Thank you, Chair.
I am delivering this statement on behalf of the following participating States: Albania, Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, The Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom.
25 November marked the beginning of 16 days of activism against gender-based violence. This campaign is our annual reminder that one in three women worldwide have been subjected to sexual and physical violence – a number that has remained largely unchanged over the past decade.
No single participating State has managed to eliminate gender-based violence. We call on participating States to conduct effective investigations into these crimes, bring perpetrators to justice, and provide all victims with safe and unhindered access to justice, adequate redress and reparations. Prevention, protection, and prosecution should be the driving forces of all our efforts
Armed conflict significantly increases the risk of sexual and gender-based violence. Russia’s ongoing illegal aggression against Ukraine is no exception. Numerous reports, among them the OSCE Moscow Mechanism, have documented widespread and systematic sexual violence committed by Russian forces, including in places of detention. All such violence is unacceptable, and perpetrators must be held to account.
This year’s campaign theme ‘Unite to End Digital Violence against All Women and Girls’ is a reminder that the forms of violence are growing in complexity. Advances in technology offer opportunities for advocacy and prevention, but they also have a dark side – the enabling of new forms of harassment, stalking, and abuse.
Online threats, revenge porn, cyberbullying, AI-generated deepfakes, and doxing are just some of the ways in which women are targeted online. Threats of sexual and physical violence can also quickly spill over into the offline world. Women facing intersecting forms of discrimination, including on the basis of race, sexual orientation, and disability, are especially at risk. Online violence is also prevalent in conflict settings, where it can exacerbate all forms of violence and intensify harm against women and girls.
Not only does online violence cause great personal harm but it discourages women from openly expressing their views, and from full, equal and meaningful participation in open debate and public life. Women journalists, media workers, politicians, human rights defenders, public officials or others engaging in public debate are particularly targeted, in an effort to intimidate and silence them.
We welcome the RFOM’s publication of ‘Guidelines for monitoring online violence against female journalists’ as well as its recent policy manual on healthy online information spaces, which offers useful guidance for participating States and other actors to increase their capacity to respond. Without sufficient accountability mechanisms and online content regulation, we send the message that violence is acceptable, and the price to pay for participating and expressing one’s views.
As participating States, the 2004 Gender Action Plan commits us to ensuring equal opportunities for the participation of women in political and public life. This year we also mark 25th years since the adoption of the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 - the cornerstone of the Women, Peace and Security agenda, of which participation is a pillar. In this 25th anniversary year, we reaffirm the importance of ensuring that the promises of UNSCR 1325 are not just commemorated, but fully realised.
However, hard won gains are now under threat. Backlash against gender equality is becoming worryingly widespread, particularly among young men and boys, including online. The increasing prevalence of online misogynistic networks, the exposure of men and boys to harmful stereotypes, and the normalisation of violence against women and girls should be a matter for great concern. Long-term awareness-raising initiatives in education, in communities, in the media, and in digital context, and engaging men, boys and youth in gender equality efforts are therefore vital, and the OSCE’s contribution to this across the region is essential.
Gender equality is not a threat to men and boys – but an opportunity for all individuals, in all their diversity, to reach their full potential and live in peaceful, inclusive and sustainable societies.