HRC62 - EU Statement - Interactive Dialogue with the Working Group on discrimination against women and girls

UNITED NATIONS HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL

62^nd session

Interactive Dialogue with the Working Group on discrimination against women 
and girls

24 June 2026

EU statement 

Mr. President, Distinguished Working Group, 

The European Union welcomes the report presented.

We share your assessment on both the potential and the risks of AI for the realisation of human rights for all women and girls and their empowerment, as well as your call for gender-responsive and human rights-based AI governance and State responsibility in upholding those rights and advancing towards substantive gender equality. 

We stress the need for an ambitious and transformative approach to address the root causes and risk factors of gender inequality, gender stereotypes, discrimination, including multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination, and sexual and gender-based violence, including technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV), gender bias embedded in algorithms, and to ensure accountability for human rights violations and abuses. The full, equal and meaningful participation and leadership of women at all levels of decision-making is key, as you mention in the report. 

The EU has been at the forefront of developing and enforcing ethical and gender-responsive regulatory systems, introducing algorithmic accountability and the obligation to counter illegal contents through adequate measures; criminalising serious forms of cyber violence and strengthening protection and justice for victims and survivors, as well as establishing a human rights-based approach to ensure that AI is ethical, trustworthy, and secure by design. 

Distinguished Working Group,

The report expresses concern about AI-facilitated surveillance. What measures should States and companies take to ensure data protection and privacy for women and girls, including those in vulnerable and marginalized situations?