Femmes, the faces of women hosted by the European Parliament

From 1 May to 31 August, the Helmut Khol building of the European Parliament, in response to the pandemic, hosted more than 279 homeless women in an emergency center opened by theong Samusocial di Brussels. From this initiative it was born Women, the exhibition that tells the stories of fifteen of the women hosted, through the photographs of the photographer Gael Turine and the testimonies collected by the journalist Anne-Cécile Huwart.

When the European Parliament offices in the three workplaces Brussels, Strasbourg and Luxembourg remained empty, due to the pandemic that forced officials to work from home in smart working mode, those rooms were made available to women forced to live on the street until then.

Mothers, single women, fleeing violence and poverty. All were offered a roof and a hot meal. Among them, there are 64 who today have completely left the street and live in safe structures.

“When the pandemic broke out, the first response of the European Parliament was to continue to ensure the legislative, budgetary and scrutiny functions” he explained to Europa Today Federico De Girolamo, editorial coordinator of the Eurocamera press office.

“Together with the other EU institutions, the deputies reacted to create a European response to the pandemic. But the European Parliament is also an institution that lives in the place where it has its seat and therefore on the initiative of the Parliament and its president, David Sassoli, we contacted the local authorities of the three places of work (Brussels, Strasbourg and Luxembourg, ed) to offer our support and address the social and economic consequences of the crisis on the population ”. An important initiative that has given hope to many women, the most affected by the pandemic.

Currently, due to the health crisis, Parliament cannot welcome visitors. Our exhibition is therefore temporarily closed and will resume in July for four months.