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The parliamentary dimension of the Council of Europe pan-European campaign to combat violence against women, including domestic violence

Following the Action Plan adopted by the Heads of State and Government of the member states at their Third Summit (Warsaw, 16-17 May 2005), the Council of Europe has decided to conduct a pan-European campaign to combat violence against women, including domestic violence.

Pursuant to its commitment, the Parliamentary Assembly will organise the parliamentary dimension of this Council of Europe pan-European campaign, which will be focused on the issue of domestic violence against women and run under the slogan “Parliaments united in combating domestic violence against women”.

Domestic violence against women is on the rise again and occurs in every single Council of Europe member state. It knows no geographical boundaries, has no age limit, is not the preserve of any particular race, and occurs in every kind of family relationship and in every sort of social milieu. Domestic violence is characterised by violent conduct in various forms, physical, sexual or psychological, or it may be based on financial dependence. Domestic violence is one of the most widespread violations of human rights in the world and must be combated in all Council of Europe member states.

The action seeks to:

1. denounce domestic violence as a human rights violation which is not acceptable in democracies committed to the fundamental values of the Council of Europe;
   
2. elicit public debate to encourage the fight against domestic violence against women in the 46 members states of the Council of Europe;
   
3. encourage national parliaments to become actively involved in combating domestic violence through the implementation of the pan-European campaign in 2007.

National parliaments can play a key role in promoting prevention, assistance to victims and/or survivors and providing information to the general public. Political will is a pre-condition for outlawing domestic violence and changing prevailing mentalities. The Assembly is therefore promoting an active role of national parliaments in denouncing domestic violence and adopting appropriate measures to combat this human rights violation.

Each national parliament has been invited to appoint a person to act as a contact between the national parliament of each member state and the Assembly. The contact parliamentarian will play a leading role in promoting the implementation of the Assembly action at the national level. The list of contact parliamentarians is available below.

National parliaments contributing to the campaign could, for example:

1. organise public and parliamentary debates denouncing domestic violence;
2. adopt a solemn declaration affirming the national parliament’s commitment to combating domestic violence;
3. ensure the adoption of appropriate legislative, judicial and financial measures and national plans to eradicate domestic violence against women, and where such measures do not already exist, make marital rape a punishable criminal offence and provide for the removal of a violent spouse from the marital home;
4. encourage public authorities to take action against domestic violence in particular, by providing refuges for the victims of domestic violence and their children, and treatment centres for those responsible for such violence;
5. launch a domestic violence information and prevention campaign and, with the assistance of health service staff, a campaign to identify the victims of domestic violence;
6. make every effort to make the legislative measures adopted and existing arrangements for assisting the victims of domestic violence known to the general public;
7. support the Council of Europe’s pan-European campaign by :

   • funding specific projects at national and European level;
   • instructing the government to allocate funding for initiatives at national level to combat domestic violence and to assist victims, and to include in its international co-operation programmes support for the introduction or strengthening of arrangements to combat domestic violence in Council of Europe member and observer states;
   • providing support to local NGOs combating domestic violence and ensuring that they are involved in parliamentary discussions on the drafting of legislation and regulatory measures;
   • proposing study visits to members of the Council of Europe national and observer parliaments in order to exchange good practice and/or providing technical assistance to parliaments wishing to improve their legal framework against domestic violence

The Assembly Campaign will involve the national parliaments of the 46 member states, observer parliaments (Canada, Israel, Mexico), the European Parliament and regional parliamentary networks (Nordic Council, Gender Task force of the Stability Pact for Southeast Europe). The main European NGOs active in combating domestic violence (Amnesty international, the European Women’s Lobby, Women against violence in Europe, the White Ribbon Network, etc) will contribute to the Campaign.

The Parliamentary Assembly will back initiatives taken by national parliaments

• the Parliamentary Assembly will make information packages available to parliaments suggesting practical ways in which national parliaments can conduct the campaign;
• the Parliamentary Assembly will in particular provide a logo, a poster and an information booklet that can be downloaded, translated by national parliaments into the local language(s) and disseminated in the country;
• members of the Assembly will present the Assembly’s activities and good practices in Europe;
• the Parliamentary Assembly will give its patronage to national and regional initiatives taken by national parliaments;
• the Parliamentary Assembly will - in close co-operation with its national delegations – encourage the setting up of a network of the contact parliamentarians to identify and highlight the initiatives taken by various national parliaments during the campaign and thus encourage an exchange of examples of good practice between parliaments.

