Women have been the target of atrocities committed in many parts of the world during the last few months, ranging from Nigeria, to Syria and Iraq and even further to Afghanistan and Pakistan.
It is their deaths, their persecution and the violations of their fundamental freedoms that have made their position even more perilous and the need for more imminent action a priority of the EU external affairs agenda.
Earlier last April, at least 200 school girls were kidnapped in Nigeria with no sign of them yet found. More kidnappings of girls or women were perpetrated by the now notorious Boko Haram rebels during the course of the next months, nevertheless, no concrete action was taken to retrieve the girls and bring them back to their families.
According to data from the UN, more than 2000 people have been killed by Boko Haram since last May, including a massacre at an agricultural college in Yobe state, during which gunmen entered dormitories under the cover of darkness and shot dead 40 students in their sleep.
"A report released by Oxfam in November 2014 documented 23 meetings relating to peace negotiations with the Taliban since 2005. Despite making commitments to include women in all conflict resolution and peace-building processes, donor countries have not included a single Afghan woman in any of their negotiations with the Taliban"
The situation is even more worrying in Syria and Iraq. According to the UN office of the high commissioner for human rights (OHCHR), four doctors in Mosul, including women, were killed for refusing to treat Islamic State fighters, three female lawyers in the city were also reportedly executed, and a woman was stoned to death after being accused of adultery, according to its 20 January 2015 briefing.
As the OHCHR reported, there are women who have been executed by ISIL in Mosul and other areas under the group's control, often immediately following sentences passed by its so-called sharia courts, with educated, professional women, especially women who have run as candidates in elections for public office, being particularly at risk.
Even in areas of conflict, though, such as Afghanistan and Pakistan, where the attention of the international community on the protection of women has been on the forefront of the development agenda during the last decade at least, there are still a great deal of issues to be sorted out, with recent developments indicating that there is a danger of a deterioration of the situation surrounding women's position in society.
A report released by Oxfam in November 2014 documented 23 meetings relating to peace negotiations with the Taliban since 2005. Despite making commitments to include women in all conflict resolution and peace-building processes, donor countries have not included a single Afghan woman in any of their negotiations with the Taliban.
The situation is not much better in Pakistan. The recent attack against the school in Peshawar which resulted in at least 132 children being killed was another reminder of the toll that the presence of the jihadist organisations has taken on the lives of the people of Pakistan, mostly women, children and minorities.
Issues such as child marriage, honour killings and women's political participation and economic integration remain yet unsolved and the intentions for progress expressed from its government have not materialised into policies that will reach women.
The EU has the tools and the experience to pursue the protection for women in these major areas of conflict, however, it needs to do so by engaging the local civil society organisations in the dialogue and pursuing strategies that will have an actual effect on the lives of the people on the ground.