05-11-2025 15:00
FEMM-EUDS exchange of views on Radical movements advocating against gender equality
In the framework of the European Parliaments’ Gender Equality Week 2025, the Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality (FEMM) and the Special Committee on the European Democracy Shield (EUDS) are organising a joint exchange of views on 'Radical movements advocating against gender equality such as manosphere, causing interference with European democratic processes'. It will take place on Wednesday, 5 November 2025 from 15 to 16 CET.
Across the continent, radical movements have increasingly weaponized attacks on gender equality as a strategy to disrupt democratic processes and social cohesion. This phenomenon is not new and has further been amplified due to algorithmic structures that aid its growth, where this extreme content can be consistently found in the pockets of our boys and men with a click of a button. Attacks on gender equality have become standard scaremongering propaganda arsenal in hybrid threat toolboxes in Europe and beyond, with clear examples of weaponisation of women rights movements, members of the LGBITQ+ community, as well as family values to push political agenda. This exacerbates social divisions, encourages distrust in institutions, and deepens political polarization, which in the end harms the deliberative nature of democracy.