1. Laura Albu, executive member in European Women’s Lobby
The way forward: policy developments and recommendations– EWL recommendations
Laura Albu, executive member in European Women’s Lobby
Public hearing Women with disabilities in the EU: situation and way forward
Brussels, 9 February 2018

2. European Women’s Lobby on Policy development
EWL is a social movement organisation, it has been the biggest feminist women’s umbrella organisation since its creation in Its work and its identity are the result of the cooperation among different bodies and structures. EWL needs to take the utmost out of both these aspects: the “organisation” giving it a structure whereby to operate, the “movement” giving it a soul and a vision for women in Europe EWL Members’ Engagement Strategy acknowledge that women NGOs members, members of members at local, national, regional, EU and international level, want to contribute a positive alternative vision of Europe based on Gender Equality, Peace and Sustainability and reach out in solidarity to women in the rest of the world.

3. European Women’s Lobby on Policy development
EWL Members’ Engagement Strategy “We are aware that every woman has her own story to tell and experiences to share, and convinced that including different voices makes us a more well-rounded organization – as more women can identify with our message and support it. Inclusiveness is based on dialogue and power sharing, it means to consider different needs and views. It empowers women facing discrimination based on multiple grounds and embraces intersectionality. An inclusive organization builds on the diversity of its membership to include as many voices in the definition of its priorities and within its decision-making processes. As we know, for us feminists ‘personal is political’. This also implies that change starts with our own everyday behaviour: therefore, we commit to be open and inclusive on a personal, as well as on an organizational basis. “

4. European Women’s Lobby on Policy development
EWL best practices to build an inclusive disability movement in the future
EWL works with other European partners and coalitions, as relevant and strategic, on different issues, proposing a campaign tool kit that EWL members can use at national level. Continue to ensure intersectionality in its work
Continue to be active on social media and the internet. Develop its FEMTalk to give visibility to feminists and provoke public discussion about feminism, and tackling the intersectionality issue.
Dedicated the 2017 AGORA young feminist campaign event to intergenerational dialogues: with a focus on advancing our understanding and engagement on intersectionality and promoting diversity

5. European Women’s Lobby on Policy development
EWL strategy to build an inclusive disability movement in the future
Lobby for improving upon any previous legislation/public policy/programme that was discriminatory, disadvantageous or ignores women and girls with disabilities; have made any progress in establishing legal and other protection of women and girls with disabilities;
Have helped or conducted in researches and regional or national level on using gender disaggregated data strengthening women and girls with disabilities role in decision-making;

6. European Women’s Lobby on Policy development
EWL strategy to build an inclusive disability movement in the future
Participate in any projects leading towards increasing women and girls with disabilities access to and control of resources or contributing towards empowerment of women and girls with disabilities any other way;
Deliver or contribute to development of training of staff in gender equality and disability.
continue to monitor the implementation of the European Commission’s Strategic Engagement, through regular contact with the European Commission and Commissioner Jourova, as well as monitoring of the work of the EU Presidencies and partnership with key EU institutions (such as EIGE).

7. European Women’s Lobby on Policy development
EWL strategy to build an inclusive disability movement in the future
Continue to monitor relevant work of the European Parliament according to EWL strategic thinking and priorities. Participate to CSW61 and influence its conclusions, ensure that the Beijing Platform for Action remains the reference women’s rights instrument in Europe, and monitor the implementation of the SDGs in the EU through its participation to the SDG Watch Europe coalition.
Continue to advocate for funding for women’s rights and women’s organisations.

8. European Women’s Lobby and VAW
Since 1997, EWL work on violence against women is based on the expertise and experience of the EWL Observatory on violence against women, which brings together a dynamic group of women from 33 countries in Europe (professionals, women’s rights defenders, front-line NGOs activists, etc.) with outstanding experience and expertise in different forms of male violence against women.

9. European Women’s Lobby ON VAW recommendations
R1: The recognition, by the EU and its Member States, of all forms of male violence against women as part of a continuum of violence against women because they are women (including the violence committed against women and girls with disabilities); R2: Ratify the Istanbul Convention. The current priority of women’s rights organisations in Europe is the implementation of the Istanbul Convention. EWL members consider that at this point in time, it is crucial to continue to put our efforts in promoting and monitoring the developments of these European standards, which benefit from a monitoring mechanism, although not legally binding.

10. European Women’s Lobby ON VAW
The widest incorporation gap in Europe has to do with the ratification of the Istanbul convention, which has to be yet ratified by 13 EU member states; several countries have ratified but with reservations. EU has signed the Istanbul convention in the framework of its competence, but the process to ratification can be long and depending on the political will of the member states.

