EU to propose a law against violence against women

“Grat should be able to live independently and free”, von der Leyen said in her annual European Parliament speech in Strasbourg.

“During the pandemic, many women were denied this freedom, to live with their identity, to express themselves and to love whomever they want, she said.

According to some initial data during pandemic throughout the European bloc, the situation with violence against women has deteriorated.

Limitations imposed during the pandemic in member states included general impasses, restrictions of movement and other measures.

This was a very difficult time for those who had nowhere to flee or hide from their tormentors”, said von der Leyen.

According to her, the bill which the European Commission plans to prepare and which will then be submitted to the European Parliament “has to do with prosecution, as well as online and offline protection of women”.

Few EU countries have official statistics on violence against women during the pandemic.

The European Institute for Gender Equality said in a report that, in the EU in general, “more than a fifth of women have been abused physically or sexually by an intimate partner”.

The figures of the Nongovernmental Organisations also show a disturbing increase in violence against women in some countries.

In Belgium, 16 women have died of violence since late April, compared to 24 per year, while France has registered 80 murders so far this year, compared to 90 for the entire 2020.

In Spain, in June, after completing the country's state of emergency, data showed that a woman was killed every three days, compared to an average of one a week before the house isolation order.