International Women’s Day traces its origins back to early labour movements during the 1900s. It was and still is a day to commemorate the struggle and celebrate progress towards gender equality. The European Parliament is one of the most vocal advocates for gender equality in the EU. It has passed major resolutions and laws to protect women’s rights, promote equal opportunities and combat discrimination.

The International Women’s Day

The EU received over 513 000 asylum applications in the first half of 2024. One third of asylum seekers are women and girls. The EU’s asylum system incorporates gender-sensitive elements, and the Court of Justice of the EU has recognised gender-based violence as grounds for asylum. Despite these advances, more efforts are needed to address the human rights challenges women and girls face in asylum procedures.

The gender dimension of asylum claims in the EU

Gender-balanced representation among the decision-makers of the European Union is an important step towards full realisation of the principle of equality between women and men enshrined in the EU Treaties. The Union has made steady and significant progress, starting from a very low presence of women among EU Commissioners and Members of the European Parliament at the time when those institutions were created. The European Parliament is today one of the world's most gender-balanced representative assemblies, but there are still significant divergences between EU countries.

EPRS Policy Podcast - Towards gender balance in the European elections: Electoral quotas

Equal pay for equal work is one of the European Union's founding principles, enshrined in Article 157 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). However, the implementation and enforcement of this principle remain a challenge. Due to a lack of pay transparency, pay discrimination often goes undetected and victims face difficulties in making a claim for redress. On 4 March 2021, the European Commission adopted a legislative proposal on binding pay transparency measures. The proposed directive to strengthen the application of the principle of equal pay for equal work or work of equal value between men and women through pay transparency and enforcement mechanisms focuses on measures to ensure pay transparency, and better access to justice for victims of pay discrimination.

EPRS policy podcast - Equal pay for equal work between men and women: Pay transparency and enforcement mechanisms

Statistics and research results show that in recent decades, before the coronavirus pandemic, the EU's labour market witnessed an increase in female employment rates. Women's employment seems to have been more resilient than men's to the economic and financial crisis in 2008. The coronavirus crisis, however, has had a harsher impact on women than on men when it comes to the labour market.

EPRS policy podcast - Recent trends in female employment

The United Nations defines violence against women as "any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual, or mental harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life."

The Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women, also known as the Istanbul Convention, is the first legally binding international instrument on this issue. It establishes a comprehensive framework of measures for preventing such violence, supporting victims and punishing perpetrators.&nbsp;

MEPs have voted during May 2023 plenary to approve the European Union’s accession to the Convention on preventing and combating violence against women, concluding Parliament’s role in the process. 2&nbsp;years after the EU signed the Istanbul Convention - it has still not been ratified because of the refusal of a few member states, despite&nbsp;Parliament’s multiple calls to this end.

However, the EU&nbsp;Court of Justice’s opinion of 6 October 2021&nbsp;confirmed that the European Union can ratify the Istanbul Convention without having the agreement of all member states. The Court found that the appropriate scope for the EU’s accession is asylum, judicial cooperation in criminal matters, and obligations of the EU institutions and public administration.

The EU’s accession to the Istanbul Convention does not exempt member states from ratifying it themselves, MEPs have repeatedly said, urging the remaining five&nbsp;countries - Bulgaria, Czechia, Hungary, Lithuania and Slovakia - to ratify the Convention without delay, so that it can protect women to the full extent of the Convention’s intended scope

Violence against women

International Women’s Day is held every year on 8 March. Equality between women and men is one of the objectives of the European Union.

Over time, legislation, case-law and changes to the Treates have helped shore up this principle and its implementation in the EU.

The European Parliament has always been a fervent defender of the principle of equality between men and women.

International Women’s Day

Full gender equality is far from being achieved, and this has implications for the lives and life chances of individual women, girls, boys and men, the communities they live in and the EU as a whole. The European Parliament has consistently taken a strong, proactive stance on advancing gender equality, stressing the need to deliver on EU commitments.

The EP´s Committee of Women´s rights and Gender equality (FEMM) is in the heart of these discussions.

Options for further EU involvement could include better implementation and enforcement of existing legislation, moves to modernise it, fill gaps in protection and address emerging issues, and non-legislative measures such as data collection and monitoring, awareness-raising, and support for national and grassroots initiatives.

Promoting equal economic independence for women and men, closing the gender pay gap, advancing gender balance in decision making, ending gender based violence and promoting gender equality beyond the EU are the concrete areas of interest for the EU.

