URGENT CALL: EU Member States must ACT NOW
SAFE PLACES FOR REFUGEE WOMEN* & CHILDREN
The EU Member States must apply immediately evacuate refugee women* and children from the inhumane situation on the Greek Aegean islands and at the Greek-Turkish border to the EU Member States, enable safe and legal passage for refugee women* and children! In times of #COVID2019 it is wven more urgent.

It is known that many women in Syria among other regions have left their country for fear of rape and sexual assault. Sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) overwhelmingly affects women* and girls as victims and or survivors. In humanitarian and emergency settings, the risk to women of different forms of violence are even higher. Since the closure of the western Balkan route women and girls are at increased risk of SGBV.

The EU Member States are required to respect their international women's and human rights obligations (e.g. Istanbul Convention). Denying asylum-seekers and refugees protection against SGBV is a severe human rights violation. 

EU member states must address the real emergency immediately:
(1) evacuate women and girls from the Greek islands and the Greek-Turkish border to EU countries NOW
(2) deliver a working gender-sensitive refugee referral and support system NOW
(3) implement a working gender-sensitive asylum mechanism NOW
(4) stop trapping women* and children in horrific conditions without most basic assistance and at permanent risk of violence NOW

#HumanityFirst #StandwithWomenRefugees #HelpLesvosNow #GenderSensitiveRefugeeResponse #MyEuropeHelps #safety4womenrefugees #safety4refugeechildren

The initial signatories sent the open letter to the Members of EU Parliament on 6th March,2020,

Dr. Birgit Wolf (Austria)
Gender & Anti-violence Expert, Lecturer at University of Vienna, volunteer in refugee hotspots (Lesvos, Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia) at EU border in 2015 (www.linkedin.com/in/birgitwolf

Dr. Dani Kranz (Germany)
Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Ben Gurion University.

International Journalists Association (Germany)
Carl-Legien-Strasse 15, 63073 Offenbach am Main, http://www.internationaljournalists.org

Human Rights Defenders e.V. (Germany)
Hohenstaufenring 62, 50674 Cologne, https://humanrights-ev.com

European Institute for Sustainable Development” (EUISD) (Austria)
Vorgartenstr. 206706, 1020 Wien https://euisd.com/

Broken Chalk Platform Netherlands (Netherlands)
https://twitter.com/brokenchalknl

Human Rights Solidarity – UK (United Kingdom)

Autonomous Austrian Women's Shelters, Mag. Maria Rösslhumer (Austria)
Bacherplatz 10/4, 1050 Wien, https://www.aoef.at

Verein ORIENT EXPRESS Beratungs-, Bildungs- und Kulturinitiative für Frauen (Austria)
Schönngasse 15-17/Top 2, 1020 Wien, www.orientexpress-wien.com www.gegen-zwangsheirat.at

Samar Al-Bradan (Austria)
Syrian Refugee & Human Aids Activist, Law Student, Member of Civil Society Support Room SCSSR, Vienna