Motion for a recommendation | Doc. 14980 | 03 October 2019

Ratification of the Istanbul convention by the United Kingdom

Signatories: Ms Stella CREASY, United Kingdom, SOC ; Ms Thorhildur Sunna ÆVARSDÓTTIR, Iceland, SOC ; Mr Sos AVETISYAN, Armenia, SOC ; Ms Doris BARNETT, Germany, SOC ; Ms Petra BAYR, Austria, SOC ; Mr Fourat BEN CHIKHA, Belgium, SOC ; Ms Maryvonne BLONDIN, France, SOC ; Ms Margreet De BOER, Netherlands, SOC ; Mr Ervin BUSHATI, Albania, SOC ; Ms Klotilda BUSHKA, Albania, SOC ; Mr Algirdas BUTKEVIČIUS, Lithuania, SOC ; Mr Andrian CANDU, Republic of Moldova, SOC ; Mr Ahmet Ünal ÇEVİKÖZ, Turkey, SOC ; Ms Jette CHRISTENSEN, Norway, SOC ; Ms Lise CHRISTOFFERSEN, Norway, SOC ; Mr Boriss CILEVIČS, Latvia, SOC ; Mr Vernon COAKER, United Kingdom, SOC ; Mr Piero FASSINO, Italy, SOC ; Mr Antonio GUTIÉRREZ, Spain, SOC ; Ms Shpresa HADRI, North Macedonia, SOC ; Mr Domagoj HAJDUKOVIĆ, Croatia, SOC ; Mr Thomas HAMMARBERG, Sweden, SOC ; Ms Gabriela HEINRICH, Germany, SOC ; Ms Inka HOPSU, Finland, SOC ; Ms Susan Elan JONES, United Kingdom, SOC ; Ms Marietta KARAMANLI, France, SOC ; Mr Kimmo KILJUNEN, Finland, SOC ; Mr Betian KITEV, North Macedonia, SOC ; Mr Jérôme LAMBERT, France, SOC ; Mr Emanuel MALLIA, Malta, SOC ; Mr Ola MÖLLER, Sweden, SOC ; Mr Simon MOUTQUIN, Belgium, SOC ; Ms Carina OHLSSON, Sweden, SOC ; Mr George PAPANDREOU, Greece, SOC ; Ms Azadeh ROJHAN GUSTAFSSON, Sweden, SOC ; Lord Simon RUSSELL, United Kingdom, EC ; Mr Indrek SAAR, Estonia, SOC ; Ms Selin SAYEK BÖKE, Turkey, SOC ; Mr Axel SCHÄFER, Germany, SOC ; Mr Stefan SCHENNACH, Austria, SOC ; Mr Predrag SEKULIĆ, Montenegro, SOC ; Mr Gheorghe-Dinu SOCOTAR, Romania, SOC ; Mr Manuel TORNARE, Switzerland, SOC ; Mr Martin WHITFIELD, United Kingdom, SOC

This motion has not been discussed in the Assembly and commits only those who have signed it.

The Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (CETS No. 210) is based on the understanding that violence against women is a form of gender-based violence that is committed against women because they are women. It is the obligation of the State to fully address it in all its forms and to take measures to prevent violence against women, protect its victims and prosecute the perpetrators. The United Kingdom signed the Convention in 2012 but has failed to ratify it in the past seven years.

The United Kingdom is one of 13 member States which have not yet ratified this Convention. The United Kingdom Government has said it will not ratify the Convention until the United Kingdom is compliant and it must set out a timetable for the Domestic Abuse Bill which it has said will make the United Kingdom Convention-compliant, and for the ratification of the Convention.

It should be noted that the United Kingdom is not compliant with the provisions of the Convention in areas including but not limited to protection for migrant women who are victims of domestic abuse, further to Article 4.3 of the Convention, and protection for women and girls in Northern Ireland who are victims of coercive control further to Article 34 of the Convention.

Seven years on from the United Kingdom signing the Istanbul Convention, the Parliamentary Assembly should therefore recommend to the Committee of Ministers to call on the United Kingdom Government to take all necessary steps to ratify the Convention without further delay and to take all measures necessary to ensure the United Kingdom’s compliance with the Convention.