crime
Paus welcomes EU agreement to combat violence against women
The Europe-wide improvements protect women specifically and effectively, said Federal Family Minister Lisa Paus (Greens). photo
© Christoph Soeder/dpa
The EU wants to combat violence against women, but an important part has not been regulated. From the perspective of the German family minister, the agreement is still a success.
Negotiators from the European Parliament and EU states agreed on a law in Strasbourg that would regulate certain crimes equally in all countries. Cyber stalking, forced marriage, female genital mutilation or sending intimate images without consent will now be punishable throughout the EU. The new requirements still have to be approved by Parliament and the EU states. In most cases this is a formality.
EU-wide standards on rape not regulated
However, EU-wide standards on rape were not regulated. Parliament called for a regulation that every sexual act must be consented to: only yes means yes. However, several countries in the EU, including Germany, blocked this. The critics argued that there was no legal basis in European law for such a uniform regulation. A corresponding article therefore did not make it into law. Previously, over a hundred prominent women had written an open letter calling on Federal Justice Minister Marco Buschmann (FDP) to give up the blockade.
Paus did not comment explicitly on this debate in her reaction. But she fundamentally argued: “A failure of the directive would have been a major step backwards in terms of equality policy.” The political debate for more protection for women from violence will continue, the minister said.
Buschmann told the dpa that it was good that uniform rules had been agreed on, among other things, the criminalization of genital mutilation, forced marriages and the non-consensual publication of intimate images.
However, he was also satisfied that the majority of member states shared the concerns about the rape offense originally provided for in the directive. Here too, the following applies: “No end, no matter how good it may be, justifies all means” and the EU can only act within the framework of the competences delegated by the member states. “As Minister of Justice, I cannot support any regulation that would be patently illegal,” he added. The federal government also agreed on this.
Paus said in an interview last year that she would have liked the crime of rape to be included – but first of all, she was not a lawyer.