Women, who represent the 51% of the European Union’s population, keep on suffering constant discrimination in different fields, such as:
16.2% gender pay gap
40% gender pensions gap
1 out of 3 women has suffered physical and sexual violence
With this in mind and in view of the 2019 European elections, the FEM EU campaign was born in May 2018 from the synergy between Fundació Aroa and the Eurolocal consultancy in Barcelona, weaving an alliance between the feminist and pro-European movement joining efforts to include the feminist perspective in the European sphere and its institutions.
The campaign believes that there is a need to advocate to ensure that women’s rights and gender equality are core in building the future of Europe. Now the elections have passed and the ultimate goal of FEM EU is to create a European-wide feminist network, in which organisations working for women’s rights and gender equality throughout Europe come together to make sure that this is a topic is a top priority in the agenda of the next European Parliament and European Commission.
In their stop in Barcelona, the Western Caravan actively participated in a gathering organised by Fundació Aroa bringing together members of the Consell Nacional de les Dones de Catalunya, a body of the Women’s Catalan Institute made up of organisations and collectives working in programmes for gender equality and female empowerment, covering specific topics such as the inclusion of migrant women or the promotion of female entrepreneurs. It was a truly inspiring and engaging event that made evident the need to create a strong European-wide feminist network, in which collectives fighting for the same goal across borders can cooperate and support and empower each other to make the movement even stronger.
Neus Cayuela Pociello, the President of Fundació Aroa, expressed: “A feminist Europe is a Europe for all. It is time for you, the youth, to raise your voice to create a better Europe, a Europe that guarantees women’s human rights.”
If you’re part of a feminist organisation anywhere in Europe and believe that the idea of a European feminist network is a match for you, please contact fem_eu@fundacioaroa.org and join the fight!
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