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Feminicides

Reply | Doc. 12100 | 18 December 2009

Author(s):
Committee of Ministers
Origin
adopted at the 1073rd meeting of the Ministers’ Deputies (9 December 2009) 2010 - First part-session
Reply to
Recommendation 1861 (2009)
Thesaurus
1. The Committee of Ministers has taken due note of Parliamentary Assembly Recommendation 1861 (2009) on “Feminicides”. It fully shares the Assembly’s views that the Council of Europe, the guarantor of human rights in Europe, has an important role to play in combating violence against women, including domestic violence.
2. The need for reinforced action by the Council of Europe to prevent and combat violence against women was recognised by the Heads of State and Government in their Action Plan adopted during the Third Summit of the Organisation, in Warsaw, in May 2005. This action has been embodied in the Council of Europe Campaign to combat violence against women, including domestic violence, to which the Parliamentary Assembly contributed very significantly. The campaign also benefited from the active participation of a large number of member states and of that of observer states, among which Mexico, as the Assembly rightly outlines.
3. It was, in particular, in the light of the results of this campaign, the work of the Task Force to Combat Violence against Women, including Domestic Violence and the conclusions of the 27th Council of Europe Conference of Ministers of Justice held in October 2006 in Yerevan (Armenia), that the Committee of Ministers decided to entrust the Ad hoc Committee on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (CAHVIO) to draw up a legally binding framework to uphold this action. The Committee of Ministers confirms that the work of this committee is open to member states as well as to all observer states.
4. Regarding the proposal that the Council of Europe take specific measures within the framework of a co-operation and assistance programme with Mexico, the Committee of Ministers can only reiterate the reply given to the preceding request formulated by the Assembly in its Recommendation 1709 (2005). The Committee of Ministers welcomes the progress made by the authorities of the United States of Mexico in combating violence against women and disappearances and murders of women and girls in Mexico, as underlined by the Assembly in its Resolution 1654 (2009). It encourages the Mexican Government to pursue action along these lines.
5. The Committee of Ministers has taken note of the Assembly’s proposal to create a body within the Council of Europe to gather specific data on cases of violence against women, in particular feminicides in Europe. It observes, in the light of the interim report submitted by the CAHVIO after its first two meetings that the issue of data collection is taken duly into account in the preparatory work carried out by this committee.