The draft report, adopted by the Women’s Rights and Gender Equality Committee on Tuesday by 28 votes in favour, 5 against and no abstentions, highlights that although governments and organisations have made changes to tackle sexual violence and to support victims since the MeToo movement went viral in 2017, in some EU countries there has been little or no progress.

MEPs call for a common EU definition of sexual violence and harassment to overcome the current fragmentation of protection and rights for victims across the different member states. They also reiterate that gender-based violence should be identified as a new area of crime and sexual harassment treated as a criminal offence.

EU institutions need more stringent sanctions and faster procedures

Sexual and psychological harassment cases in the European Parliament are still under-reported, MEPs point out, because victims do not use the existing channels for fear of retaliation, general distrust in how harassment cases are…