· The UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women has issued a statement that the right to abortion is a human right and derives from international law.

· Accordingly, this body recommends that all states parties decriminalise and legalise abortion and provide 'gender' sensitive education on 'sexual and reproductive health' and rights in this area.

- The Council of the European Union has presented its position on a draft directive on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence. 

- Work on the draft has been ongoing since last year, when the document was published by the European Commission.

· The 50th session of the UN Human Rights Council is taking place in Geneva.

· During its lifetime, the Working Group on Discrimination against Women and Girls has presented its annual report on "Activism of Girls and Young Women".

· The publication makes clear recommendations to countries on, inter alia, abortion, contraception, acceptance of the claims of LGBT organizations or the abolition of "patriarchal and gender norms".

· The European Parliament held a debate on violence against women and the current situation regarding ratification of the gender-based Istanbul Convention.

• Two Bulgarian women have filed a complaint to the European Court of Human Rights against their own country, whose authorities refused to register their ‘marriage’ concluded in the United Kingdom.

It is often the case that the exercise of women’s rights is hindered by the ideological approach to their very concept. The gender perspective often leads to misrepresentations which are primarily rooted in the perception of gender merely as a social construct, detached from its biological dimension. The 2nd Conference on Defending Women’s Rights, which featured female representatives from the spheres of science, politics, and social studies from across several countries, was devoted to precisely these issues.