No to backdoor gender ideology
Sex not gender - scrap the gender-based violence bill.
Sex not gender - scrap the gender-based violence bill.
The EU Council - the European institution that defines the general political direction and priorities of the European Union has proposed a directive on gender-based violence.
While we would all agree that there must be harsh penalties for male abusers who direct violence against women and girls, this directive is not about that! This is an initiative that seeks to advance gender as a social construct, as opposed to being based on biological sex.
EU measures to protect women and girls from violence are already in place. Since the early 1990s, the EU Council has undertaken a series of initiatives to protect women from violence, culminating in the Instanbul Convention, which was introduced in 2011 and ratified in 2014. The Istanbul Convention specifically names women, which is why the EU Council is seeking to introduce something else.
This new proposal focuses on the criminal aspects of ‘gender-based violence’. Specifically, it seeks to enshrine it as a serious crime under Article 83 of the Treaty on the Functioning of Europe.
The proposal explicitly mentions violence against LGTBIQ+ people - in other words, men and women- which undermines the whole point of the exercise. Of course, violence against LGBTIQ+ individuals is wrong, just as violence against anyone because of their social, religious and cultural status is wrong.
Just as concerning is that the EU proposal also suggests criminalising ‘gender-based cyber violence’ - in other words, daring to tell the truth about male and female on the internet. In a world where social-justice warriors claim that words are ‘literal violence’ and call even left-wing women like J.K. Rowling a ‘cyber terrorist’, the proposal would crush freedom of speech.
The proposal also seeks to introduce preventative measures for gender-based violence, including ‘gender-sensitive and intersectional’ education and support services, minimum standards for law enforcement and ensuring that these are taken into account when determining custody and visiting rights for children. Anyone not appearing to toe the line regarding LGBTIQ+ ideology could be criminalised or even have their children removed in the case of marriage and partnership disputes.
Ironically, this proposal would most harm women because women are the predominant critics of gender ideology online. It is women who are seeing their protections and freedoms eroded by men who want to use their bathrooms, play their sports and erase their language.
Women are disproportionately affected by some crimes, such as domestic violence, rape and sexual exploitation, because of their sex.
Any measures to combat violence against women must be sex-based and not based on a specious concept of ‘gender’.
Sign the petition urging the members of the Council to scrap this proposal.