POLICY INPUT

Gendered Transnational Repression, Women in Exile and Women, Peace and Security

Priorities for the EU Gender Action Plan IV (2028-2034) from the Enlargement and Eastern Neighbourhood perspective

Core proposition

Purpose of this input

The European Commission and the European External Action Service are preparing the EU Gender Action Plan IV for 2028-2034. The Structured Dialogue is designed to gather civil-society input on how EU external action can strengthen gender equality, women’s empowerment, the Women, Peace and Security agenda, civic space and partnerships with civil society. This paper proposes a focused Eastern Neighbourhood contribution centred on women affected by authoritarian repression, displacement and cross-border pressure.

Why this matters for the Eastern Neighbourhood

Women who challenge authoritarianism may remain exposed after leaving their country of origin. Repression can follow them through digital surveillance and harassment, threats, pressure on relatives, disinformation and reputational attacks, misuse of legal or administrative procedures, and restrictions connected to passports or consular documentation. These practices can intersect with precarious residence status, economic insecurity and the risks already faced by women human rights defenders and peace actors.

For GAP IV, this means that protection cannot be designed only within the territorial borders of a partner country. EU gender external action should be able to respond when repression is exercised across borders and when women continue their civic, human-rights and peace work from exile.

Four policy asks for GAP IV

1. Recognise women human rights defenders and activists in exile as a distinct group under GAP IV

GAP IV should explicitly recognise that women forced into exile may remain political and civic actors rather than becoming only beneficiaries of migration or humanitarian policy. Their protection, participation and leadership should be addressed across gender equality, human rights, migration and WPS instruments.

• Include women human rights defenders, women peacebuilders and women activists in exile in GAP IV implementation guidance and country-level programming.
• Ensure access to protection, legal and status-related assistance, psychosocial support and digital-security support where relevant.
• Protect meaningful participation in EU consultations and policy dialogue, including for actors who cannot safely engage from inside their country of origin.

2. Integrate gendered transnational repression into EU gender equality and WPS policy

GAP IV should acknowledge that gendered repression may be transnational: authoritarian actors can target women beyond national borders in order to silence them, isolate them from communities and family networks, or undermine their continued public participation.

• Include gender-sensitive risk assessment of cross-border threats against women human rights defenders and peace actors.
• Treat digital harassment, surveillance, threats to relatives, disinformation, legal or administrative pressure and documentation-related coercion as potentially connected forms of repression rather than isolated incidents.
• Strengthen coordination between gender equality, human rights, migration, security and rule-of-law actors when risks cross policy silos and national borders.

3. Create accessible, long-term and flexible support for grassroots, feminist and exile-led organisations

The EU’s commitment to locally led change requires funding architecture that smaller organisations can realistically access. Project-based funding alone can leave organisations unable to maintain protection capacity, institutional continuity and long-term participation in policy processes.

• Expand small-grant and cascading-grant mechanisms with simplified application and reporting requirements.
• Increase availability of multiannual core or institutional support for credible women-led, feminist, grassroots and exile organisations.
• Maintain emergency and rapid-response funding for protection needs alongside longer-term organisational support.
• Assess co-financing, minimum-budget and financial-history requirements for their unintended exclusionary effects on smaller or displaced civil-society actors.

4. Institutionalise participation of exile civil society in EU country-level tools

EU Delegations and relevant services should systematically include credible exile civil society where independent actors cannot safely or freely operate inside the country. This is particularly important for closed or highly repressive contexts in the Eastern Neighbourhood.

• Include exile-led and women-led organisations in Gender Country Profiles, Civil Society Roadmaps and relevant consultations.
• Create predictable channels for follow-up so consultation does not end when a dialogue session closes.
• Use safe participation arrangements, confidentiality and do-no-harm principles for sensitive cases and testimonies.

Women, Peace and Security: broaden the security lens

The parallel development of GAP IV and the updated EU approach to Women, Peace and Security creates an opportunity to connect gender equality with democratic security. WPS implementation should recognise women not only as people affected by armed conflict, but also as actors resisting militarisation, authoritarian coercion and the shrinking of civic space.

A proposed policy logic

How this responds to the Structured Dialogue

The recommendations directly respond to the consultation’s guiding questions on making EU engagement with civil society more meaningful, inclusive and strategic; improving country-level tools such as Civil Society Roadmaps and Gender Country Profiles; and using EU political and diplomatic tools to protect civic space, women human rights defenders and women peacebuilders. They also build on the consultation’s explicit attention to fragile and conflict-affected settings, shrinking civic space, backlash against gender equality and underrepresented groups.

Suggested outcomes by 2034

• Women human rights defenders and women activists in exile are explicitly recognised in GAP IV implementation frameworks and relevant WPS guidance.
• Gendered transnational repression is incorporated into EU risk analysis, protection practice and policy dialogue.
• Exile civil society can participate predictably and safely in EU Delegation consultations and relevant country-level planning tools.
• Grassroots, feminist, women-led and exile organisations have practical access to flexible, multiannual and rapid-response funding.
• EU gender equality, human rights, migration, peace and security instruments are better coordinated when women face cross-border repression.

Proposed discussion

We propose discussing these priorities with PeaceWomen Across the Globe and interested partners ahead of the September Structured Dialogue, to identify areas of convergence and reinforce common messages where useful. The aim is to ensure that the experiences of women human rights defenders, women peacebuilders and women activists in exile are visible within the broader GAP IV consultation.

Reference

European Commission and European External Action Service, with the Policy Forum on Development, “Gender Equality in EU External Action: From GAP III to GAP IV – Online Structured Dialogue with Civil Society Organisations and Associations of Local Authorities”, Concept Note, September 2026. The consultation is part of GAP IV (2028-2034) preparations; regional inputs are intended to inform drafting and a synthesis report.

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Politzek

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