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Resolution 2274 (2019)
Promoting parliaments free of sexism and sexual harassment
1. Gender-based violence affects women
in all aspects of life. The world of politics is no exception. Sustained
by the wave created by the #MeToo movement, many women politicians
have started to speak up. Their individual testimonies and experiences
are not isolated cases, but indicate the existence of a pattern
of widespread and systematic gender-based violence against women
in politics worldwide, as confirmed by the 2018 report “Violence
against women in politics” by the United Nations Special Rapporteur
on violence against women, its causes and consequences.
2. The Parliamentary Assembly expresses its deepest concern at
the findings of the regional study “Sexism, harassment and violence
against women in parliaments in Europe”, which it jointly conducted
with the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in 2018. Based on confidential
individual interviews with women parliamentarians and staff of national
parliaments, this study reveals alarming levels of sexism, sexual harassment
and gender-based violence in national parliaments, widespread under-reporting
of such incidents and a lack of adequate mechanisms to report violence,
protect victims and sanction perpetrators.
3. The Assembly reiterates its firm condemnation of all forms
of gender-based violence against women as a human rights violation
and a major obstacle to the achievement of gender equality. It confirms
its unfaltering support to the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing
and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (CETS.
No. 210, “Istanbul Convention”) as the most comprehensive international
binding legal instrument in this field.
4. Sexism and violence against women in politics affect the foundations
of democracy: they interfere with women’s right to fully and equally
participate in political life and express their views, limit their
right to vote and to run for public office, and ultimately undermine
the representativeness and the legitimacy of elected institutions.
Sexism and violence against women in parliament hold back women’s
access to leadership positions and impair their ability to fulfil
their elected mandate.
5. Despite its impact on victims, respect for fundamental rights
and the good functioning of democracy, violence against women in
politics as a specific phenomenon has so far received little attention.
At societal level, sexism and sexual harassment are often dismissed
as the price women must pay to be in politics. Both sexism and sexual
harassment are so trivialised and ingrained that many women politicians
are not even aware of being victims of a gender-specific form of
violence. Others choose not to report acts of sexism and sexual harassment
because this would undermine their political standing or harm their
political parties. Overall, a culture of impunity for sexism prevails
among parliamentarians.
6. To redress this state of affairs, it is crucial to raise public
awareness of sexism and violence against women in politics and to
bring about a change of mindsets. In this context, the Assembly
recalls the #NotInMyParliament initiative, which was launched by
its President, Liliane Maury Pasquier, as a follow-up to the joint
regional study conducted with the IPU, and gives the initiative
its full support.
7. At the same time, to turn greater awareness into tangible
change, the Assembly believes that a number of players in the political
arena should strengthen their policies, legislation and other measures
aimed at putting an end to sexism and violence against women in
politics, and that data collection, monitoring and research in this
area should be stepped up, at national and international level.
8. In the light of the above considerations, the Assembly calls
on the parliaments of Council of Europe member and observer States,
as well as on the parliaments who enjoy observer or partner for
democracy status with the Parliamentary Assembly to:
8.1. draft, if they do not already
exist, or revise the codes of conduct for their members with a view
to setting out the explicit prohibition of sexist speech, sexist
acts and sexual harassment and introducing sanctions for breaches
of this obligation;
8.2. consider reviewing immunity rules which afford immunity
from prosecution to members of parliament for sexual harassment
and violence against women, unless this has already been done;
8.3. introduce complaint mechanisms to prevent and sanction
sexual harassment, sexual violence and misconduct, ensuring that:
8.3.1. they cover members of parliament and parliamentary staff;
8.3.2. victims can report incidents in full safety and confidentiality
and have fair consideration given to their case as expeditiously
as possible;
8.3.3. full independence of the complaint mechanism is guaranteed,
free of party allegiances;
8.3.4. the decisions of such complaint mechanisms can be followed
by effective sanctions which are proportional to the gravity of
the case;
8.3.5. information about the terms of reference of complaint
mechanisms, their powers and how to seize them is regularly disseminated
through appropriate means to all members of parliament and parliamentary
staff;
8.3.6. statistics on the activities of such mechanisms are regularly
published, guaranteeing confidentiality and including information
on the number of cases submitted, the number of pending cases, the
number of decided cases and the outcome of such cases;
8.4. introduce a mechanism providing confidential counselling
for victims of sexism, sexual harassment and sexual violence and
misconduct, and disseminate information about it;
8.5. support the #NotInMyParliament initiative and replicate
it at national level;
8.6. conduct surveys and public debates periodically to raise
awareness of the issue of violence against women, including in politics;
8.7. organise training on the issue of sexism and violence
against women for members of parliament and parliamentary staff;
8.8. disseminate the 2018 IPU-Parliamentary Assembly regional
study “Sexism, harassment and violence against women in parliaments
in Europe” among members of parliament and parliamentary staff through
appropriate means, and consider translating it and carrying out
a similar national study;
8.9. ensure that men and women parliamentarians alike are involved
in efforts to prevent and respond to sexism and violence against
women in politics and female parliamentary staff.
