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Resolution 2289 (2019)
The Istanbul Convention on violence against women: achievements and challenges
1. Violence against women is a crime.
It is one of the most widespread human rights violations, a form
of gender-based discrimination and a manifestation of deeply rooted
inequality between women and men. It occurs irrespective of the
social status of the perpetrator or the victim and no country is
immune to this scourge. Violence against women cannot be justified
or rationalised under any circumstances. Yet, one in three women in
the European Union reports having been a victim of gender-based
violence, once or several times, since the age of 15.
2. In order to tackle this scourge, co-ordinated action at policy,
legislative and institutional level is needed. The Parliamentary
Assembly therefore strongly supported the drafting of the Council
of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against
Women and Domestic Violence (CETS No. 210, “Istanbul Convention”).
The Assembly has called relentlessly for the signature, ratification
and implementation of this convention since its entry into force
on 1 August 2014. The Assembly’s Parliamentary Network Women Free from
Violence and its general rapporteurs on violence against women have
played an essential role in promoting the convention, with targeted
action in national parliaments across the member States, and at regional
and international level. The network has also provided a useful
forum for sharing experience and promising practices, as well as
for disseminating practical tools for addressing violence against
women.
3. The Assembly reiterates its firm support for the Istanbul
Convention, which remains the most advanced and comprehensive international
legal instrument on preventing and combating violence against women
and domestic violence. The convention sets high standards and takes
a comprehensive approach focusing on prevention, protection of the
victims, prosecution of the perpetrators and integrated policies,
and it places the rights of the victim at the centre of all action
taken and measures implemented. It also promotes gender equality and
challenges gender stereotypes. The United Nations refers to it as
the “gold standard” and uses it as a reference standard in its work.
4. The Istanbul Convention has been ratified by 34 Council of
Europe member States to date, and signed by 11 others and the European
Union. Two Council of Europe member States have neither signed nor
ratified it. The convention is open to non-Council of Europe member
States and constitutes a strong awareness-raising and advocacy tool
on the need to prevent and combat violence against women and domestic
violence. Although drafted in Europe, it is not meant for Europe
only and several non-Council of Europe member States and other regional
organisations use it when preparing their own policies and legal
frameworks. The Assembly strongly supports the work carried out
by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its
causes and consequences, especially the co-ordination she has initiated
between the regional mechanisms.
5. It is important to ensure the implementation of regional and
international standards at national and international level and
to strengthen their positive impact and the co-operation and partnerships
among the different regional and international mechanisms promoting
and upholding women’s rights and combating violence against women.
In this regard, the Assembly welcomes the commitment of the Finnish
and French presidencies of the Committee of Ministers, as well as
several previous ones, to making combating violence against women
a priority and to increasing efforts to promote the ratification
of the convention.
6. Monitoring of the implementation of the Istanbul Convention
is carried out by the Group of Experts on Action against Violence
against Women and Domestic Violence (GREVIO), which has already
completed its baseline evaluation of Albania, Austria, Denmark,
Monaco, Montenegro, Portugal, Sweden and Turkey, in a spirit of
constructive dialogue and co-operation with these States. The evaluation
procedures in respect of Finland, France, Italy, the Netherlands
and Serbia will soon be completed. The Assembly commends GREVIO for
its work and achievements. It welcomes the positive approach of
the States that have been monitored in responding to the proposals
put forward in the reports.
7. The Assembly recalls that parliamentary involvement in monitoring
is foreseen in Article 70 of the Istanbul Convention, at national
level and at the level of the Assembly, which is invited to regularly
take stock of the implementation of the convention. In this regard,
the Assembly welcomes GREVIO’s engagement with parliamentarians
during its evaluation visits.
8. Five years after its entry into force, the Assembly believes
that the Istanbul Convention has already had a tangible and positive
impact. It has contributed to raising victims’ awareness and to
raising awareness in society in general with regard to the urgent
need to prevent and combat violence against women and domestic violence.
