European Charter – VAW

Article 22 – Gender-Based Violence

1. The Signatory recognizes that gender-based violence, which disproportionately affects women, constitutes a violation of fundamental human rights and is an offence to the dignity and to the physical and emotional integrity of human beings.

2. The Signatory recognises that gender-based violence arises from the idea, on the part of the perpetrator, of the superiority of one sex over the other in the context of an unequal relationship of power.

3. The Signatory therefore commits itself to establish and strengthen policies and actions against genderbased violence, including:

• Providing or assisting specific support structures for victims
• Providing public information, in each of the most commonly used local languages, on the assistance available in the area
• Ensuring that professional staff have training in identifying and supporting victims
• Ensuring that there is effective co-ordination between the relevant services such as the police, health and housing authorities
• Promoting awareness-raising campaigns and educational programmes aimed at potential and actual victims and perpetrators.

Article 23 – Human Trafficking

1. The Signatory recognizes that the crime of human trafficking, which disproportionately affects women and girls, constitutes a violation of fundamental human rights and an offence to the dignity and to the physical and emotional integrity of human beings.

2. The Signatory undertakes to establish and strengthen policies and actions to prevent human trafficking including as appropriate:

• Information and awareness-raising campaigns
• Training programmes for professional staff responsible for identifying and supporting victims
• Measures to discourage demand
• Appropriate measures to assist victims including access to medical treatment, adequate and secure housing and language translation.

Article 11: The Employer Role

1. The Signatory in its role as employer recognises the right to equality of women and men in regard to all aspects of employment, including work organisation and working conditions.

2. The Signatory recognises the right to the reconciliation of professional, social and private life and the right to dignity and security in the workplace.

3. The Signatory commits itself to take all reasonable measures, including positive action within its legal powers, in support of the above rights.

The measures referred to in 3. include the following:

(b) Opposing sexual harassment in the workplace by making a clear statement that such behaviour is unacceptable, by supporting victims, by introducing and implementing transparent policies to deal with perpetrators, and by raising awareness of the issue.

Article 21 – Safety and Security

1. The Signatory recognizes the right of each woman and man to security of the person, and to liberty of movement, and that these rights cannot be freely or equally exercised if women or men are unsafe or insecure, whether in the private or public domain, or if they feel unsafe or insecure.

2. The Signatory further recognizes that women and men, in part due to different obligations or lifestyles, often face differing problems of safety and security, which need to be addressed.

3. The Signatory therefore commits itself:

• to analyse from a gender perspective the statistics concerning the volume and patterns of incidents (including serious crime against the individual) that affect the security or safety of women and men, and if appropriate to measure the level and nature of fear of crime or other sources of insecurity;
• to develop and implement strategies, policies and actions, including specific improvements to the state or design of the local environment (for example, transport interchanges, car parks, street lighting), or to policing and related services, to enhance the practical security and safety of women and men, and to seek to reduce their respective perceptions of lack of safety and security.