“The poverty and social exclusion to which many women are subjected in Europe today cannot be grasped in their gravity only in economic terms, on the basis of figures”, but need to be “evaluated in terms of human rights”, says Anna Zàborskà, Slovak MEP. Addressing the European Parliament in Brussels on Wednesday 12 October, she convinced MEPs that an institutional commitment (Parliament, Commission, Council) is needed to combat one of the “scourges” of the continent. “Poverty is expressed in various forms: lack of sufficient income, hunger, malnutrition, bad health or lack of housing explained Zàborskà -. It is also characterized by the lack of participation in the decision-making process and in political and cultural life”. These situations, says the report presented by Anna Zàborskà (exponent pf the PPE), “may lead to the trafficking of women, prostitution and violence”: hence the request that these issues be placed in the agenda of EU social policy, which will be discussed in the next parliamentary session in Strasbourg in October and during the EU summit on 27 October. The priorities indicated in the report include “the removal of the obstacles to female participation in the labour market”, equality of remuneration for the same tasks (average disparities of 15% are registered in the EU), increased child-care facilities, and increased support for elderly single women and those belonging to ethnic and religious minorities.