9. Furthermore, the Assembly invites the parliaments of the States
Parties to the Istanbul Convention to provide the Group of Experts
on Action against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (GREVIO) with
information concerning violence against women in politics, including
in political parties, in parliaments and in the context of the electoral
process, in light of the overarching general obligations in the
area of preventing violence against women set out in Article 12
of the Istanbul Convention.
10. The Assembly calls on Council of Europe member and observer
States and States whose parliaments enjoy observer or partner for
democracy status with the Parliamentary Assembly to:
10.1. provide the United Nations Committee
on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women with information
on violence against women in politics, including in political parties,
in parliaments and in the context of elections;
10.2. support research on the links between sexism, violence
against women in politics and the political representation of women;
10.3. support activities, projects and observatories aimed at
collecting data on sexism and violence against women in politics,
including in parliaments and in the context of elections;
10.4. consider introducing specific legislation on sexism and
violence against women in politics.
11. The Assembly calls on political parties at national level
and its political groups to commit to rejecting all forms of violence
against women in politics, enshrine this commitment in their codes
of conduct/statutes and set up effective disciplinary procedures
against members who act in breach of this commitment.
12. As regards its own work and functioning, the Assembly recalls
the applicability to its members of Rule No. 1292 of 3 September
2010 on the protection of human dignity at the Council of Europe
and the relevance of the Code of conduct for members of the Parliamentary
Assembly, which sets out the obligation to “respect the values of
the Council of Europe and the general principles of behaviour of
the Assembly and not take any action which would cause damage to
the reputation and integrity of the Assembly or its members”.
13. With this consideration in mind, the Assembly:
13.1. asks the Secretary General of
the Parliamentary Assembly to:
13.1.1. regularly bring to
the attention of the members of the Assembly the Council of Europe rules
on the protection of dignity which are applicable to them, in writing
and by organising training;
13.1.2. provide additional training on the issue of sexism and
violence against women for Parliamentary Assembly delegates, following
the example of the European Parliament;
13.2. calls on its Committee on Rules of Procedure, Immunities
and Institutional Affairs to modify the Code of conduct for members
of the Assembly with a view to:
13.2.1. introducing the explicit
prohibition of sexism, sexual harassment and sexual violence and
misconduct, as well as the obligation to take account of the Council
of Europe rules on the protection of dignity and to co-operate with
the relevant mechanisms and take account of the decisions that might
be taken as a result of a harassment procedure;
13.2.2. ensuring that the recommendations of the Commission against
Harassment and/or decisions of the Secretary General of the Council
of Europe resulting from the application of Rule No. 1292 can be
followed up by the Assembly in the context of its Code of conduct;
13.3. asks the Bureau of the Assembly to ensure that, in the
context of election observation by the Assembly, the issue of violence
against women, and notably sexism and sexual harassment, is systematically
taken into account and is included in future revisions of the Guidelines
for the observation of elections by the Parliamentary Assembly.
14. The Assembly takes note of the planned revision of Rule No. 1292
with a view to enhancing its effectiveness and recalls the need
for a coherent application of this rule and of the Code of conduct
for members of the Assembly.