11. European Women’s Lobby ON VAW
R3: A comprehensive EU strategy to end all forms of male violence against women and girls, and providing assistance and support to all women and girls victims (including victims of forced sterilisation) R4: We also need a strong EU strategy on equality between women and girls to address all the structural issues that fuels violence against women and girls. Within this umbrella, we call for the appointment of an EU coordinator to end violence against women and girls, with a strong political mandate to coordinate the efforts of the different EU agencies and Institutions and support the efforts at national level;

12. European Women’s Lobby ON VAW
R5: An EU directive criminalising all forms of male violence against women and girls (including forced sterilisation), and providing assistance and support to all women and girls victims. R6: We call for systematic consultation of and sustainable funding for women’s organisations providing support to women and girls victims, and developing advocacy and awareness raising campaigns, at EU, national and local levels.

13. European Women’s Lobby ON VAW
R7: Implementation of the Victims’ Rights Directive. The European Commission should closely monitor Member States’ implementation of the Victims’ Rights Directive, with a particular focus on victims of violence against women. It should also continue to promote the improvement of data collection on reported crimes of violence against women. In particular, the Commission should request Member States to provide data on victims of crimes of rape, femicide and intimate partner violence (physical and sexual violence as a first step; then psychological and economic violence as a further step).

14. R8: Measurement of violence against women through national surveys Align definitions with those used for administrative data collection and with international definitions 1.2. Allow for breakdown by victim-partner relationship for all types of incidents 1.3. Allow for measurement of annual prevalence rates 1.4. Allow for breakdowns into different age groups, disability, ethnic background, origin, sexuality orientation, etc Allow for breakdowns by sex of victim and offender

15. R9: Improvement to the measures of estimating the costs of violence against women in police and justice sectors According to the Council of Europe: “it is important to point out that there are few costing studies that have been conducted in Europe, or internationally for that matter. Of the few studies that do exist, most focus on domestic violence or intimate partner violence, and have a tendency not to address the different forms of violence against women separately. Thus, it is difficult to understand what costs are attributed to which type of violence. In addition, existing studies have different research questions, use different categories of costs, focus on different meaning and forms of violence, and use different data samples and resources.” EIGE (2014) estimates that the cost of intimate partner violence against women (2012) was EUR 109 billion for Europe, while the cost of gender-based violence against women was EUR 225 billion.

16. European Women’s Lobby ON VAW R10:The EU should monitor the situation of migrant and refugee women (including women with disabilities) when it comes to the different forms of violence they face in Europe R11: the EU should implement the recommendations it has been given by the CRPD committee on forced sterilisation and legal capacity

17. European Women’s Lobby ON Work-Life-Balance The long standing so-called horizontal directive which is now entering its 10th year without adoption, would more systematically address the issue of intersectional discrimination on the grounds of disability and gender. The current EU gender equality policies do not mainstream the rights of women and girls with disabilities. The separate handling of gender and disability in EU policy has resulted in the invisibility of women with disabilities and their needs. Women with disabilities continue to be the victims of multiple discrimination .

18. European Women’s Lobby ON Work-Life-Balance The current Work-Life-Balance proposal does not sufficiently take into account the situation of parents with disabilities and carers’ of persons with disabilities. R1: The package should fully comply with the obligations of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), which has been ratified by the EU, and 27 of the 28 member states and with the UN’s concluding observations that the EU received from the CRPD committee in 2015, particularly with regards to Article Respect for home and the family. R2: One of the recommendations of the UN Committee to the EU, is to ensure that people with disabilities and families of persons with disabilities are included in work-life balance policies.

19. European Women’s Lobby ON Work-Life-Balance R3: With regards to carer’s leave as foreseen in the draft Work-Life-Balance proposal, the number of days per year should be increased from 5 to 12 to be taken full-time, part-time or needs based, to support the often ongoing needs of those who require regular support (medical and other). It should be noted that some disabilities may not be detected in the early phases of childhood and may demand long-term care and therefore the term “serious illness” (referred to in the text of the proposal for a directive) may de facto pose a barrier to avail of the right to carer’s leave.

20. European Women’s Lobby ON Work-Life-Balance R4: While assessing the conditions of access adaptable to the needs of parents having a disability and parents with children with a disability or long-term illness (Article 5.7), the following conditions are recommended in addition: i) introduce a specific provision on children with disabilities in accordance with Art. 7 of the CRPD. ii) raise the age of the child with a disability (beyond the limit of 12 years as it is proposed in the Directive) that entitles working parents (both men and women) of children with disabilities to an individual right to parental leave.

21. European Women’s Lobby ON Work-Life-Balance R5: With regards to adequate income (Article 8), EWL wishes to highlight that workers with disabilities and carers’ of persons with disabilities face high disability-associated expenses related to parenthood and caring of other persons with high support-needs which contributes, among other reasons, to an increased risk of poverty. Persons with disabilities and carers’ of persons with disabilities should have these disability-related expenses covered as to support families of persons with disabilities and to ensure the right of children with disabilities to live and integrate in their communities. R6: It should also be noted that in light of the persistent gender pay gap, every effort should be made to ensure a gender equal ‘adequate income’ relating to different forms of statutory leave.

22. Gender Equality Index and intersectionality

23. THANKS: ANY QUESTIONS? Laura albu lalbu@cmsc.ro www.womenlobby.org