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Brussels – The European Union’s Ministers of Equality have given the green light this Tuesday to a directive aimed at combating violence against women throughout the community space, with harmonized rules and sanctions to prosecute as gender-based crimes practices such as genital mutilation, forced marriage, or cyberbullying. Nonetheless, the law does not classify non-consensual sex as a form of rape, which was advocated by countries such as Spain, due to the opposition of several member states.
Following the green light from the European Parliament on April 24th, the adoption by the Twenty-Seven was the final formal step remaining to definitively approve the regulation, which becomes the first European legislation against gender-based violence.
Under this directive, the following will be prosecuted throughout the EU as forms of gender-based violence: female genital mutilation, forced marriage, non-consensual sharing of intimate images, cyberbullying, marking on networks, and incitement to hatred or violence against women over the Internet. Moreover, the legislation establishes provisions to harmonize sanctions, aggravating circumstances, jurisdiction, and statute of limitations in different European countries.
The new common framework demands that states enact stricter laws against online violence, improve assistance to victims, and take measures to prevent rapes, while also setting specific guidelines for crimes against women on the Internet, such as the disclosure of private information.
The new legislation includes a longer list of aggravating circumstances for crimes that carry more severe penalties, including crimes against public figures, journalists, or human rights activists. It also criminalizes the intention to punish victims based on their gender, sexual orientation, skin color, religion, social origin, or political beliefs, as well as to preserve or restore the ‘honor’ of a person.
Regarding the protection of victims, the directive sets minimum standards to prioritize access to protected accommodations for victims of violence, as well as access to sexual and reproductive health services. In addition, the authorities of the member states will have greater obligations of notification and evidence collection and must raise awareness among the population that non-consensual sexual relations are considered a crime.
However, due to the reservations of several governments, the new legislation leaves out the classification of non-consensual sex as a form of rape. The 27 have reached this situation after legal services from the Council warned that the reform being negotiated did not provide the necessary legal basis to address rape, since it needs to be considered a European crime first, something that is not the case at the moment.
Before meeting with her European counterparts in Brussels, the Spanish Minister of Equality, Ana Redondo, positively valued the approval of the regulation, which, she said, received a boost during the Spanish presidency of the Council of the EU, in the last semester of 2023.
Nevertheless, she pointed out that the Spanish government would have preferred it to be “more ambitious” and include the classification of non-consensual sex as a form of rape.
Redondo has also highlighted that this Tuesday the 27 have also approved another rule on equality bodies intended to advance the field of parity between men and women concerning opportunities in employment. It is a new framework that the minister considers “positive” because it ensures that all European countries have minimum standards. (May 7th)