The prevention and fight against sexual harassment is a cause I care deeply about and one that demands our immediate attention and action. One in three women in the EU have experienced sexual harassment at work, a figure that rises to 42% among women aged 18-29 years.
These statistics are not just numbers. They represent our daughters, sisters and friends, full of potential and dreams, excited to start their careers. Yet close to half of them experience sexual harassment in their workplaces.
This is as an urgent call to action.
Sexual harassment is a systemic problem that threatens the very fabric of our societies, undercutting the integrity and effectiveness of our workplaces and threatening womens rights and health.
It also contributes to the economic cost of violence against women of €290 billion per year in the EU. Sexual harassment requires a systematic, comprehensive response.
In March, I presented our Roadmap for Womens Rights, which was recently endorsed by all Member States alongside the European Parliament, other EU institutions, and stakeholders. The Roadmaps Declaration of principles for a gender-equal society is structured around eight key womens rights principles, with freedom from gender-based violence as the first principle.
Principle 5 states that every woman has the right to equal employment opportunities and adequate working conditions. It highlights eliminating gender-based violence and sexual harassment in the world of work as a specific objective. The Roadmap for Womens Rights will form the basis for the next Gender Equality Strategy that I will present ahead of International Womens Day next year.
The Strategy will present the concrete actions that the Commission intends to take over the next five years, including on ending gender-based violence and sexual harassment. Last year the EU adopted the first-ever comprehensive legal instrument to tackle violence against women and domestic violence. The Violence Against Women Directive aims both to safeguard the rights of victims of violence against women as well as to reduce the prevalence of such violence.
The Directive requires Member States to ensure that counselling services are available for both victims and employers and to ensure that managers receive training on how to recognise, prevent and address sexual harassment at work.
This Directive complements the Gender Equality Directives which already oblige Member States to prohibit sexual harassment in the context of employment and to adequately sanction its occurrence.
In 2023, the EU acceded to the Istanbul Convention which provides a guiding framework on how to combat violence against women, including sexual harassment at work. By acceding to the Convention, the EU has bound itself, including its own public administration, to the highest international standards. The EU institutions have the responsibility to ensure that their internal rules fully satisfy the standards set by the Convention.
We recently transmitted the EU implementation report of the Convention to the Council of Europe. This report explains how the Commissions anti-harassment framework, which was renewed in 2023, prevents and combats sexual harassment in the world of work. Similar measures have been introduced across EU institutions, bodies and agencies, helping to ensure a safe and respectful workplace for all.
There can be no place for sexual harassment in the world of work and in our public institutions. Together we can create workplaces that uphold the highest standards of professional conduct and serve as a beacon of positive change in society.