European Parliament
A6-0404/2005
Lidia Joanna Geringer de Oedenberg (PSE ). –
(PL)
Mr President, violence against women is often played down or simply not mentioned. Nonetheless, it is a problem affecting one in three women the world over. Violence perpetrated by men against women is a crime and a violation of fundamental human rights such as the right to life, safety, dignity and physical inviolability. As a rule, it is prohibited by law, but sadly it remains tolerated by society and statistics suggest that a billion women in the world continue to be beaten, forced to engage in sexual relations against their will and abused in other ways.
This is not exclusively a developing world problem. Even in the Member States of the European Union on average three women die every day as a result of domestic violence. This means that victims of domestic murders were living in our midst, not in some distant location. Violence within the family is a major social problem resulting from unequal gender power distribution throughout the course of history. In our times every state should safeguard the rights of all its citizens, and consequently combat discrimination and violence against women by drafting and implementing appropriate legal provisions.

