On March 11th the European Parliament has rejected the report prepared by the Portuguese MEP Inês Cristina Zuber (GUE) on the “Equality between women and men in the European Union.” The report was rejected by 298 votes (289 in favour, 87 abstained). It recommended a wide range of measures to tackle inequality between men and women in the EU.

The report is focused (and that was most likely the content which accelerated most opposition) on sexual health, recommending Member States to “safeguard women’s right to free, high-quality public gynaecological and obstetric healthcare services and to sexual and reproductive health in general, including the right to voluntary termination of pregnancy.” The text also contained a series of observations on gender equality and on the protection of women’s rights on social, family and job sectors; it underlined the importance of being committed to reach targets such as wage equality between men and women, social security, stopping violence and gender-targeted stereotypes.

Zuber said that parliament had sent a “shameful signal – it’s a disgrace”.

Access the Zuber report on gender equality in the EU for year 2012 HERE.