Press release – International Women’s Day: women’s rights and democracy in the digital age

DCM Editorial Summary: This story has been independently rewritten and summarised for DCM readers to highlight key developments relevant to the region. Original reporting by European Parliament, click this post to read the original article.

When: Thursday 5 March 2026, 9:00 – 12:30 CET

Where: European Parliament in Brussels, ANTALL building, room 6Q2 and via streaming.

On the occasion of International Women’s Day 2026, the European Parliament’s Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality (FEMM), chaired by Lina Galvez (S&D, ES), will host an interparliamentary meeting with national and European MPs on “Women’s rights and democracy: combating stereotypes, disinformation and violence in the digital age”.

The event will be opened by Lina Gálvez, followed by a video message from European Parliament President Roberta Metsola. Opening remarks will be given by Hadja Lahbib, Commissioner for Equality, Preparedness and Crisis Management, and Florence Raes, Director of the UN Women Brussels Liaison Office.

The debate will feature contributions from journalists, policymakers and digital safety specialists, followed by a Q&A session with members of national parliaments and of the European Parliament.

The guest speakers are: Natalia Waloch, journalist and columnist at Gazeta Wyborcza and Wysokie Obcasy; Ana Natsvlishvili, member of the 10th convocation of the Parliament of Georgia and award-winning human rights expert; Dr. Silvia Semenzin, Adjunct Professor at the Open University of Catalonia; Julie Guichard, Digital Safety and Government Affairs Manager at Microsoft; and Carlien Scheele, Director of the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE).

The session will conclude with remarks by Josie Christodoulou, Commissioner for Gender Equality of the Cyprus Presidency.

See the full programme.

Seminar for journalists

On Thursday from 14.00, journalists are also invited to a seminar on digital violence against women. To attend the seminar in person or to get a link to ask questions remotely, please contact: media-seminars@europarl.europa.eu.

Here is the full programme of the event. You can also follow this event via streaming.

Background

A new EU gender equality strategy is scheduled to be adopted by the European Commission this week. The European Parliament adopted a resolution in November 2025 to provide its input to the strategy.