European Parliament wants to boost equality between men and women in the EU

USPA NEWS - MEPs vote on Tuesday on a resolution calling for 10 days' paid paternity leave and recognition of a woman´s right to abortion and contraception. They will point to problems caused by gender inequality such as violence against women, the gender pay gap and the career glass ceiling.

In the draft resolution, that will be discussed Monday afternoon, MEPs are calling for paid paternity leave of at least 10 working days and deplore the four-year deadlock in the Council over the maternity leave directive. Women must have control over their sexual and reproductive health and rights, not least by having ready access to contraception and abortion, says the text.

Every year the women´s rights and gender equality committee passes a resolution assessing the progress made to achieve equality between women and men. The equal treatment of men and women is a fundamental right of the European Union and has been enshrined in the Treaties since 1957.The principle of gender equality is central to all European Union policy.

Furthermore, Parliament is to call for further efforts to halt the rise in paedophilia on the Internet in a resolution to be voted on Wednesday. In February´s preparatory debate, MEPs urged EU member states to do more to enforce a 2011 EU directive on combating sexual abuse of children, to make investigation and prosecution more effective and to work more closely with internet service providers and with the EU law enforcement agency, Europol, to get illegal images removed. The rise in paedophilia on the Internet, and notably growing demand, increasing violence, the advanced levels of encryption used by child abusers and the use of social media for online luring, are likely to be addressed in the resolution.