Around 150 people convened on Monday morning at the Training and Seminar Centre in Remich for a series of workshops and brainstorming sessions on fighting gender-based violence. The results are hoped to be used as guiding principles for the government’s pending national action plan. Minister for Gender Equality and Diversity Yuriko Backes labelled this push, which is part of the government’s coalition agreement, a “mammoth task” requiring large-scale cooperation from different stakeholders.
Minister Backes spoke about various forms of gender-based aggression–including sexual, physical, psychological, economic, and verbal violence–noting that trends in Luxembourg parallel those observed abroad. According to a recent study by the European Institute for Gender Equality, one in three women has experienced physical or sexual violence. However, only one in eight of those victims is said to have filed a complaint.
In 2018, the Luxembourg government ratified the Istanbul Convention aiming to create a national action plan against gender-based violence. This includes a contact point for men, explained Minister Backes: “I think in reality more victims are women, but it is also part of reality that there are male victims. And we need to meet these concerns.” Backes underlined that the ministry is committed to fighting for the rights of the “whole society,” including women, men, and members of the LGBTIQ+ community.
Backes announced that the national action plan, including concrete measures, is to be unveiled by summer this year.
