"If we allow women to play a second-class role, some men see this as legitimising their domination of women."

In front of me are six strong women. Women who have decided to take their destiny into their own hands and who have come together to tell me their stories. For three hours, I listened to all the violence - psychological, physical and financial - that these women had endured for years. It is not just about hitting and kicking, they insist. Many victims endure humiliation, manipulation and isolation on a daily basis. They are subjected to nasty, poisonous comments that undermine their self-esteem. As a result, they become increasingly entangled in the web of a man who wants to exercise and maintain his power at all costs.

At least 24 feminicides by 2023

And there are a lot of these women. At the moment, it is not easy to get complete figures on violence against women because much of it takes place behind closed doors. And many women are afraid to tell anyone. Figures from Europe show that one in three women has experienced physical or sexual violence. But we only see the tip of the iceberg. We only see it when control is lost, often when the man's power is challenged, when the woman resists and leaves the relationship. The Stop Feminicide blog, which tracks all feminicides, says at least 24 women have been murdered so far this year.

In recent years, the federal government has done a lot of work to reduce violence against women and feminicide as much as possible. Just before the summer holidays, we passed the Stop Femicide Act. This law, which is unique in Europe, introduces numerous measures to prevent and combat this violence as far as possible. For example, the mobile stalking alert will be rolled out across the country so that women can discreetly call the police if they feel threatened by their ex-partner. Aid workers, judges and police officers are being trained to recognise all forms of violence, the various measures are being streamlined and better data is being collected. Victims of sexual violence can go to the Care Centres after Sexual Violence. This is a unique place where victims can get medical and psychosocial help 24 hours a day. If they wish, they can also file a complaint.

We have only been able to do this work because we have been able to stand on the broad shoulders of civil society: the many women's movements in our country that have knocked on the doors of different governments year after year with the message: take this violence seriously.

85% of women worldwide are victims of cyber violence

This is why Belgium has made the adoption of the directive against violence against women a priority during its presidency of the European Union. There will be new measures and tougher penalties against rape, genital mutilation and cyber violence. Violence against women in the offline world is intensifying online. Figures from the Economist Intelligence Unit show that 85% of women worldwide are victims of cyber violence, whether by acquaintances, ex-partners or complete strangers, and the vast majority of perpetrators (86%) are men. Our country still wants to adopt this directive in this legislature. The dam against violence is long overdue.

As a woman, if you are financially dependent on a man, how can you claim your freedom?

It will take more than annual reports, checklists and scientific committees. No matter how sophisticated our approach, no matter how many people are retrained, until there is de facto equality between women and men, we will continue to face skewed power situations. If a woman is financially dependent on a man, how can she claim her freedom?

Formally we may have equal rights for women and men, but the real discrimination against women is far from over. Women do most of the unpaid work, they still earn significantly less, they are still under-represented in positions of responsibility, etc. As Secretary of State, I am trying to provide answers with proposals on pay transparency and quotas, and during the Belgian Presidency, our country is also bringing together all the ministers responsible for gender equality to inspire each other. But let's be honest: things are moving slowly, too slowly.

The women in front of me bear witness to this. There's no way around it: if we allow women to play a second-class role, some men will see this as legitimising their domination of women. 

Additional information:

Victims of sexual violence can go to care centres after sexual violence (zsg.belgium.be), for other violence you can call the helpline 1712 (1712.be).