The General Assembly of the European Women Lawyers' Association adopted a resolution at its 10th annual congress in Brussels on 4th June on the Rights of Women in the Family. A working session chaired by Prof. Regula Kägi Diener (Vice President of EWLA) dealt with gender equality and family law. The overall theme of the 10th anniversary congress was LAW AS POLITICS IN SOCIETIES AT CROSSROADS. The resolution emphasises that there is a tendency to underestimate the situation and the position of women as mothers under the pretext of equal rights and the pretext of the interests of the child.
There will be more discussion on the this resolution and the relevant topic on this website in the coming weeks.
(Julafton by Swedish painter Carl Larson 1904).
EWLA General Assembly
Resolution
on
the Rights of Women in the Family
4 June 2010
The General Assembly of the European Women Lawyers Association (EWLA), held in Brussels on 4 June, 2010, adopted the following
Resolution on the Rights of Women in the Family
Considering that
- women’s position is still highly influenced by her position role in the family; which is especially true in families in transition;
- there often is a gender contract between husband and wife with regard to their role as father and mother which cannot be left out of consideration when the couple divorces;
- there is a tendency to underestimate the situation and the position of women as mothers under the pretext of equal rights and the pretext of the interests of the child;
- there is a serious danger for poverty as well as for the mother as the child especially when the roles of woman and man in the family are not taken into account;
EWLA emphasises
- that the respect and effective protection of women’s rights in the family is an integral aspect of human right, as guaranteed by Articles 8 and 12 of the European Convention on Human Rights as recognized by Article 6 TEU, as well as guaranteed by Articles 8 and 9 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union;
- that, according to Article 2 TEU they therefore also constitute a core value also of the European Union;
- that woman’s rights in the family are as well protected by the UN- Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against womenWomen (CEDAW), in particular by its Article 16, and by Article 23 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights;;
- that there is a strong economic and social aspect of the rights and position of women in the family which touches the right to family life as well as substantive equality between women and men;
- that all States remain bound by the fundamental rights and have to guarantee as well the right to family life, enough means to live a decent life as well as substantive equality;
- that in regulating the family they have to take into account as well the position of men husband and wife in the married couples as well as their position after divorce;
For these reasons, EWLA calls upon all Union bodies as well as all States and other relevant actors
To ensure the substantive equal participation of women and men in the family by
- Giving women and men real chance to fulfill their role as mothers and fathers as well as working and making a career, specially by providing child care;
- Regulating the role of father and mother to achieve substantive equality after divorce taking into account to the role men husband and wife had during the marriage;
- Supporting as well the child as the parents to find an appropriate solutions for custody which is in the interests of the child considering as well the role of the parents;
- Supporting the family in order to prevent poverty for mother and child.