The Congress is undertaking work on women participation to public life, equality between men and women, as well as on women’s rights, for example by introducing quotas in its national delegations, adopting resolutions and recommandations on gender equality, and contributing to actions fighting violence against women.
Quotas within Congress national delegations

Introduced in 2008, in accordance with the Congress Charter, the participation of a minimum of 30% of the under-represented sex in national delegations has been ensured since 2011 as a precondition for the approval of the credentials of a delegation.

  • Between 1994 and 2014, 73% (132) of the posts of President and Vice-President were held by men and 27% (49) were held by elected women;
  • For the first time in 2010, the Vice-presidents of the Congress were in equal numbers. Today (mandate 2021-2026), women constitute 50% (8 out of 16 members) of the executive of the Congress (Bureau);
  • For the first time in 2016, a woman was elected President of the Congress.
Actions to fight violence against women
  • During 2006-2008, the Congress was actively involved in the “Stop domestic violence against women” campaign, and launched in particular a poster campaign in streets and subways of many European cities with the slogan “Cities and regions take a stand”.
  • In co-operation with the Parliamentary Assembly, the Congress organised a photo exhibition entitled “Break the silence on domestic violence“, inaugurated in 2008 and conducted in several cities.
  • In 2009, the Congress adopted Resolution 279 and Recommendation 260 on combating domestic violence against women and called for the development of strategies and measures at local level, to prevent and combat violence against women.
  • In 2020, the Congress adopted Resolution 459 and Recommendation 449 on fighting sexist violence against women in politics called on local and regional elected representatives to position themselves as political leaders against sexist discourse and violence.
Adopted texts
News

Back Anders KNAPE: “Violence against women concerns us all”

Anders KNAPE: “Violence against women concerns us all”

"We are all concerned about violence against women and each of us can take action against this scourge," said Anders KNAPE, President of the Congress on the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, on 25 November 2018. "As citizens, we must dare to talk about it. And as local and regional elected representatives, we have an increased responsibility because we stand closest to the citizens to intervene," he added.

The President of the Congress stressed the need for specific actions at territorial level involving all stakeholders and the importance of an adequate legal framework. The Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence - the so-called Istanbul Convention - has so far been ratified by 33 member countries. "Freedom from violence is a right enshrined in the Convention. We must make it a daily reality in all our territories," he concluded by calling on local and regional authorities to encourage their governments that have not yet done so to ratify this Convention.

The Congress has been working for several years to promote women's rights. Most recently, it sponsored two “lab” sessions as part of its contribution to the World Forum for Democracy, whose 2018 edition focused on women's public, political and economic participation and on combating violence against women in the wake of the #MeToo movement.

During the last decade, the Congress adopted a recommendation and resolution on combating domestic violence, called for the development of strategies and measures at the local level (2009)  and actively participated in the Council of Europe campaign "Stop domestic violence against women" (2006-2008). It launched, in this context, a poster campaign in the streets and subways of many European cities under the slogan "Cities and regions take a stand to fight violence against women". Congress’ work to promote women's rights also focuses on women's political participation and representation (2016), the gender perspective in budgetary processes (2016) and the fight against the feminisation of poverty (2015).

 

Congress web page on "Gender equality and women's rights"

Presidency Strasbourg 25 November 2018
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Document reference
see also

In the Resolution 404 (2016), the Congress stresses the importance of adopting and implementing the European Charter for Equality of Women and Men in Local Life, launched by the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) in 2006, as a sound step towards gender equality, gender mainstreaming and the promotion of equal opportunities for women and men in local political and public life.