Gender balance

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The right to health, including sexual and reproductive health, is protected internationally.&nbsp;Access to sexual and reproductive healthcare goods and services is a fundamental component of sexual and reproductive rights.

Under international human rights law and standards, European Union Member States should ensure access to safe and quality sexual and reproductive healthcare.

A range of United Nations (UN) treaties ban discrimination in general terms, effectively outlawing discrimination in sexual and reproductive health and rights. These rights include the right to health and the right to family planning, equal access to service, freedom from violence and the right to life. Specific international treaty protections exist to combat discrimination on the grounds of sex, race, disability but not sexual orientation or gender identity.

At European level, the Council of Europe protects sexual and reproductive health and rights through the European Convention on Human Rights and through the Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (the Istanbul Convention).

Sexual and reproductive health and rights

Harnessing women’s talent through education, training and employment, to drive economic growth and progress, is the main topic of several events being organised by parliamentary committees this week (Monday to Thursday). 

European Parliament President Roberta Metsola opens the hearing on “Women’s leadership in politics” in the Women's Rights and Gender Equality Committee on Wednesday.

Every year Parliament holds a Gender Equality Week to take stock of the achievements and identify new measures to advance girls' and women's rights and ensure gender equality. Events are organised by Parliament's committees, delegations, political groups and administration. The first edition was held in 2020, on the initiative of the Women's Rights and Gender Equality Committee.

In 2025 the European Gender Equality Week will focus on talent. The main event will host a discussion on how to ensure women can access the same opportunities as men in order to be able to harness their talents.

Parliament wishes to emphasise that creating the conditions for women to participate fully in the workforce and public life is not only a matter of fairness, but it also brings economic and social benefits.

Gender Equality Week: "Women's leadership on politics"

Women in defence, security and peace building. A special meeting of the Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality with members of national parliaments and invited panellists – including women in leadership roles in the military, academics, and activists – is scheduled in the run-up to the International Women's Day (8 March). The meeting will include introductory remarks by the European Commissioner for Equality, Hadja Lahbib, and will focus on 'Strengthening the Women, Peace, and Security Agenda – Upholding Women's Rights in Defence, Security, and Peacebuilding. (Thursday) A media seminar is organised on Wednesday afternoon, with EP President Roberta Metsola, MEPs, and guests from Ukraine, Israel, Palestine and international organisations.

Inter-parliamentary committee meeting on "Strengthening the Women on the occasion of the International Women's Day 2025

EP Plenary session - Women’s entrepreneurship in rural and island areas and outermost regions

New digital technologies are a mixed blessing for women's rights and representation in the information sphere in general, and in the democratic debate in particular. Innovative digital tools often promise to make public debates more inclusive, for women too.

Women in the age of AI-enabled disinformation

Despite strong political commitments to gender equality at EU and national level, women still remain politically under-represented at all levels of political power. In the European Parliament, as well as in national parliaments, governments and local assemblies, their share most often is under the symbolic 40 % mark. Progress has also been uneven among Member States, with women remaining markedly under-represented in some Member States.

Women in politics in the EU

Find out about the economic inequalities that continue to persist between women and men in the EU.

It has been more than 25 years since the adoption of the UN’s Beijing Declaration, which aims to promote equality between men and women. The same goal lies behind the creation of UN Women - dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women - and the inclusion of gender equality in the Sustainable Development Goals.
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So where do we stand? Progress has been made, but inequality between men and women persists, including on the labour market. On average, women in the EU are paid less than men.

Gender pay gap in Europe: facts and figures

EP Plenary session - Voting session

EP Plenary session - Gender pay and pension gap in the EU

EUVP - Gender Equality & Equal Opportunities Thematic Week - Meeting with Nicolae STEFANUTA

EP Plenary session - Gender Equality Strategy 2025

EMPL - Gender Equality Week: Work-life balance, including implementation of the work-life balance directive

FEMM LIBE - Presentation by the Commission - Baseline evaluation procedure of the European Union's implementation of the Council of Europe   Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (the Istanbul Convention)

FEMM - Hearing: Women’s leadership in politics

MEPs vote on Amendment of the European Electoral Act allowing Members to vote in plenary by proxy voting during pregnancy and after giving birth and on Discharge resolutions.

Voting session: Amendment of the European Electoral Act allowing Members to vote in plenary by proxy voting during pregnancy and after giving birth - Discharge resolutions

Political group leaders take the floor prior to the vote by López Aguilar (A10-0123/2026) - Amendment of the European Electoral Act allowing Members to vote in plenary by proxy voting during pregnancy and after giving birth.