Higher legislative and policy standards have been introduced in
national law in several Council of Europe member States. Discussions
on the possible ratification of the convention have led to debates
on violence against women, its extent and impact on victims and
on the urgency of combating it to save lives. Furthermore, focused
training for legal professionals and the police have proven important
to eliminate obstacles to access to justice by women victims of
violence.
9. The Assembly regrets that a number of challenges are delaying
some countries’ accession to the convention or hindering its implementation
by States parties. Too often, an important gap remains between law and
implementation. There is also a lack of data, co-ordination and
resources, which can delay legislative and policy changes. The Istanbul
Convention is misrepresented by its opponents as an attack on family
values or as promoting a hidden agenda. These misconceptions and
deliberate misinterpretations for political purposes undermine the
added value and high potential of the convention, the considerable
achievements made in past years and the effective implementation
of the convention.
10. The Assembly refers to its Resolution 2274 (2019) on promoting
parliaments free of sexism and sexual harassment and to the Committee
of Ministers Recommendation CM/Rec(2019)1 to member States on preventing
and combating sexism, and underlines the importance of complementing
the Istanbul Convention by action to change mindsets and harmful
gender stereotypes, as well as combating different types of violence against
women.
11. In the light of these considerations, the Assembly calls on
the Council of Europe member States to:
11.1. sign and ratify the Istanbul Convention, for those which
have not yet done so;
11.2. implement the convention without further delay, taking
into account the comments, findings and proposals made by GREVIO
in its baseline evaluation reports and the recommendations adopted
by the Committee of the Parties;
11.3. co-operate with GREVIO in involving national parliaments
when preparing the State report to GREVIO and when preparing follow-up
action;
11.4. actively support and promote the Istanbul Convention,
at national and international level, and combat misconceptions and
disinformation about the convention;
11.5. engage in awareness-raising activities on all forms of
violence against women with a view to contributing to changing mindsets
and stereotypes;
11.6. strengthen services providing assistance to victims of
gender-based violence;
11.7. make full use of the tools provided by the Council of
Europe’s European Programme for Human Rights Education for Legal
Professionals (HELP) online course on violence against women and domestic
violence to ensure that every link in the legal chain is familiar
with the provisions of the Istanbul Convention;
11.8. provide or strengthen training for all relevant legal
and non-legal professionals dealing with victims or perpetrators
of violence, in the spirit of the convention;
11.9. recognise, encourage and support, at all levels, the work
of relevant non-governmental organisations and members of civil
society active in combating violence against women, and establish effective
co-operation with them.
12. The Assembly invites the European Union to speed up its accession
to the Istanbul Convention.
13. The Assembly also encourages non-Council of Europe member
States to consider acceding to the convention.
14. The Assembly calls on national parliaments to:
14.1. participate actively in the
monitoring procedure of the implementation of the convention;
14.2. undertake activities, such as debates and hearings, to
discuss findings and proposals put forward in the evaluation reports
by GREVIO and recommendations by the Committee of Parties concerning their
countries;
14.3. step up efforts to raise awareness of the achievements
and added value of the Istanbul Convention, with a view to dispelling
misconceptions about the convention;
14.4. actively promote the Istanbul Convention at national,
regional and international level;
14.5. support the work of the Parliamentary Network Women Free
from Violence with the aim of bringing practical solutions to end
violence against women and domestic violence;
14.6. support the #NotInMyParliament initiative on preventing
and combating sexism, harassment and violence against women in parliaments
and follow up on proposals made in its Resolution 2274 (2019).
15. The Assembly decides to examine ways to step up its co-operation
with GREVIO and the Gender Equality Commission of the Council of
Europe, with a view to taking stock of the implementation of the
Istanbul Convention. The Assembly further decides to enhance efforts
to mobilise parliamentary support for the Istanbul Convention.
16. The Assembly decides to consider establishing partnerships
and co-operation with other parliamentary networks to promote the
Istanbul Convention. The Assembly also decides to consider strengthening
its dialogue and co-operation with non-governmental organisations,
grass-roots organisations, representatives of civil society and
of the academic sector active in the field of preventing and combating
violence against women.