Feminist campaigners from Europe’s socialist and social democratic political family gathered in Portugal on Friday to celebrate 30 years of PES Women – the organisation of the Party of European Socialists (PES) which promotes gender equality and women’s representation, both inside and outside the party.
The conference – 30 Years of PES Women: Achievements and Challenges – was organised in cooperation with PS Mulheres Socialistas (MS-ID), the women’s organisation of Partido Socialista (PS), which is a full member party of the PES.
Ahead of the European elections next year, the conference focused on the political fight against the populist threat to women’s rights, and the societal fight against the scourge of gender-based violence.
Speakers included PES Women President Zita Gurmai, PES President Stefan Löfven (video message), MS-ID President Elza Pais, PS Deputy Secretary General João Torres, PES Vice President Francisco André, and many others.
PES Women President Zita Gurmai said:
“For more than 30 years, socialists have fought for a feminist Europe. A Europe where gender equality and women’s rights are fully upheld, as fundamental rights of the EU.
“We can be proud of how far we have come. For over a decade we fought for the Istanbul Convention. Today, EU accession has been achieved. For over a decade we fought for the Directive on gender balance in corporate boards. Today it is a reality too. We fought to put gender at the top of the policy agenda. Today, I am proud to say that we have an EU Gender Equality Strategy, delivered by Helena Dalli – a progressive European Commissioner for Equality.
“But the fight is not over. It is never over. We see the challenges ahead, that our hard-won progress is under threat. We will never let populists and conservative roll-back our rights. Today we celebrate our achievements. Tomorrow, we continue the fight, as we always have done, as we always will.”
A diverse range of high-level speakers were present at the Partido Socialista Headquarters in Lisbon for the PES Women conference.
The event was opened by Zita Gurmai, President of PES Women, Elza Pais, President of MS-ID, João Torres, Deputy Secretary General of PS, and a video message from PES President Stefan Löfven.
The first panel focused on rising populism in Europe and the risk of a backlash on women’s rights. Maria Manuel Leitão Marques MEP, PS Portugal provided the keynote speech, which was followed by interventions from Vera Tax MEP, Jorge Lacão former Secretary of State for Gender Equality, PS Portugal, and Diana Pinto, Project Officer at the Portuguese Platform for Women’s Rights. Panel one was moderated by Jamila Madeira, PS Portugal National Secretary for International Relations. Wrapping up the panel, a video message was provided by Francisco André, Executive Vice President of the PES and Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Portugal.
Panel two focused on fighting violence against women. Prof Manuel Lisboa, Director of the National Observatory on Violence and Gender provided the keynote speech for this panel, followed by interventions from Kata Tuto, Vice President of the PES Group in the European Committee of the Regions, Laeticia Thissen, PES Women Ex-Officio Member, Prof Helena Leitão, Lecturer at the Centre for Judicial Studies, and Daniel Cotrim from the Portuguese Association for Victim Support. The panel was moderated by Teresa Fragoso, MS-ID National Secretary for International Relations.
The event closed with a video message from Carlos César, President of PS Portugal, and interventions from Ana Catarina Mendes, National Secretary of the PS, Maria João Rodrigues, President of the Foundation for European Progressive Studies and Elke Ferner, Vice President PES Women.
PES Women President Zita Gurmai and President of the National Association of Mayors of the Socialist Party (ANA-PS) Isilda Gomes then launched the Portuguese arm of the PES Women-PES CoR campaign #SafePlace4Women.
Earlier on Friday, before the conference, PES Women held its statutory meeting at the PS Headquarters in Lisbon. On the agenda: the 2024 European elections, policy developments in the field of gender equality, upcoming events and activities, the #SafePlace4Women campaign, and the PES Women conference.
