The Istanbul Convention: progress and challenges
- Author(s):
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Origin
- Assembly
debate on 25 January 2023 (6th sitting) (see Doc. 15673, report of the Committee on Equality and Non-Discrimination,
rapporteur: Ms Zita Gurmai). Text adopted
by the Assembly on 25 January 2023 (6th sitting).See
also Recommendation 2247
(2023).
1. Gender-based violence, an extreme
form of violation of human rights, is present in all member States
of the Council of Europe. It is a consequence of persistent inequalities
between individuals and groups at all levels, whether social, economic
or legal. Although men and boys are also victims, women and girls
are disproportionately affected by gender-based violence. The risk
of violence is multiplied by social and intersectional factors such
as disability, ethnic origin and sexual orientation.
2. According to United Nations estimates, 736 million women in
the world have suffered physical and/or sexual intimate partner
violence, non-partner sexual violence or both (not including sexual
harassment), at least once in their life, which represents 30% of
women aged 15 and above. According to initial findings, gender-based
violence increased during the Covid-19 pandemic due to successive
lockdowns which trapped victims in closed spaces with their aggressors,
and which, at the same time, complicated women’s and girls’ access
to protection and assistance, in what has been termed a “shadow
pandemic”.
3. Recognising the need for comprehensive systems for the prevention
of and protection against gender-based violence and for policies
to eliminate violence, in particular against women and girls, the
Council of Europe adopted its Convention on Preventing and Combating
Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (CETS No. 210, “Istanbul
Convention”), which was opened for signature on 11 May 2011 and
which entered into force on 1 August 2014. The convention now counts
37 ratifications and 8 signatures not yet followed by ratification.
4. The Parliamentary Assembly welcomes the high number of ratifications
of the Istanbul Convention to date, which gives some optimism for
future progress in eliminating gender-based violence. It is impressed
by the influence the convention has had on national legislation
to fight gender-based violence, which has been adapted to ensure
conformity with the convention, and by the changes it has inspired
in policies and awareness-raising work. The Assembly congratulates
the Group of Experts on Action against Violence against Women and
Domestic Violence (GREVIO) and the Committee of the Parties for
their work so far in the far-reaching 2016-2023 baseline evaluation
cycle, and GREVIO’s first third-party intervention before the European Court
of Human Rights and General Recommendation No. 1 on the Digital
Dimension of Violence against Women.
5. Despite these achievements, alarmingly high levels of violence
and tragic femicides persist, harming and killing women and girls
in all their diversity and from all walks of life, especially in
the context of intimate partner violence. Backlashes against women’s
rights and backsliding in this area are commonplace and often originate in
political discourse aimed at maintaining inequalities and imposing
ever tighter restrictions on democracy and human rights.
6. The Assembly points out that gender-based violence comes at
a cost, which the European Institute for Gender Equality estimated
in 2021 to amount to €366 billion a year, of which 79% is linked
to violence against women. Physical and emotional impacts make up
56% of this cost, criminal justice services 21% and lost economic
output 14%. In the interests of society as a whole, action must
therefore be stepped up to end the inequalities which lead to violence
and to empower people in situations of vulnerability by giving them
full access to their rights.
7. Referring to its previous
Resolution 2289 (2019) “The Istanbul
Convention on violence against women: achievements and challenges”,
the Assembly reiterates the recommendations set out in that text.
In addition, with regard to promoting ratification of the Istanbul
Convention, the Assembly:
7.1 urges
Azerbaijan to sign and ratify it without further delay;
7.2 urges the parliaments of Armenia, Bulgaria, the Czech
Republic, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania and the Slovak Republic to
increase their efforts to promote and engage in procedures for ratification
to follow up on their signature;
7.3 urges Türkiye, the country that gave the name of one of
its cities to the convention and which was among the first to ratify
it, to reconsider its withdrawal and return to the convention;
7.4 encourages the European Union to overcome the legal obstacles
to ratification as a means of ensuring the implementation of its
provisions in all European Union member States and of promoting
it in others;
7.5 encourages Israel, Kazakhstan and Tunisia to follow up
on the invitation of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of
Europe to accede to the convention and encourages other non-member States,
observers and partners for democracy to do so as soon as possible.
8. With respect to the prevention of violence against women and
girls and domestic violence, the Assembly calls on all States Parties
to the Istanbul Convention to fully implement its provisions in
order to ensure that solid, protective laws and policies relating
to prevention, protection and prosecution are embedded in a set
of integrated policies. To this end, it calls on the parliaments
of States Parties to the Istanbul Convention to:
8.1 carry out regular assessments
of national legislation and propose revisions of laws where they are
not in conformity with the provisions of the convention;
8.2 make sure that legislation is efficient in ensuring protection
against violence against women and girls, including domestic violence,
and prosecution of perpetrators of violence;
8.3 ensure regular monitoring of implementation in accordance
with Article 70 of the convention and give adequate visibility to
the baseline reports of GREVIO and the recommendations of the Committee of
the Parties in parliamentary debates and hearings;
8.4 organise awareness-raising campaigns both in their parliaments
and in their constituencies, and to report back to the Assembly
annually in order to document these good practices;
8.5 bearing in mind the requirement under the convention for
policies to place the rights of the victim at the centre of all
measures, ensure co-operation between all relevant stakeholders
in the design and implementation of policies and programmes, including
women’s civil society organisations and diverse communities;
8.6 include a gender perspective in the implementation and
evaluation of the impact of the convention as set out in its Article
6.
9. With respect to dispelling deliberate misrepresentations as
to the ultimate objectives of the Istanbul Convention, the Assembly
underlines that these are part of broader negative tendencies in
today’s societies driven by anti-rights movements and aiming to
curb the enjoyment of human rights by persons belonging to certain
groups. It asks all parliaments of Council of Europe member and
observer States as well as parliaments which enjoy the status of
observer or partner for democracy with the Assembly to:
9.1 firmly assert that the convention
focuses on women and girls in all their diversity as people who are
disproportionately affected by gender-based violence;
9.2 acknowledge that the convention does not threaten the
nuclear family or family values, nor does it impose certain lifestyles;
9.3 further take into account that the convention does not
encourage irregular or illegal migration when endeavouring to ensure
that women victims of intimate partner violence are not dependent
on the residency status of their aggressors;
9.4 recognise that national legislation may be effective but
that the convention provides a blueprint for national legislation
and an efficient system of evaluation and assistance in implementation,
and that sharing of best practices and transborder and international
co-operation are important in combating violence against women and
domestic violence.
10. The Assembly welcomes the priority given to preventing and
combating violence against women and domestic violence in the report,
published in October 2022, of the High-level Reflection Group of
the Council of Europe on the Organisation’s role in responding to
new realities and challenges facing Europe and the world, which
will contribute to the themes taken up by the 4th Summit of Heads
of State and Government of the Council of Europe announced by the
Committee of Ministers for 16 and 17 May 2023.
11. Recalling that it has constantly called for the organisation
of a new summit since 2017, the Assembly requests that the recommendations
in the report be followed up by the Committee of Ministers and that
the priority given by the High-Level Reflection Group be adequately
reflected in the action plan of the 4th Summit.
12. Finally, the Assembly decides to hold an annual exchange of
views to take stock of progress on ratification and implementation
of the Istanbul Convention, as part of its monitoring responsibilities
under the convention.
