Gender Equality - Council of Europe

Gender equality means an equal visibility, empowerment and participation of both sexes in all spheres of public and private life. It requires the acceptance and appreciation of the complementarity of women and men and their diverse roles in society.

This is the basis upon which the Council of Europe seeks to make gender equality a reality. The organisation aims to combat any interference with women’s liberty and dignity, eliminate discrimination based on sex, promote a balanced participation of women and men in political and public life and encourage the integration of a gender perspective into all programmes and policies.

Article 14 and Protocol No. 12 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) have helped to improve the legal protection and status of women in recent decades. However genuine equality has yet to be attained. Women are still marginalised in political and public life and paid less for work of equal value. Moreover, they remain on a substantial scale the victims of poverty, violence and unemployment.

In response, the Council of Europe emphasises the economic costs of inequality and campaigns vigorously against domestic violence and human trafficking. The organisation has also targeted education in the battle for equality. In October 2007, the Committee of Ministers adopted a recommendation to encourage measures aimed at implementing gender mainstreaming at all levels of the education system of its 47 Member States.