Speeches

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner, in the last decade sexual violence has increased by 105 % and 90 % of the victims were women. 10% of the LGBTQI+ community suffers gender-based violence. Our sisters continue to be killed. Behind this data is a young woman like me who is afraid to walk alone. There is a trans woman who is discriminated against and beaten just because she is trans. There is hatred and a strong patriarchal culture. Those who deny that this is a structural problem, those who discredit feminism and its demands, those who blame the victims, those who incite hatred and promote discriminatory policies are perpetuating this violence. In this scenario, it is unacceptable for us that gender equality has become marginal in the Commission's design. That is why this hemicycle must guarantee rights and respect. We must start from education to reduce the root causes of this violence, requiring that sex-affective education be integrated into school curricula. But we must also harmonise the definition of rape, understood as sexual intercourse without consent, and femicide. Let's take back our bodies, our voices, our freedom.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, 41 000 Palestinians lost their lives, 16 000 children killed, 17 000 orphans. Do you feel this silence? This is the deafening silence of a Europe that does not act. The silence of our complicity. The atrocities of 7 October, which we have rightly condemned, cannot in any way justify war crimes and genocidal acts. There is no justification for what is happening in Gaza and the West Bank, for the abuses that the Palestinian people have long endured. How much longer do we have to wait to condemn and sanction the Israeli government, as we already do for other conflicts? How long do we have to wait to stop the sending of arms and suspend economic interests and relations between Europe and Israel? How many lives are "too many" lives? How long do we have to wait to recognize the State of Palestine? Europe must be an example of peace and a defender of human rights and justice. So, let's stop the massacre, let's stop the genocide.