European Parliament sets justice-first agenda ahead of UN women’s rights summit
Women’s rights fail most often not because laws are missing, but because justice never reaches those who need it. Ahead of the seventieth session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW70), the European Parliament has adopted a strong position placing access to justice and women’s full and effective participation in decision-making at the centre of Europe’s global gender equality agenda.
Driven by Renew Europe amendments, the Parliament’s position reflects recent EU legislative progress, notably on victims’ rights, and translates it into concrete global priorities. The text strengthens commitments on legal aid, victim support services, compensation paid by offenders, protection for women and girls facing persecution, and action against gender-based violence, including online abuse that silences women from public life.
By anchoring women’s rights in the rule of law, the Parliament shifts the focus to real-world outcomes: whether a survivor can afford a lawyer, whether perpetrators of gender-based violence are held accountable, and whether political participation is possible without harassment or fear.
“Justice is the difference between rights that exist on paper and rights that exist in real life. When women cannot access legal aid, when courts are not equipped to deal with gender-based violence, or when online abuse pushes women out of public debate, democracy itself is weakened. These are the Parliament’s priorities for access to justice on the global stage, from victim support to real accountability for perpetrators. Europe is saying clearly: women’s rights are not optional, and they are not symbolic. They are enforceable.”
Lucia YarRenew Europe MEP, Slovakia, Progresívne Slovensko
As global backsliding on women’s rights accelerates, the European Parliament’s position ensures the EU arrives at CSW70 with credibility and a justice-based vision linking gender equality to democracy, freedom, and the rule of law.
The seventieth session of the Commission on the Status of Women will take place at United Nations Headquarters in New York from 9 to 19 March 2026.