HELSINKI - A side event of the official program of the Finnish EU-Presidency, EPF attended the 2-day conference “Stop the backlash – Stop domestic violence” in Helsinki. Organised by Federation of Mother and Child Homes and Shelters, in cooperation with Ministry of Social Affairs and Health and Women against Violence Europe (WAVE) network, the conference aimed to make the ongoing backlash in Europe visible and to show the decisionmakers that this needs urgent actions throughout Europe.
Attended by 200 EU and Member State decisionmakers, as well as European NGOs and Finnish participants, the conference assessed the current situation of domestic and intimate partner violence, examined the implementation of the Istanbul Convention in EU Member States, and considered means to prevent and stop domestic violence and violence against women. The first conference day focused on the perspective of victims, the second day on the perspective of children, culminating with a declaration to the Finnish and Croatian EU presidencies.
EPF Secretary Neil Datta delivered a speech on analysing the anti-gender movement in Europe during the opening session.