The Equality Group 2025 - Young European women committed to gender equality
Stay of the group Equality 2025
The Equality group brought together from 24 to 28 November five women activists and the deputy mayor of Florence, who had evolved in the voluntary sector but now embraced a political career.
Profiles of the participants
- Beata Jonite (Latvia) has distinguished herself through her political engagement within the Marta Centre, Latvia’s leading organization dedicated to combating violence against women.
- Zhaklin Lekatari (Albania) is a journalist and feminist activist committed to freedom of expression and LGBTQ+ rights. She is the founder of the website TABU.al.
- Kristina Maková (Slovakia) works at the Center for Community Organizing and advocates for the inclusion of marginalized communities, particularly young Roma women.
- Sara Milenkovska (North Macedonia) is co-founder and program manager of the NGO Stella Network, which is engaged in combating violence against women and online disinformation.
- Laura Sparavigna (Italy) is Deputy Mayor of Florence in charge of equality policies and notably contributed to reducing VAT on feminine hygiene products from 22% to 5%.
- Flóra Szilasi (Hungary) is coordinator of the joint prevention program run by the associations NANE and PATENT, which work to defend women’s rights and combat gender-based and sexual violence.
Areas of focus
Their stay centered on the following themes: (i) combating gender-based and sexual violence; (ii) addressing the exclusion of women and girls from minority groups; and (iii) the representation of women in French society, particularly in the media.
Institutional meetings
During the week, the group had the opportunity to meet, among others :
Delphine O, Ambassador and Secretary-General for the Generation Equality Forum, accompanied by Karina Herrera and Eugénie Tressen, Head of Unit within the mission;
Ms. Hélène Bidard, Deputy Mayor of Paris in charge of gender equality;
Lucille Peytavin, researcher and author of The Cost of Virility;
On the issue of cyber violence, Rachel Flore Pardo, lawyer and co-founder of Stop Fisha;
Emmanuelle Piet, physician and President of the Feminist Collective Against Rape.
The laureates were also able to discuss legislative developments in France on issues of combating violence against women by having lunch with Senator Dominique Vérien, president of the delegation of rights and sitting in plenary on the results of the Grenelle on domestic violence chaired by Mrs. Dominique Riotton, deputy, at the National Assembly;
and met Pramila Patten, UN Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict.
Conclusion
The guests were delighted with this week of meetings. The exchanges helped strengthen ties between the French stakeholders involved and the associations represented by the participants.
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