Voting Session: One round of political group leaders followed by López Aguilar (A10-0123/2026) - Amendment of the European Electoral Act allowing Members to vote in plenary by proxy voting during pregnancy and after giving birth

MEPs vote on the following items: EU/Andorra agreement: automatic exchange of financial account information to improve international tax compliance; EU/Monaco agreement: exchange of financial account information to improve international tax compliance; EU/San Marino agreement: automatic exchange of financial account information to improve international tax compliance; EU/Liechtenstein agreement: automatic exchange of financial account information to improve international tax compliance; EU/Switzerland agreement: automatic exchange of financial account information to improve international tax compliance; Mobilisation of the European Union Solidarity Fund: assistance to Spain and France in relation to natural disasters in 2024 and 2025; Appointment of Maria Berger to the panel set up under Article 255 of the TFEU; Partial renewal of Members of the Court of Auditors; Gender Equality Strategy 2025.

Voting Session - Gender Equality Strategy

Antonella SBERNA, Vice-President of the European Parliament responsible for the Gender Equality Week delivers a speech, opening the public hearing on Women's Leadership in Politics at the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality (FEMM). This year the European Gender Equality Week focus on talent. The main event hosts a discussion on how to ensure women can access the same opportunities as men in order to be able to harness their talents. Parliament wishes to emphasise that creating the conditions for women to participate fully in the workforce and public life is not only a matter of fairness, but it also brings economic and social benefits. The first edition was held in 2020, on the initiative of the Women's Rights and Gender Equality Committee.

Public hearing on Women's Leadership in Politics: speech by Antonella SBERNA, Vice-President of the European Parliament responsible for the Gender Equality Week

Lina GÁLVEZ MUÑOZ, Chair of the Committee delivers welcoming remarks, opening the public hearing on Women's Leadership in Politics at the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality (FEMM). This year the European Gender Equality Week focus on talent. The main event hosts a discussion on how to ensure women can access the same opportunities as men in order to be able to harness their talents. Parliament wishes to emphasise that creating the conditions for women to participate fully in the workforce and public life is not only a matter of fairness, but it also brings economic and social benefits. The first edition was held in 2020, on the initiative of the Women's Rights and Gender Equality Committee.

Public hearing on Women's Leadership in Politics: welcoming remarks by Lina GÁLVEZ MUÑOZ, Chair of the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality

EP President Roberta METSOLA delivers a speech, opening the public hearing on Women's Leadership in Politics at the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality (FEMM). This year the European Gender Equality Week focus on talent. The main event hosts a discussion on how to ensure women can access the same opportunities as men in order to be able to harness their talents. Parliament wishes to emphasise that creating the conditions for women to participate fully in the workforce and public life is not only a matter of fairness, but it also brings economic and social benefits. The first edition was held in 2020, on the initiative of the Women's Rights and Gender Equality Committee. This transcription is the result of an automatic process. Please check against delivery.

Public hearing on Women's Leadership in Politics: speech by Roberta METSOLA, EP President

This News item shows extracts from the public hearing on Women's Leadership in Politics at the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality (FEMM) and statement by Lina GÁLVEZ (S&D, ES), Chair of FEMM Committee. This year the European Gender Equality Week focus on talent. The main event hosts a discussion on how to ensure women can access the same opportunities as men in order to be able to harness their talents. Parliament wishes to emphasise that creating the conditions for women to participate fully in the workforce and public life is not only a matter of fairness, but it also brings economic and social benefits. The first edition was held in 2020, on the initiative of the Women's Rights and Gender Equality Committee. This transcription is the result of an automatic process. Please check against delivery.

Women's Leadership in Politics: extracts from the public hearing and statement by Lina GÁLVEZ (S&D, ES), Chair of FEMM Committee

The Committee on Constitutional Affairs (AFCO) has put forward a proposal to allow MEPs to vote in plenary by proxy during pregnancy and in the months following childbirth. Under the proposed targeted revision to the EU Electoral Act, a member who is pregnant or has given birth would be able to delegate their plenary voting rights to another MEP for a maximum of three months before the estimated date of birth and six months after. The legislative initiative report was adopted by 28 votes in favour, one against and without abstentions, while the accompanying resolution received 26 votes in favour and four against, without abstentions. This news items shows extracts from the vote and a statement by the Rapporteur Juan Fernando LÓPEZ AGUILAR (S&D, ES).

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