Poland and Hungary block term ‘gender equality’ in text of Porto Declaration
22:54
The phrase ‘gender equality’ has been removed from the text of the declaration presented at the ongoing social summit in Porto. The reason is the strong opposition of the prime ministers of Poland and Hungary to this term, which they consider to be ideologically marked.
The original version of the so-called The Porto Declaration included a reference to ‘promoting gender equality’. After the changes forced by the intervention of the heads of governments of Poland and Hungary, the revised version reached by the Reuters agency no longer includes this wording.
Instead, he talks about the planned "intensification of efforts to combat discrimination, active work to reduce gender gaps" (...), and promoting equality. Sources in the European Union, cited by Reuters, confirm that it was Warsaw and Budapest that demanded that the wording of the declaration be changed.
ILGA Europe, the European branch of an LGBTI rights organization, says that dropping the term ‘gender equality’ is to eliminate the very principle behind it.
"Attacks against the term gender are a strategy widely used by human rights opponents to undermine achievements in areas such as women's rights, sexual and reproductive rights, and LGBTI rights," Katrin Hugendubel of ILGA Europe assessed.
"For several years, we have seen constant opposition from the Polish and Hungarian governments to the use of the term gender in all Council texts, which has a detrimental effect on the rights of women and LGBTI people," she added.
