Gender stereotypes and sexism represent a serious limit to the achievement of substantive gender equality: equal rights for women and men in all spheres of public and private life. Gender stereotypes and sexism contribute to different forms of hate speech (on line and off-line) and discrimination based on factors such as ethnicity, age, social class, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation or sexuality. More...

In its seventh annual Roma Women's Conference, this year held in Finland, the Council of Europe stresses the importance of "mainstreaming" Roma and Traveller gender equality issues as part of its "Strategy for Gender Equality 2018-2023". More...

An Intercultural Integration Academy will be held in Iceland on 25-28 March organised by the Council of Europe (Intercultural cities programme), the Ministry of Social Affairs and UNHCR. More...

Europe’s social structure has become more and more diverse: its citizens have plural identities, different ethnic origins, religions, identities, sexual orientations, and social classes. Yet, while diversity could be managed as a strength to make societies more dynamic, prosperous, and creative, we are witnessing a rise in racism and xenophobia, hate speech against migrants and minorities, islamophobia, and the spreading across Europe of political rhetoric based on the defence of fixed national identity defined by ethnicity and traditions. More...

This week marks the 5th anniversary of the illegal annexation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol by the Russian Federation. I would like to recall the Committee of Ministers’ condemnation of the annexation, which constitutes a violation of international law and cannot form the basis for any alteration of their status, and to reiterate its commitment to the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders. More...

Too many people with an ethnic or migrant background are still being held back in the job market. This is despite laws against racial discrimination and for equal opportunities in employment that have been in place for decades, the heads of three European human rights institutions said in a joint statement on today’s International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. More...

The Council of Europe and Reporters Without Borders are organising a conference in Strasbourg on 20 March to discuss public policies aimed at strengthening media pluralism. More...

Today the Venice Commission published a set of guidelines to protect ombudsman institutions, following threats to these institutions in recent years. Ombudsman are important for democracy, their services are free, and are thus accessible to individuals who cannot afford to pursue their complaints through the courts. More...

Since 2012, when GRECO addressed 24 recommendations to Belarus and invited the authorities to authorise the publication of the Evaluation Report, twenty recommendations have remained outstanding; and GRECO repeatedly concluded that the level of compliance with its recommendations was very low and “globally unsatisfactory”. Belarus has never authorised publication of any of the evaluation or compliance reports. More...

The Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) has expressed concern about several persistent problems in Romanian prisons - including the abuse of prisoners by staff and inter-prisoner violence - as well as about numerous allegations of police ill-treatment. More...