Unfortunately, in the world and also in Europe, discriminatory practices towards women are a reality; we occupy secondary positions behind men who seem to be destined to dominate the world.
 
Violence against women is not a question of the private sphere; it stems from the way society is structured.
 
Direct violence against women is taking place in all areas:
 
    Still today, there are many women dying in their husbands’, ex-husbands’, lover’s or ex-lover’s arms.
    Traffic with purposes of sexual exploitation, forms a part of the industry of sex. Governments do not do anything for preventing it, allowing proxenetes to submit many women, immigrant in most of the cases, to this extreme form of violence.
    In the zones of conflict, women’s mass rapes constitute a weapon of war.
    There are still countries whose states do not recognise fundamental rights of women: contraception and abortion.
    All fundamentalisms constitute an added aggression from the dominant patriarchy.
    The European Left condemns all forms of violence against women. We demand laws to put an end to   this violence and means to implement them. We must, from the EL, promote social change through education, control of media communication.
    The EL supports all the initiatives, which will take place on the 25th of November 2005, International Day Against Violence perpetrated towards Women. The EL call its member parties for action and will support them, as well as the other actions organised during the year 2006, within the framework of the EU Campaign Against Violence perpetrated towards Women.
 
 Together we shall eradicate this plague!