A Safer ERA: Strengthening National Frameworks Against Gender-Based Violence
GenderSAFE Launch Event:
A Safer ERA:
Strengthening National Frameworks
Against Gender-Based Violence
19 March 2026, 10:00 – 13:00 CET
CEPS Conference Room, Place du Congrès 1, 1000 Brussels
Online participation is possible
The EU-funded project GenderSAFE invites you to the launch of its national policy monitoring report on responses to gender-based violence in higher education and research.
The event will present the results of an EU-wide mapping of national frameworks addressing gender-based violence, highlight key trends and recent developments, and reflect on their alignment with the 2024 Zero Tolerance Code of Conduct. It is organised in coordination with the work of the ERA Forum Sub-group on Inclusive Gender Equality.
The launch brings together representatives from European and national institutions, research and higher education organisations, and policy stakeholders to examine current approaches, gaps, and opportunities for strengthening coordinated responses to gender-based violence within the European Research Area (ERA).
The programme will feature a presentation of the report’s core findings for policy design, implementation, and monitoring. It will also introduce the GenderSAFE Institutional Self-Assessment Tool, designed to support organisations in strengthening their internal policies and capacities, while connecting institutional measures with wider national and European frameworks.
A moderated discussion with representatives of national authorities will focus on lessons learned from implementation, emerging challenges, and opportunities for joint EU-level action to add value. The exchange will also consider how evidence from policy monitoring can inform ongoing ERA processes, encourage mutual learning between Member States, and support the development of more effective, accountable, and sustainable zero-tolerance approaches.
The event aims to recognise recent advances, foster dialogue between policy and practice communities, and support concrete next steps towards safer, more equitable research and higher education environments across Europe. It takes place at a time when efforts to address gender-based violence are shaped by both new opportunities and a more contested environment for equality, diversity and inclusion policies.
Programme
| 10:00 | Opening |
| Maria Pilar Aguar Fernandez, Director of Directorate D People: Health & Society, European Commission | |
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| 10:15 | ERA policy agenda and member state actions to combat gender-based violence |
| Marcela Linková, ERA Forum sub-group member state co-chair | |
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| 10:25 | GenderSAFE’s policy mapping |
| Anastasia Bogoslavets, ISAS | |
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| 10:45 | Audience engagement |
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| 10:50 | GenderSAFE’s institutional self-assessment tool |
| Lut Mergaert, Yellow Window | |
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| 11:00 | Audience engagement |
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| 11:05 | Round table discussion |
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| 12:05 | Going forward in the ERA |
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| 12:15 | Networking session and lunch |
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| 13:00 | Close of the event |
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The event is moderated by Marta Dell’Aquila (CEPS).
Meet our Speakers
Dr Marcela Linková is Head of the Centre for Gender and Science at the Institute of Sociology of the Czech Academy of Sciences. Her work spans research, support activities and advocacy. Her research focuses on the sociology of gendered organisations and institutional change, gender-based violence in academia, governance of research, and public policies for gender equality in R&I. Marcela is the Member State Co-Chair of the ERA Forum Sub-group on Inclusive Gender Equality and between 2017 and 2021 she was the chair of the ERAC Standing Working Group on Gender in Research and Innovation. She has been the coordinator of EU-funded projects (Horizon Europe GENDERACTIONplus, Horizon 2020 GENDERACTION) and a partner in other EU-funded projects (GE Academy, Gender-SMART, CASPER, UniSAFE and currently GenderSAFE).
Anastasia Bogoslavets works at the Centre for Gender and Science at the Institute of Sociology of the Czech Academy of Sciences. She contributes to the EU-funded GenderSAFE project, where she supports the development and implementation of the national monitoring methodology on gender-based violence in higher education and research across EU Member States and Associated Countries. She is involved in data collection, comparative policy analysis, and the presentation of EU-level monitoring results. She holds a degree in Sociology from the Faculty of Social Sciences at Charles University and is currently pursuing her master’s studies.
Dr Lut Mergaert is Research Director and Senior Consultant at Yellow Window (Antwerp, Belgium). She has been the Principal Investigator and coordinator of numerous policy support studies on gender equality and has served as expert for the European Commission, the European Institute for Gender Equality, the European Parliament, the Council of Europe, UN Women, and others. She holds a PhD in Management Sciences from Radboud University Nijmegen (NL). Gender mainstreaming in research, and the adoption and implementation of gender equality policies more broadly, are her main research interests, on which she has published articles and book chapters. In recent years, she has been involved in several Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe projects focusing on structural change for gender equality. She was part of the UniSAFE project and is now one of the two scientific coordinators of GenderSAFE.
Raffaela Ebersteiner works in policy development at the Austrian Federal Ministry of Women, Science and Research in Vienna, focusing on gender equality and diversity in higher education and research. She represents the ministry in national and international working groups (including the ERA Forum subgroup on inclusive gender equality) and supports the implementation of diversity-oriented equality measures. Previously, she worked in science communication and cultural affairs at the ministry and as Assistant to the Rector at the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz. In addition, she gained experience at the Austrian Cultural Forum in Berlin and the Documentation Centre of Austrian Resistance. She holds Master’s degrees in Austrian Studies and Media and Communication Studies from the University of Vienna.
Jennie Rothwell is the Senior Manager of the Centre of Excellence for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in the Higher Education Authority in Ireland. The HEA’s Centre of Excellence was established to ensure sustainable acceleration towards gender equality in Irish HEIs by providing centralised support for institutions, sharing of good practice, and funding for innovative organisational and cultural change initiatives nationally. As part of this work, the Centre oversees the implementation of the Ending Sexual Violence and Harassment Framework for higher education institutions in Ireland.
Magdalena Chrobak-Tatara is a civil servant working as Counsellor at the Department of Innovation and Development at the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education. Magda works at the European Union Unit where she coordinates preparation of Polish position to the Competitiveness Council and Research Working Party meetings in the area of research. Magda was a member of the Polish Presidency corps that steered the work of the Council of the EU in the first half of 2025 and was involved in the negotiations of the European Research Area Policy Agenda for the years 2025-2027. Magda is Poland’s delegate to the ERA Forum subgroup on inclusive gender equality and an alternate delegate to ERA Forum. She took part in the GENDERACTIONplus Horizon Europe project where she co-authored benchmarking analysis of the of the Gender Equality Plan requirement at the national/regional level in R&I.
Dr. María Bustelo is Associate Professor of Political Science and Public Administration, co-directs GEYPO “Gender & Politics”, and is the Director of the Master on Evaluation of Programmes and Public Policies at Complutense University of Madrid (UCM). Among other National and European research projects, she was the European coordinator of the Horizon 2020 SUPERA project 2018-2022, and PI at UCM of UniSAFE 2021-2024. From January 2026 she is the director of the Women & Science Unit at the Spanish Ministries of Science, Innovation & Universities and Universities.
Dr. Marta Dell’Aquila is Researcher in the Unit of Global Governance, Regulation, Innovation and the Digital Economy (GRID) at the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) where she leads the research workstream on gender equality and mainstreaming in EU research and innovation (R&I). She holds a Post-Doctorate from the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics of Tel Aviv University and a PhD in Philosophy from the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, specialising in Political and Feminist Philosophy. Her academic work focused mainly on intersectionality, decolonial theories and the care economy, and she has published articles and book chapters in these areas. In addition to her academic background, she has also worked in public policy, specialising in gender policy and participatory democracy. Her work covers political participation, institutional mechanisms such as gender mainstreaming and the intersectional dimensions of gender equality.