Skip to content
Magazine
Friday, August 1, 2025
SUBSCRIBE
  • About Us
  • Belgium News
    • Belgium Police News
    • Brussels News
  • EU Institutions News
    • European Commission News
    • European Parliament News
    • European Council News
  • Europe News
  • World News
  • Belgium Business News
  • Culture and Society News
  • In Depth
    • Ambassador’s Corner
    • The American Angle
    • Sustainable Perspective
    • Europe With Transparency
    • Place de la Bourse
    • The Macro-Economist
    • Southeast Europe
  • About Us
  • Belgium News
    • Belgium Police News
    • Brussels News
  • EU Institutions News
    • European Commission News
    • European Parliament News
    • European Council News
  • Europe News
  • World News
  • Belgium Business News
  • Culture and Society News
  • In Depth
    • Ambassador’s Corner
    • The American Angle
    • Sustainable Perspective
    • Europe With Transparency
    • Place de la Bourse
    • The Macro-Economist
    • Southeast Europe
SUBSCRIBE

Machismo is a geopolitical reality. Time to push back!

When war comes, the weakest always suffer the most.

Hilde Vautmans MEP by Hilde Vautmans MEP
8 March 2022
in Europe News, Opinion, Our pick

Strasbourg (BrusselsMorning)   It is an unthinkable and unbearable realisation that we celebrate International Women’s Day 2022 at a time when hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian women and children are fleeing their country to find refuge in Europe. Already before Putin’s war, displacement was one of the leading factors that harm women’s safety and security world wide. Now, that sad trend has reached the European continent too. Machismo is more than ever in recent history a geopolitical reality.

Truth is we felt it even before.

Also inside the European Union, we saw a backlash against women’s rights in recent years.  Several member states are restricting the right to abortion. Access to contraception, sexual education and even materal care is being wound down, with grave consequences for women and girls forced into helplessness, illegality and silence. It is just the tip of the iceberg of a broader ultraconservative agenda that sees women’s rights as merely a symbol of modernity – though I have always failed to see what values you are conserving by taking women’s health and dignity away from them, and their families!

Covid only added to the pain. According to the latest Eurobarometer poll no less than three quarters of all women in Europe think the pandemic has led to more physical and emotional violence against women in their country. Many fear negative economic effects, like the balance between home and work life shifting and job opportunities deteriorating especially for women, and the same is true for mental health issues resulting from isolation.

If ever Europe needed to be there for women, it is now.

Women lead differently

The European Union is leading by example. The European Parliament is now led by a young woman, Roberta Metsola, with whom I discussed our Women’s Day plans this morning. The Commission and the European Central Bank too are led by women. More than before, the female perspective is becoming not just important but self-evident in EU politics.

What we have to do is link arms to garner momentum for a broad women’s rights agenda. We as Renew Europe, the liberal and reformist group in the European Parliament, have looked at its first president for inspiration: Simone Veil was chosen at the head of the first directly elected European Parliament back in 1979. Her life story as a Holocaust survivor combined with an unabashedly feminist ambition at the top of French and EU politics, turned her into an icon both in France and across Europe. Who better to chose as the symbol and inspiration of our actions today?

The Simone Veil Pact calls for signatories to speak up and build up women’s rights across policy issues, to lead and legislate so that Europe makes a real difference for women’s lives in different areas: sexual and reproductive rights, family life, work life, combating violence against women and promoting their political representation. When women’s rights are coming undone by the brutal actions of macho regimes, we are pushing back by bringing people together, men and women, around a constructive agenda for the common good.

Gender equality is not a niche issue: as long as women’s lives remain easily unbalanced by larger economic or political events, Europe is failing its promise. And as long as women are underrepresented and underappreciated, our societies will remain unbalanced and frail. Empowered women will make the future, and giving them that power starts today.

 

Related News:

  • Two years into Russia’s war against Ukraine: geopolitical reality check and war fatigue
  • Germany’s ‘traffic light’ coalition one step closer to reality
  • Reality requires multilateral approaches!
  • Are Teeth Bones? The Reality About Teeth And Bones
Tags: NewsOpinion
Next Post
Energy-is-highly-regulated-in-the-EU -- water,-less-so

Extraordinary times call for extraordinary actions and ambition for the EU’s energy transition

Latest post

EU-elections-UK

EU elections: UK looks on from the “outside”

1 year ago
Galeries-Royales-Saint-Hubert

What Makes Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert an “Institution”?

1 year ago

Most Read

    Follow Brussels Morning
    Facebook Twitter Youtube Linkedin

    Browse Important News

    Belgium News
    Brussels News
    Culture and Society News
    Economy News
    EU Institutions News
    European Commission News
    European Council News
    European Parliament News
    Europe News
    Health And Fitness News
    Southeast Europe News
    Sustainable Perspective
    World News
    Diplomacy News
    US Elections News

    About Us

    Brussels Morning is a daily online newspaper based in Belgium. BM publishes unique and independent coverage on international and European affairs. With a Europe-wide perspective, BM covers policies and politics of the EU, significant Member State developments, and looks at the international agenda with a European perspective.

    More Info

    • About Us
    • Advertise With Us
    • Contact Us
    • Cookies Policy

    Join Our Newsletter

    Brussels Morning Newspaper – All Rights Reserved © 2024

    No Result
    View All Result
    • Home
    • About Us
    • Belgium News
      • Belgium Police News
      • Brussels News
    • Brussels Bubble
      • European Parliament News
      • European Commission News
      • European Council News
    • Wider Europe
      • Member States
    • World News
    • Business & Society
    • Europe With Transparency
    • Culture & Society
    • Policy Talks
      • Place de la Bourse
      • The Macro-Economist
      • Sustainable Perspective
      • Ambassador’s Corner
      • The American Angle
      • Southeast Europe
    • Print Magazine

    Brussels Morning Newspaper - All Rights Reserved © 2020

    We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
    Cookie settingsACCEPT
    Privacy & Cookies Policy

    Privacy Overview

    This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
    Necessary
    Always Enabled
    Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
    Non-necessary
    Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
    SAVE & ACCEPT