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On Wednesday 27 March, the committee Public Health and Equality approved the draft law to legally anchor the Belgian Sexual Assault Centres. This will ensure the long-term survival of the Centres in terms of organisation, funding and cooperation between hospitals, police and public prosecutors. Secretary of State for Gender Equality, Equal Opportunities and Diversity Marie-Colline Leroy said, "This legal regulation is the culmination of years of hard work to expand the Sexual Assault…

The Institute for the Equality of Women and men is making a new tool available on its website to help professionals in the field detect "coercive control" more quickly. This is important because "coercive control" is usually the step that precedes feminicide. The elaboration and availability of this tool is one of the measures resulting from the Stop Feminicide Act promoted by Secretary of State for Equal Opportunities Marie-Colline Leroy that was voted in late August. In…

41.9% of Belgian young people have already heard of deepnudes, 13.8% of Belgian young people have ever received a deepnude, 12.8% know about deepnude apps and 60.5% of them have already tried to make a deepnude themselves. This is according to a study by the University of Antwerp (UA) of more than 2,800 Belgian young people aged between 15 and 25 years old, commissioned by the Institute for the Equality of Women and Men, Child Focus and the State Secretary for Equal Opportunities, Gender…

The Belgian presidency and European Parliament agreed on a first-ever EU law on violence against women and domestic violence. The new law lays down minimum rules concerning the definition of specific criminal offences and penalties to address this form of violence. It also sets out rights of victims of all forms of violence against women or domestic violence, and provides for their protection.

On Friday 9 February, the federal government gave a mandate to Secretary of State for Gender Equality, Equal Opportunities and Diversity Marie-Colline Leroy, to examine how best to implement the action proposals put forward by the eight experts who participated in the Round Table to strengthen dialogue and cohesion in Belgian society. Among the proposed actions: a 'Year of Cultural Diversity' and the creation of a citizens' council with elected citizens who can make recommendations…

The pilot project Lawyer Victim Assistance (LVA) started in November 2023. It is the result of a collaboration between the Brussels Bar, the Brussels Prosecutor's Office, the Brussels Capital-Elsene police zone and the Institute for the Equality of Women and Men. The project is co-supported by Justice Minister Paul Van Tigchelt and State Secretary for Gender Equality Marie-Colline Leroy.This project aims to make legal aid more accessible to victims of sexual and intra-family violence and to…

15/01/2024 - At the suggestion of Secretary of State for Equal Opportunities Marie-Colline Leroy, the Interfederal Coordination Mechanism for Combating Anti-Semitism was launched on Monday 15 January. This new mechanism will for the first time bring together all the competent cabinets of the various Belgian governments, the Jewish community, the administrations involved, Unia and the Flemish Human Rights Institute. The aim is to fight anti-Semitism in a coherent and coordinated…

22/12/2023 - The federal government wants to legally regulate the operation and funding of the 10, and soon 13, Sexual Assault Centers (SAC). Secretary of State for Gender Equality, Equal Opportunities and Diversity Marie-Colline Leroy is delighted: "This legal regulation is the culmination of years of hard work to expand the SACs in our country and make them a permanent structure. It is also a great recognition of the hard work of all employees and stakeholders who work day and night to…

08/12/2023 - The Birth Leave Report proves the usefulness of increasing birth leave to 20 days, a measure introduced by the Vivaldi government. However, there is still a lot of work to be done to really work towards full gender equality within families, says State Secretary for Equal Opportunities Marie-Colline Leroy. She supports IEWM's proposal to make birth leave compulsory and sees it as an important new step for the next government: "It is in everyone's interest that as many fathers…

01/12/2023 - Representatives of the Mons regional prosecutor's office and the police were trained on Thursday in the use of the mobile stalking alarm, which can better protect victims of violence between ex-partners. The training was an important event as it marked the official launch of the mobile stalking alarm in the last zone. The mobile stalking alarm is now available nationwide.  The mobile stalking alarm is one of the protective measures for victims of domestic violence included…