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Recommendation 2152 (2019)
Promoting parliaments free of sexism and sexual harassment
1. Recalling that gender-based violence
affects women in all aspects of life and that the world of politics
is no exception, the Parliamentary Assembly draws the attention
of the Committee of Ministers to its Resolution 2274 (2019) on promoting
parliaments free of sexism and sexual harassment.
2. The Assembly welcomes the inclusion of gender equality, the
fight against gender-based violence and the promotion of the Council
of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against
Women and Domestic Violence (CETS No. 210, “Istanbul Convention”)
among the priorities of the presidency of the Committee of Ministers.
3. The Assembly reiterates its unfaltering support for the Istanbul
Convention and welcomes the adoption by the Committee of Ministers
of Recommendation CM/Rec(2019)1 on preventing and combating sexism.
It looks forward to the organisation of a meeting bringing together
the international and regional mechanisms to combat violence against
women to be held in 2019 under the auspices of the Council of Europe.
4. The Assembly recalls that the 2018 World Forum for Democracy
on the theme “Gender equality: whose battle?” enabled participants
to discuss the links between greater gender equality, balanced representation
of women and men in politics and the fight against gender-based
violence.
5. As a follow-up to the World Forum for Democracy and to the
regional study “Sexism, harassment and violence against women in
parliaments in Europe”, which it jointly conducted with the Inter-Parliamentary
Union in 2018, and considering that the specific issues of sexism
and violence against women in politics have been largely neglected
until recently, the Assembly encourages the Committee of Ministers
to ensure that this issue is adequately taken into account in the
context of the relevant Council of Europe intergovernmental work.
6. In order to strengthen monitoring and data collection, the
Assembly:
6.1. recommends that the
Group of Experts on Action against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence
(GREVIO) address the issue of violence against women in politics
in its country visits, reports and recommendations;
6.2. encourages the Conference of International Non-governmental
Organisations to develop a model for national non-governmental organisations
and civil society groups to collect data and information on violence
against women in politics.
7. Likewise, with a view to enhancing knowledge, exchanging information
and sharing promising practices, the Assembly invites the Committee
of Ministers to ensure that the issue of sexism and violence against
women in politics is included in the dialogue between the appropriate
Council of Europe bodies and other regional mechanisms to combat
violence against women.
8. Finally, the Assembly asks the Committee of Ministers to ensure
that its activities in the area of electoral assistance and co-operation
also cover sexism and violence against women in the context of elections.