While noting progress in gender equality, with “growing female participation in economic, public, cultural and political life” and legal standards that have changed to reflect this progress, PACE expressed concern in an urgent debate that women’s rights were increasingly being challenged and eroded worldwide.

The Parliamentary Assembly is particularly concerned about “the political instrumentalisation of family values so as to undermine women’s rights, “the spread of gendered disinformation, the increasing popularity of “masculinists” advocating for the submission of women to men, hate speech and threats of violence against women politicians, and harassment by anti-choice activists of women’s rights defenders, healthcare professionals and people seeking abortion care.

In this regard, emphasising that most Council of Europe member states recognise the right to abortion, the Assembly said that once this right has been established, “it is also necessary to guarantee access to free, legal, and safe abortion for all who seek it.”

It also deplores the important levels of gendered discrimination in the fields of housing, employment, and healthcare, as well as the persistent gender pay gap and pension gap.

Faced with this risk of democratic backsliding, PACE proposed to states, in a resolution adopted on the basis of the report by Petra Bayr (Austria, SOC), a set of measures to prevent and combat violence against women and domestic violence, in particular “with the aim of tackling the current low reporting rates and high levels of impunity.” It also made recommendations on access to sexual and reproductive health and rights, stressing that obstructing a person’s access to legal abortion care – when provided for by national law – should be prohibited and criminally sanctioned.

The adopted resolution also contains measures to promote greater political participation of women and to combat sexism, gender-based discrimination, and gender stereotypes.

Finally, the Parliamentary Assembly called on national parliaments to focus on “securing and mainstreaming women’s rights both in national legislation and in policies throughout all fields of life.”

26/06/2025

https://pace.coe.int/en/news/9958