Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1065920
13 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 23 DECEMBER 2018 NEWS LAURA CALLEJA JEANNE Ponte began filling what she called 'The Little Sex- ism Notebook' in 2014, two weeks after she arrived in Brus- sels as a 23-year-old political assistant. 'The Little Sexism Notebook: Things Lived, Seen and Heard at the European Parliament', began recording every act of sexual harassment – starting with one of her first official meetings – when a German MEP blocked her exit and put his arm across her waist, and said: "Are you new here? We should get a drink." The momentum that Ponte's notebook generated within the MeToo movement was a semi- nal moment inside the Euro- pean Parliament. In October, the president of the European Parliament, An- tonio Tajani, insisted that the EP committee dealing with harassment issues had not re- ceived any cases of sexual har- assment, denying there was a problem with sexual harass- ment inside the EP. "No there isn't a problem, because we're working hard… there is a team working on this, in this team there are assistants, civil serv- ants and phycologists among others. Nobody has gone up to the team and told them 'I have a problem of sexual harass- ment," Tajani had said. But the #MeTooEP campaign galvanised by Jeanne Ponte saw the matter very differently, and vowed to unearth the hidden truth inside the European Par- liament that was being hidden by the propaganda fed to the media. On its website, the campaign publishes testimonials of sexual harassment occurring within the European Parliament in order to rebuke all those who claim that sexual harassment in the EP does not exist. Since its conception, 27 people have come forward and shared their testimonies – including one case of sexual assault, where the victim is allegedly said to still be waiting for the EP committee's reply, and one case of rape. One of the co-founders of MeTooEP, whose career start- ed inside the EP and until re- cently was an aide to Labour MEP Miriam Dalli, is Maltese national Pia Micallef. "We continue to insist that victims do not feel safe report- ing to the parliament's com- mittee on harassment as the structure in place simply does not protect victims," Micallef said. Together with Aranxta Cal- varo and Jeanne Ponte, Mi- callef created the MeTooEP campaign on Women's Day in March 2018. "In October of last year, and in reaction to the momentum brought about by the MeToo Movement, Jeanne Ponte con- tacted the media over a note- book she had been developing over the past five years. The notebook detailed various tes- timonies of sexual harassment faced by various workers in the European Parliament. Testi- monies ranged from everyday sexism to rape and sexual as- sault," she said. In a reaction, MEPs drafted a resolution calling for more legislative measures to combat sexual harassment in the Eu- ropean Union and specifically within the European Parlia- ment. Despite being voted in favour by a vast majority of MEPs, the resolution has to be given legislative force. "For this reason, Jeanne, to- gether with me and Aranxta Calvaro, organised the very first every internal manifesta- tion inside the EP: it gathered 600 workers from the Parlia- ment's 6,000-strong staff, and a subsequent petition gathered the support of 1,000 employ- ees. It was registered as the Eu- ropean Parliament's very first internal manifestation, which in my opinion should be con- sidered a landmark within Eu- ropean history." Micallef's passion for politics bloomed early in her life. In- spired by parents' activism at a local level in the early years of her childhood, she says she was influenced to be vocal on a number of different political issues, ultimately identifying herself on the left of social and economic issues. After university, and having done a brief stint in journalism, she joined Labour MEP Clau- dette Abela Baldacchino for an internship in Brussels. "Clau- dette and I developed a strong bond over our shared love of social policy and a desire to better the lives of the most vul- nerable in society. My intern- ship turned into the opportu- nity when I became Claudette's assistant, and in the next man- date, forming part of Labour MEP Miriam Dalli's team as a policy advisor on civil liberties, justice and home affairs." Micallef today says the Me- TooEP movement has been well received by MEPs and staff. "Many have thanked us for coming forward and for not giving up on this fight. Many are aware that the Parliament's administration continues to refuse to implement the prom- ised measures." Micallef says that even then, she could see how tired people were of having to put up with sexual harassment. "They are fed up of the 'business as usual' narrative and have demanded action, and more importantly, they have entrusted the Me- TooEP movement to make it happen. And a testament to this is the fact that victims of sexual harassment in the European Parliament keep posting tes- timonials on our website. The more victims come forward with their encounters of sexual harassment in the European Parliament, the more others finally find the courage within themselves to also speak out." Since the adoption of the EP resolution, the EP has an- nounced that it will start man- datory training for everybody working with the European Parliament, however MEPs re- main exempt. "The training will be manda- tory for everyone except MEPs because the Parliament feels they cannot ask MEPs to un- dertake such training. Which in my opinion highlights a vast sense of ridiculous hypocrisy coming from the administra- tion headed by Tajani and the harassment task force headed by MEP Morin Chartier: it gives the message that MEPs' prestige is more important than protecting workers against sexual harassment." Currently, MeTooEP is meet- ing with a number of different political group leaders over the past months in order to gain more support for the need to implement the measures. "All of the political leaders we have met all voted in favour of the resolution, and many of them recognise that it is imperative not to allow such a resolution to become noth- ing more than a mere press release. At the same time, the constant pressure we have put on the Parliament also helps," Micallef says. Micallef says MeTooEP is now working towards a larger framework to combat sexual harassment within the EU. "We are in close contact with other movements across Eu- rope, especially those con- centrated in their own na- tional parliaments, such as the French movement BlanceTon- Porc, which focuses on sexual harassment in France." In the coming weeks, the MeTooEP movement will be embarking on a new part of its campaign to encourage all prospective MEP election can- didates to sign a pledge against sexual harassment. "The pledge would ensure that should the candidate sign- ing the pledge become an MEP during the next mandate, they would commit to only electing vice presidents of the Europe- an Parliament who have made a concrete pledge towards im- plementing the Parliament's resolution on combatting sex- ual harassment in its entirety, with no more excuses." lcalleja@mediatoday.com.mt Pia Micallef was at the heart of the first ever workers' demo inside the EP in what became the fightback against abuse and power prompted by the Weinstein fall: sexual harassment Pia Micallef Victims do not feel safe reporting to the parliament's committee on harassment as the structure in place simply does not protect victims Influential: the #MeTooEP activists in SZ magazine Taking the fight to Europe's parliament