The list of the national contact parliamentarians is continuously being updated. Please check back frequently for new additions.

• Albania: Ms Lajla Pernaska, Member of Parliament
• Andorra: Ms Maria Rosa Ferrer Obiols, Member of Parliament
• Azerbaijan: Ms Gular Ahmadova, Member of Parliament
• Belgium: Ms Fatma Pehlivan, Chair of the Advise Committee for equal opportunities for women and men of the Senate
  Mme Colette Burgeon, Chair of the Committee on equal opportunities of the Chamber of Deputies
• Bulgaria: Ms Darinka Stantcheva, Member of the National Assembly
• Denmark: M. Morten Østergaard, Member of Parliament
• Finland: Mrs Leena Rauhala, Member of Parliament
• Germany: Ms Marlene Rupprecht, Member of the Federal Diet (Bundestag)
• Greece: Ms Maria Kollia, Chairwoman of the Committee on equality of the Parliament
• Hungary: Ms Klara Sandor, Member of the National Assembly
• Ireland: Ms Kathleen Lynch, Member of Parliament
• Lithuania: Ms Marija Aušrine Pavilioniene, Member of Parliament
• Luxemburg: Ms Lydie Err, Member of the Chamber of Deputies
• Moldova: Ms Eva Gudumac, Secretary of the Committee for social protection, health and family
• Monaco: Ms Catherine Fautrier, President of the Committee on Women’s rights and Family affairs of the National Council of Monaco
• Norway: Ms Lise Christoffersen, Member of Parliament
• Poland: Ms Urszula Gacek, Member of the Senate
• Romania: Ms Cornelia Cazacu, Chair of the equality committee of the Senate
• San Marino: Ms Nadia Ottaviani, Member of the Great General Council
• Spain: Ms Carmen Quintanilla, Member of Parliament
• Sweden: Ms Carina Hägg, Member of Parliament
• Switzerland: Ms Ruth-Gaby Vermot-Mangold, Member of the National Council
• Turkey: Ms Gülsün Bilgehan, Member of the Grand National Assembly
• "The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”: Ms Ljljana Popovska, Chair of the committee on equal opportunities for women and men of the Assembly of the Republic
• Ukraine: Ms Olena F. Bondarenko, Member of Parliament
  

You are invited to take up contact with your national MPs or the contact parliamentarians in your country (see the list above for their name) to discuss ways in which you could participate in the action- locally, or on a regional or national level- in concert with your country’s national campaign.
Local and national NGOs are particularly encouraged to lend their expertise and hands-on experience to contribute to their national parliament’s initiatives. Your national contact parliamentarian is at your disposal to discuss the cooperation that could be envisaged to bring as much attention to the issue to all facets of society.

Strasbourg, 19 October 2006

• Seminar for the contacts parliamentarians appointed by national parliaments to prepare the launch of the Assembly action "Parliaments united in combating domestic violence against women" (24 November 2006) and the implementation of the Council of Europe Campaign (2006/2008)[link to draft agenda]

Madrid (Spain), 27 November 2006:

• Launching conference of the Council of Europe pan-European campaign to combat violence against women, including domestic violence, including its parliamentary dimension in cooperation with the national parliaments of Council of Europe member states in session.
  

PACE Resolution 1512 (2006) "Parliaments united in combating domestic violence against women" adopted by the Parliamentary Assembly on 28 June 2006

PACE Recommendation 1759 (2006) "Parliaments united in combating domestic violence against women" adopted by the Parliamentary Assembly on 28 June 2006

PACE Document 10934 (19 May 2006) “Parliaments united in combating domestic violence against women” Rapporteur: Ms Mindora Cliveti, Romania, Socialist Group

Blueprint of the Council of Europe Campaign to combat violence against women, including domestic violence CM (2006)93, adopted by the Committee of Ministers on 21 June 2006

PACE Recommendation 1681 (2004) Campaign to combat domestic violence against women in Europe

Sylvie Affholder & Lamine Diallo

Deputy Secretaries to the Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men
E-mail address: pace.combatviolence@coe.int
Tel : + 33 (0)3 88 41 35 51/ +33 (0)3 88 41 25 69
Fax : + 33 (0)3 90 21 56 52
http://assembly.coe.int