Reem Alsalem, Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, its causes and consequences raised concerns over the European Parliament’s adoption of the first European Union Directive on combating violence against women and domestic violence.
“I regret that an EU-wide definition of sexual assault and rape was not included in the Directive. Through this omission, the Directive missed an important opportunity to criminalise rape and gender-based violence against women using a consent-based definition and to recognise instances where the overall conditions are coercive, thus rendering consent meaningless. I am also disappointed at the Directive’s insufficient emphasis on the specific needs for protection and assistance of migrant women, especially those who are undocumented;” she said.
“The Directive uses terminology such as ‘sex’ and ‘gender’ in an inconsistent manner, and at times conflates the two, and also opens the door for using the pretext of ‘freedom of expression’ to limit the ability to prevent online violence against women and girls, including the non consensual sharing of intimate images.”
Alsalem added: “It is also concerning that the Directive distinguishes between the online violence in “private” and “public” domains, criminalising the latter only, thus potentially encouraging a new phenomenon, i.e., the development of private online groups that protect the impunity of perpetrators.”