The prevention of gender-based violence at the European Union.

A 75 years journey

Abstract

The European integration project, which is 70 years old, has achieved effectiveness in some areas, such as the monetary policy (by adopting the Euro as a common currency in most of the European Union countries). Nevertheless, while facing challenges like the COVID-19 pandemic and the raising of gender-based violence during the lockdown, European countries have reacted individually without a manifest communitarian plan.

The Istanbul Convention establishes cooperation parameters for the gender-based violence approach and control instances for the policies carried out by the Group of Experts on Action against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (GREVIO). During the pandemic, EU countries have been urged to stick to the mentioned Convention by the Council of Europe, in order to offer an answer to the strong growth of gender-based violence. The answer has taken too long to arrive. Is it possible that member states are not disposed to cede sovereignty in this area or is it that this subject has been underestimated without making it to the Brussels agenda? These are the questions we’ll try to figure out here. This research’s main object is to analyze what is the level of integration in the EU in the gender policies field, by checking the historical journey from the creation of UN to the pandemic.