On Thursday morning, the European Parliament’s Women’s Rights and Gender Equality Committee and the Committee on Civil Liberties approved the chamber’s position on the future European gender-based violence directive. Esquerra Republicana spokeswoman Diana Riba has been responsible for negotiating on this key legislation on behalf of the Greens/EFA parliamentary group.

Ms Riba stated that “after years of the feminist struggle in the streets and in the institutions, the European Union is at last taking significant steps towards the first EU-wide legislation targeting gender-based violence.” Among other relevant aspects, the draft agreed upon by the MEPs includes the criminalization of non-consensual sexual acts, forced sterilization, and forced marriage. “It is crucial that the European Parliament agrees to set consent at the centre of legislation against gender-based violence,” Ms Riba emphasized.

Regarding criminalization, Ms Riba regrets that “despite the efforts of our parliamentary group, we have not managed to establish sufficient majorities to include the denial of the right to abortion and sexual and reproductive rights as a form of gender violence.” In this regard, she condemned both the European Peoples Party and the Socialists & Democrats for having evaded this issue throughout the negotiations. Ms Riba recalled that for “Esquerra Republicana and for the Greens/EFA, these issues are key and we will continue to fight for the right of all women to decide over their own bodies.”

On the other hand, Ms Riba emphasized that the proposal “is as inclusive as possible and has an intersectional approach, since LGBTIQ+ women, women with disabilities, racialized women, migrant women, those without papers and others, face a greater risk of being victims of gender-based violence.”

Finally, it is important to note that the proposed legislative draft addresses new forms of violence such as those occurring via the Internet, which is why Ms Riba believes that “it is a great victory that it proposes the criminalization of non-consensual exchange of intimate or manipulated material, online harassment, and online incitement to violence or hatred” throughout the EU.