Strasbourg (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – After the MEPs debate on Women’s rights, Executive Vice President and Commissioner for Social Rights and Skills, Quality Jobs and Preparedness Roxana Mînzatu addressed the “elephant in the room.”
After marking International Women’s Day with Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, leader of Belarus democratic forces, and three other Belarusian and Ukrainian women fighting for freedom, MEPs debated the Commission’s Roadmap for Women’s Rights.
The Roadmap is a commitment of the EU to improve gender equality and achieve balance across every aspect of women’s life, from work-life balance to freedom from gender-based violence and high standards of health.
It’s very encouraging to see that there is a lot of attention being paid, I think for the first time, to addressing the issue of health gap,
MEP García Hermida-Van Der Walle from the Renew Europe Group told Brussels Morning Newspaper.
Because of gender-related differences and due to the lack of research on women’s bodies, women get worse treatments, she explained.
Personal final remarks by Commissioner Mînzatu
At the end of the debate, Commissioner Mînzatu commented on this last point in particular.
I’m going to address the elephant in the room,
she said, and then proceeded to tell the story of how, coming from Romania – a country where from 1966 until the fall of the Communist regime abortion rights were denied – she has heard stories of women dying or being physically and mentally traumatized everyday because of unsafe interruptions of their pregnancies, and stories of children abandoned in “horrendous” state facilities.
When I speak of reaffirmation of a clear principle stating that women should have access to sexual and reproductive health rights, I do not speak from the books. I speak from reality. I come from a family where stories of women dying and suffering were told over coffee every morning. It was normal. Please think twice.
MEP García Hermida-Van Der Walle commented very positively on these remarks, which were “moving and very personal,” and she shared with Brussels Morning Newspaper her optimism on the next steps.
Some parties would prefer to have us all in the kitchen, and that’s concerning
she said,
But on the other hand, I was very encouraged to hear the strong positions of some of the EPP colleagues (who form the largest group in the Parliament). We have allies.
At the end, the Commissioner invited all members of EU institutions, national governments and civil society to commit to the rights presented in the Roadmap for Women’s Rights as well.
Our common action is the one that can deliver the rights and protections that women need. We need to be together in this fight everyday, every year, no matter where our position is.”
