25 November – In 2017, Vera Jourová, European Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality, took the initiative to dedicate one year to ending violence against women, putting combating gender-based violence high on the EU agenda through a ‘year of focused actions’.
Across the EU, many different initiatives were launched, including training health, legal, and education professionals or young people, or working with communities, local councils, and many other organisations to reduce the risk of violence taking place and support women who have been affected. At EU level, the NON.NO.NEIN. campaign (#SayNoStopVAW) was launched to share information and showcase success stories about the important work done in this field across the EU. More than an awareness-raising campaign, this initiative was aiming to support, engage and connect all stakeholders in combatting this challenge. Some examples of the EU-funded projects working to end violence against women can be seen here.
As that year is coming to a close, it is time to look at what has been achieved and discuss the steps forwards. As such, the European Commission is hosting a high-level conference on 4 December 2018, in Brussels, for representatives from Member States and international organisations, civil society actors and activists, to look at the achievements done so far and discuss the strategic co-operation between EU institutions, EU Member States, International Organisations, NGOs, and academics in combatting violence against women and the impact of the EU’s actions to combat gender-based violence.
From a nursing perspective, consisting of 92% of women, it is crucial that nurses/women have a strong voice in the design of health and social policies. Nurses/women are ideally positioned to both lead and support such developments. Policy-makers and politicians have here a golden opportunity to ensure that the reform process addresses the challenges of the long-standing inequality between women and men, both as providers and as recipients of care. Engage nurses in the co-design of policies to reach impact.