Le Commissaire a participé hier à une réunion informelle organisée sous la présidence maltaise du Comité des Ministres du Conseil de l'Europe sur le thème « Démanteler les normes de genre : une discussion sur les stéréotypes de genre préjudiciables ». Vous trouverez ci-dessous la version publiée de son intervention.
“Thank you very much, Ambassador, Minister, Deputy Secretary General, Excellencies and friends.
Back on the 30th of September 2022, in Dublin, Council of Europe ministers adopted the Dublin Declaration on the Prevention of Domestic, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence. They expressed their commitment to, and I quote, “at the highest level, actively promote an institutional and political culture which rejects gender-based discrimination and violence, sexism, gender stereotypes, gendered power dynamics in the public and private sectors, including by ensuring the adoption of pledges or concrete targets by leaders related to promoting gender balance and to combating gender-based discrimination.”
The urgent context for the declaration has been reaffirmed by contemporary statistics. Reference has just been made to the November 2024 statistics issued jointly by the Fundamental Rights Agency, EIGE, and Eurostat, showing that:
- one in three women experience violence.
- one in six experience sexual violence.
- one in five experience violence at home.
- one in three in the workplace.
- only one in eight report it to the police.
Those shocking figures are only for the countries of the EU. It is not the story of the bigger Council of Europe, but it obviously speaks to the situation on the continent.
The root causes of these patterns of violence are complex, and they vary in diverse societies.
But one central and pervasive feature is that of constructed gender norms. Norms, in other words, that perpetuate and reinforce gender hierarchies, rigid notions of masculinity.
Constructed gender norms have been with us forever. But today, of course, there is that added dimension of the internet, of artificial intelligence, of disinformation.
The very strong popular reaction to the Netflix series “Adolescence” indicated how it shone a light on a huge concern, especially for parents. It triggered fresh attention to such features of today as the often-malign role of social influencers, the way toxic messages are algorithmically reinforced and multiplied, the role being played by generative AI, such as through so-called friendship apps.
Reaction to “Adolescence” also underscored the harm done to boys by constructed gender norms. For instance, the World Health Organisation in a recent study, points to risks to men of substance abuse, mental health problems, and suicide.
I would like to propose a few specific suggestions this morning.
The first is, in the spirit of continuity, to implement the Dublin Declaration. There is still much in the Dublin Declaration adopted just three years ago that can be the basis for good work now.
Beyond that, six ideas: The first is never lose sight that the struggle to combat this huge threat in our societies is about human rights. We must frame it as an issue of human rights.
That gives us the goal. It makes clear that the goal of our efforts must be complete gender equality.
Framing it as a human rights issue also gives us the roadmap. It gives us the standards by which we can find our direction and assess the quality of our work. It gives us the guidance, the guidance issued by GREVIO, for example, and the guidance issued by many other Council of Europe and other resources. And let's not forget the UN resources as well: for example I would like to highlight a report by Irene Khan, the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression, on Gendered disinformation and its implications for the right to freedom of expression.
The second of my suggestions is to keep in mind that our efforts have to acknowledge the diverse manifestations of what we are trying to tackle. It is different in different places. That tells us many things. But one essential thing is that we must work with civil society. Working closely with civil society is the best way we have to engage with the local realities.
Third, our efforts to tackle this scourge must be data-driven. We have an issue in the Council of Europe. We have the excellent data from the EU that I've referred to, but we do not have analogous data for many of the other Council of Europe member states.
If we cannot measure it, we cannot fix it. So, I would urge those member states who have not made this investment to look seriously at the need. The second issue of data, is, of course, that we have to tackle the disinformation, the lies online.
Then fourth we have to recognise that we need to have a massive investment in education of all forms, but above all, digital literacy. We are not going to catch all the hate. We are not going to catch all the disinformation. We have to give particularly young people, boys and girls, the ability, the tools, the capacity to recognise and to call out the lie.
Fifth, it is essential to strengthen the legal protections. I would urge those countries that have not yet done so to ratify the Istanbul Convention, to show commitment to combating violence by its ratification.
I would also, no less importantly, call for swift signature and ratification of the AI Framework Convention, another critical tool to deal with what has become, to such a large extent, an online battle.
Turning to the EU, I would urge it to hold true and strong on the Digital Services Act. One hears that there is pressure to slow down its implementation. We must not yield to such pressures.
It is also very important to move ahead with speed towards the full operationalisation of the AI Act.
It is no less important to have robust national regulation, including, when necessary, appropriate criminal law.
Sixth, and finally, the effectiveness of legislation depends on its enforcement. It is also imperative that we encourage reporting. Remember: only one in eight women reports on cases of violence. Why? There are several reasons for this. One key factor is that women often feel they will not be listened to, respected, or taken seriously.
Once a report has been filed, an effective investigation must take place. Violence against women is not a domestic matter. It is a criminal matter. However, this is not yet fully understood by a number of police forces.
We have a very long way to go to overcome violence against women. In 2025, we find ourselves confronted by the frightening challenge of AI-enabled toxic masculinity. If we fail to engage with this issue, we will not only fail to improve the situation, but we will hurtle backwards in terms of protecting the human rights of women.
Thank you.