Type: Acts of the Council of Europe: European Parliament Resolution on eliminating gender stereotypes in the EU

Authority: European Authorities - European Union: European Parliament

Date: 03/12/2013

Subject: The European Parliament notes that there is still a gap in legislation providing for non-discrimination against women and gender equality in the areas of social security, education and the media, employment and wages; it calls on the Commission to mainstream the issue of gender equality in all policy fields, as this will enhance the growth potential of the European labour force; moreover it stresses that advertising often conveys discriminatory and/or undignified messages based on all forms of gender stereotyping, which hinder gender equality strategies; therefore it calls on the Commission, the Member States, civil society and advertising self-regulatory bodies to cooperate closely in order to combat such practices; it underlines the importance of promoting equality between men and women from a very young age in order effectively to combat gender-based stereotypes, discrimination and violence, including through the teaching of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the European Charter on Human Rights in schools; it emphasises the need for education programmes/curricula focusing on equality between men and women, respect for others, respect amongst young people, respectful sexuality and rejection of all forms of violence, as well as the importance of training teachers in this subject; it stresses the need for awareness-raising activities in order to inform employers and employees of the link between gender stereotypes and the gender pay and job gap, to inform other stakeholders in society of the fact that gender stereotypes reduce women's opportunities both on the labour market and in their private lives, and to guarantee equal pay for equal work and work of equal value; finally it recalls that the 2014 European elections, followed by the appointment of the next Commission and nominations for the EU ‘top jobs’, are a chance to move towards parity democracy at EU level and for the EU to be a role model in this field.

Classification: Equality - Art. 21 Non discrimination - Art. 23 Equality between men and women

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