Violence against women and gender-based violence

This chapter discusses how the European Parlimant (EP), in particular the Women’s Rights and Gender Equality committee, played a core role in placing violence against women (VAW) on the European Union (EU) agenda. VAW became one of the core feminist concerns in many European countries in the 1970s and women’s movements started to push for the recognition of violence as a public problem requiring state action. Feminists argue that violence is intimately linked to existing gendered inequalities that make women more vulnerable to power abuse and make it more difficult for them to escape abusive relationships. Sexual harassment in the workplace is the sub issue where the EU has demonstrated a significant degree of activism. EU measures were responsive to feminist demands by defining sexual harassment from a victim’s perspective as ‘unwanted behavior’ and sex discrimination.