Meeting online on the day of the EU Social Summit in Porto, 7 May, the PES Women Statutory called on all EU leaders to put gender equality at the centre of their discussions and to advance equal rights and opportunities through the implementation of a Social Europe. Together with our message towards the Porto Social Summit, PES Women also published a briefing on the European Pillar of Social Rights and its opportunities to advance gender equality. Read more. 

The Council of Europe's Istanbul Convention on violence against women turned 10 years old and PES Women marked the occasion under the slogan "The Istanbul Convention Saves Lives" with a statement from President Zita Gurmai and a strong video message from our members. Read more.

Support our message by using our Facebook profile frame, available here. 
Read our previous statements on the situation in Turkey and Poland.

Following the "sofagate" incident in Ankara, PES Women called on European Council President Charles Michel to show leadership on gender equality by urging member states to create a formal Council configuration for gender equality, diversity and anti-discrimination. Read more. 

PES Women President Zita Gurmai and MEP Maria Noichl, S&D FEMM Coordinator, also wrote an op-ed on this topic for Social Europe. 

6 May, on the eve of the EU Social Summit in Porto, socialists and democrats gathered to set out an ambitious agenda for social rights, including gender equality. Prime ministers, ministers, members of the European Parliament, trade unionists and workers from essential sectors took part in a live hybrid event - From Gothenburg to Porto: The Path Towards a Social Europe – to discuss the implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights. Read the PES & S&D declaration "2030 Porto Agenda for Sustainable Wellbeing" here.

On 29 April, ESO, YES, FEPS & PES organised an event on Intergenerational Solidarity for Health and Care. On 15 April, the PES also organised the event Towards a Society of Wellbeing.

Meeting online, the PES Women Executive called for a new narrative around healthy relationships: consent culture must become the norm across Europe to prevent and prosecute gender-based violence, specifically sexual violence. The Executive also reiterated its condemnation of Turkey’s decision to withdraw from the Istanbul Convention and Poland’s latest attempt to replace the Convention with an alternative treaty that allegedly would legalise some domestic violence, as well as ban abortion and equal marriage. Read more. 

PES Women members from the Southern region met twice last month to discuss the Istanbul Convention. On 26 April, the cluster met with progressive women representatives from Turkey to discuss the country's withdrawal from the Convention. On 6 April, the Nordic/Baltic region met with the Danish social democratic parliamentary spokesperson Lars Aslan Rasmussen to discuss gender equality debates in Denmark. 

PES Women President Zita Gurmai reported on PES Women's activities and brought a gender equality perspective to the discussions on the upcoming Porto Social Summit, the Conference on the Future of Europe, the PES/SPD Berlin conference, the new Climate Law, and Turkey. Read more. 

#Progressives4Europe includes the first multilingual debate platform in 24 EU languages and more, alongside a dedicated Facebook page, that encourages people to submit views and ideas online to help shape the Progressives’ contribution to the debate on the Future of Europe. Read more.

The PES Communication team is looking for a trainee with focus on PES Women. Apply here before 25 May.