – from gender-based violence to disparities in healthcare and economic opportunities. The report highlights these stark realities: one in three women in the EU has experienced physical and/or sexual violence.
The Roadmap sets out key principles and objectives that will guide future EU strategies and actions beyond 2025, as the current Gender Equality Strategy (2020–2025) comes to an end. The Roadmap sets out eight long-term policy objectives: (1) freedom from gender-based violence; (2) the highest standards of health; (3) equal pay and economic empowerment; (4) work-life balance and care; (5) equal employment opportunities and adequate working conditions; (6) quality and inclusive education; (7) political participation and equal representation; (8) institutional mechanisms that deliver on women’s rights.
During the press conference, the Commissioner was questioned about reproductive rights within EU Member States, including access to abortion and surrogacy. Even though the Commissioner reinforced that these are Member States’ competences – these issues remain highly contested both within the EU and concerning the accession process of Ukraine and Georgia, for example.
La Strada International has been contributing to consultations on the Roadmap and we are ready to take an active role in contributing to realising its objectives. We regret that, while the Road Map acknowledges that women are overrepresented in low-paid and undervalued jobs and face higher risks of threats and violence limiting their participation in public life, no reference was made to intersectionality and the protection of specific vulnerable and marginalized groups. The absence of meaningful references to women who face multiple and intersecting discrimination, namely related to their racial or ethnic origin, and migrant women, especially those in informal employment or without legal residence, is concerning.
We hope that the next Gender Equality Strategy (post-2025), for which the consultations are expected to be launched in July this year, will include concrete measures and actions to ensure that this is still carefully addressed. Women and girls, particularly those in vulnerable situations, including (undocumented) migrant women, trafficked women, and those facing poverty or labour and sexual exploitation, require stronger legal protections and a robust civil society to provide essential support, advocacy, and services that empower and protect them.