2023 HAS THE potential to be another deadly year for women. The killing of Bruna Fonseca in Cork is yet another tragic case of a brutal death of a woman in Ireland.
Alongside Bruna, we remember all other victims, including Natalie McNally, Jennifer Poole, Shannon Crean, Larisa Serban and Ashling Murphy.
The National Women’s Council described 2022 as “a difficult year for women” while statistics from Women’s Aid show that 2022 was the worst year in a decade for femicide with 11 women killed in violent circumstances over the past 12 months. In total, 254 women have died violently in Ireland since 1996.
Across Europe the situation is similar. In France, for example, over 100 women were killed by their partners or ex-partners in 2022. In Spain, nine women were violently killed in December alone. According to the UN, across the world, more than five women or girls were killed every hour by someone in their own family in 2021.
As we remember the victims, we should also recall that every 10 years the equivalent of a city the size of Marseille, Amsterdam or Zagreb disappears from the world. It is estimated that 87,000 women worldwide are being killed each year just because they are women.
Action needed
In every EU Member State, the public is demanding action and Governments are continuing to respond. For example, France is trialling a new support scheme to help victims seek safety and rebuild their lives. Belgium is defining femicide as part of its criminal law. In Ireland, extensive reforms to family law courts have been proposed.
Laws in this area have long been considered as competencies of Member States, with very limited input from the European Union. However, as our single market develops, and as Europeans take advantage of their freedoms to live, work, and travel throughout the 27-Member State block, it is becoming clearer that minimum protections are available for all victims, at a common standard, everywhere.
For example, last summer, Finland recently changed its law to recognise for the first time that free and genuine consent is the deciding factor in distinguishing the crime of rape. Indeed, since 2018, seven other EU countries have introduced similar “only yes means yes” laws, thereby reforming their previously established definitions of rape. However, many other countries such as the Czech Republic, Denmark, Greece, and Croatia still require proof of the presence of violence in order to ground a charge of rape.
Divergence in legal standards and protections across Member States is why the EU also needs to play a role in tackling violence against women. While national laws will continue to be decided by national parliaments, it is time for the EU to set a common minimum standard.
EU-wide laws
That is why I am currently working on the first ever EU law on Combatting Violence Against Women as the Rapporteur, or lead negotiator, in the European Parliament. Based on widespread consultation, this Directive will comprise five key elements, namely: setting the same minimum standards for crimes; safe reporting and risk assessment procedures; respect for victims’ privacy in judicial proceedings and right to compensation; support for victims through helplines and crisis centres; and better coordination and cooperation between member states on cross border crimes.
Violence against women does not respect member states borders; it is an issue that requires EU action. If the EU’s leaders want to show they are taking seriously the horrors of violence against women, we require a directive that is ambitious and effective. By adopting common sentencing standards, the EU Member States would demonstrate a commitment to ensuring the safety and freedom of women in Ireland and across Europe.
We should also ensure that misogyny as an aggravating factor in the commission of violent crimes results in heavier sentences. There should be no havens of impunity for offenders of violence against women in the European Union.
Alongside criminal sanctions, it is also vital that minimum standards of support are available to victims. This includes surgical and trauma supports for victims of female genital mutilation (FGM), some of which are not yet available publicly in Ireland. A woman in Europe who is a victim of violence should not receive a lower standard of support simply because of where she lives.
We also need to close legal loopholes at EU level that currently allow perpetrators to evade justice. That is why I support an extra-territoriality rule with respect to crimes such as FGM. It means that where parents bring daughters to third countries to undergo FGM, they can be held accountable if they are a national of a Member State.
It is also important to ensure that our justice systems are victim-focused by avoiding retraumatisation and protecting a victim’s privacy. Good work is happening in this area in several countries, including Ireland where extensive reforms to family law courts have been proposed. However, it remains important that the EU ensure common minimum standards are in place, akin to a floor upon which Member States can build and below which standards will not fall.
Women cannot truly be free if we continue to live in fear of violence. However, for every EU country that is making progress, there are those that do not. It is time to vindicate the rights of every women in Europe. What better way to protect our EU freedoms than that?
Frances Fitzgerald is an Irish MEP.
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