Motion for a resolution | Doc. 12339 | 08 July 2010

Including respect for gender equality in the Parliamentary Assembly’s monitoring reports

Signatories: Ms Lydie ERR, Luxembourg, SOC ; Ms Delia BLANCO, Spain, SOC ; Ms Ingrida CIRCENE, Latvia, EPP/CD ; Ms Anna ČURDOVÁ, Czech Republic ; Ms Pernille FRAHM, Denmark, UEL ; Ms Doris FROMMELT, Liechtenstein, EPP/CD ; Ms Carina HÄGG, Sweden ; Mr Håkon HAUGLI, Norway, SOC ; Mr Jean HUSS, Luxembourg, SOC ; Ms Virág KAUFER, Hungary, SOC ; Ms Elvira KOVÁCS, Serbia, EPP/CD ; Mr José MENDES BOTA, Portugal, EPP/CD ; Mr Jean-Claude MIGNON, France, EPP/CD ; Mr Grant MITCHELL, Canada ; Ms Hermine NAGHDALYAN, Armenia, ALDE ; Ms Carmen QUINTANILLA, Spain, EPP/CD ; Ms Maria Pilar RIBA FONT, Andorra, SOC ; Ms Maria STAVROSITU, Romania, EPP/CD ; Ms Doris STUMP, Switzerland, SOC ; Ms Betty WILLIAMS, United Kingdom ; Mr Vladimir ZHIDKIKH, Russian Federation, EDG

This motion has not been discussed in the Assembly and commits only those who have signed it.

Equality between women and men is an integral part of human rights and a fundamental criterion of democracy. Achieving de facto and de jure gender equality notably requires the balanced participation of women and men in decision-making and measures to combat discrimination against women in all spheres of society.

Furthermore, in several of its judgments, the European Court of Human Rights has established the principle that gender-based violence, in particular domestic violence (Opuz v. Turkey, 9 June 2009) and trafficking in human beings (Rantsev v. Cyprus and Russia, 7 January 2010), constitute a violation of the provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights (especially Article 2 on the right to life, 3 on the prohibition of torture, and 4 on the prohibition of slavery and forced labour).

The Parliamentary Assembly considers that respect for gender equality is an integral part of the obligations entered into by the member states of the Council of Europe.

As a result, the Assembly decides to formally include respect for gender equality in the terms of reference of the Committee on the Honouring of Obligations and Commitments by member states of the Council of Europe and, when drafting its monitoring reports, to take into account, amongst other things, combating violence against women, the fight against trafficking in human trafficking and the balanced participation of women and men in democratic institutions.