Closing conference of the Council of Europe campaign to Combat Violence against Women, including Domestic Violence

Speech by Britt-Marie Lövgren, member of the Congress for Local and Regional Authorities, Social Cohesion Committee

11 June 2008

My name is Britt-Marie Lövgren. I participated in the closing conference of the Council of Europe Campaign to combat Violence against Women, including Domestic Violence. I represented The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, the Committee of Social cohesion and the city of Umeå where I am an elected representative. It was a fantastic conference with many perspectives on the problem of men’s violence against women. My task was to describe how we work with this problem in Umeå and I will tell you too something about our work.

To me, men’s violence to women and children is a crime against human rights. It is an immense global social problem and the most extreme example of the prevailing imbalance of power in the relationship between women and men. Violence against women and their children is also a serious obstacle to equality between women and men.

To meet this problem, at least partly, in Umeå we have chosen a model which is based upon cooperation between authorities on different levels:  It’s a matter of bringing together health care experts from the regional level, social workers and volunteers from women’s shelters from the local level. The national level brings knowledge from the university and experts from the judicial system and the police. This is a good way of gathering competence. It is extremely important to professionalize this kind of activity. This must not be subjected to thoughts, believe and guessing. The different professions all work together in, what we call a Centre against violence.

The woman that has been exposed to violence must feel that when she comes to the centre that she will get the help that she and her children need. And that this initiative from her doesn’t imply a big risk for them. The women and children only need to go to ONE place instead of tracing around all over the place. The women and children only need to tell their witness ONE time, and it is all recorded and secured for future evidence, if necessary. This relieves the women and children from having to relive the trauma every time they otherwise would have met new staff.

So, the centre has one part for children, one part for women and one part of the centre is dealing with the men.

The most important issue as concerns the treatment of violent men is to ensure that they take responsibility for their actions. They have to understand that the entire responsibility for the violent actions lies with the person who carries them out. These men must give up their excuses and explanations for their violence; stop understating its importance and stop blaming the woman, for example, by stating that she provoked him to violence. Men must realise the consequences of their violence and stop frightening and damaging their families.

 We have also started working on issues of preventive work amongst young men, in our schools. The young can meet in groups and discuss and question the predominant view on manlyhood/machoideals and what it is to be a man. In this way we shift focus to where real change is needed. Young men can through this work change their values and grow up to be non-violent men.

In a new study from the University of Umeå in Sweden, the cost for one individual was calculated. In this case a man physically abused his female partner over a period of 20 years. Costs were summarised at approximately 250 000 Euros.

Measures that limit men’s violence to women are of course most important from a social and humanitarian point of view. But they are also profitable in an economic perspective. For sure, there are reasons to remember and often mention this.

I would like to end by saying: Zero tolerance of violence is the only alternative.

A good democracy is worth nothing less.

Information on the work of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe

The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities works with the same issues as the Council of Europe as a whole but on a local and regional level: human rights, local and regional democracy, local and regional self-government, social inclusion, intercultural dialogue, racism, employment, integration and so on. The strengths of elected representatives at local and regional level lie in their closeness to the citizen which means they can be effective where it matters.

In May the Congress had plenar meeting. For the new mandate period there was a demand that every national delegation must have at least 30 % of the underrepresented sex.  For most delegations that means women. That looked very uncertain some days before the plenar, but eventually every country succeeded. A first step has been taken. Next step is to make women ordinary members. To be a subsitute member is not a women’s job.

I’m a member of the Congress and I’m also vice- chairman of the local chamber of the Committee of Social cohesion. There I’m, among other things, responsible for issues on gender equality. We now discuss what to prioritise in our work programme for 2009-2010.

In 2004 the Congress decided on a Recommendation (148) and a Resolution (176) on Gender mainstreaming at local and regional level: a strategy to promote equality between women and men in cities and regions. I’ve suggested for the work programme that now is the time to make a follow-up and a new policy on gender mainstreaming on local and regional level. That could also be a contribution to the new CDEG report on the effective implementation of gender mainstreaming – ten years after.

Another very important issue for the Congress is violence against women – the result of an imbalance of power between women and men – that takes a terrible, often fatal, toll on women and their families in every town and region across Europe. 

The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities is committed to the fight to end this violation of human rights and indeed in the past has taken a strong stand against violence and such crimes as trafficking in human beings. Furthermore, the Congress has sought to counter gender-based discrimination and the unequal balance of power between the sexes, insisting on the importance of women’s participation in political life and their individual voting rights as a means of empowerment and an affirmation of their equal role in society. 

Many local and regional authorities across Europe have already introduced initiatives such as targeted awareness-raising, and above all in implementing tailored protection and prevention measures, often through close cooperation with NGOs in the field and the Congress invites them to come forward and share their experiences and to this effect has created a special “Good Practice Exchange” column on its STOPVIOLENCE web-site.

The Congress urges local and regional authorities across Europe to make the fight against violence against women – including violence in the family or domestic unit a priority but also by pushing for the strongest commitment of their national authorities and parliament.

The Committee of social cohesion of the Congress is preparing a report exploring the different avenues available to local and regional authorities in the fight against violence against women with an emphasis on prevention and the protection of victims. Recommendations and resolutions will be submitted to the Congress for adoption in 2009.