Clare Daly (The Left). – Madam President, I again voted for this report because I think the question is, are we up for the fight against sexual harassment? We know the figures: one in two women in the EU has been a victim of sexual harassment before the age of 15, more than one person in five has been the victim of violence and harassment – whether physical, psychological or sexual – in the workplace. And this could only be, maybe, the tip of the iceberg because we don’t know the real statistics.
So ratifying the various international texts such as the International Labour Organization’s Convention on Violence and Harassment and the Istanbul Convention are very important, but they are not enough. Until we address the deep misogyny at the heart of our societies, then this discrimination and harassment will continue.
James Connolly, the great Irish Socialist, said: ‘There are none so fitted to break the chains as those who wear them.’ Well, the victims of sexual harassment and violence are off their knees, they’re not going to tolerate it and they are demanding that action be done.