09/12/2011 Equality and Non-Discrimination
Strasbourg, 08.12.2012 – While pointing out that the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women is the most comprehensive legally binding instrument in the world and may therefore “save and change the lives of millions of victims”, the Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men today asked “the largest possible number of states” to sign and ratify this convention and to implement it effectively.
The parliamentarians pointed out that, in order to enter into force, it must be signed and ratified by a sufficiently large number of member states and welcomed the political resolve shown by Turkey, the first state to ratify it “in record time” (six months after its signature).
The draft resolution, which was adopted on the basis of the report by José Mendes Bota (Portugal, EPP/CD), also invites Council of Europe member states not to enter reservations to the convention, to apply it not only to women but also to the other victims of domestic violence, and to organise education campaigns to improve awareness of this problem in society at large.
The Assembly will hold a debate on the text at its next plenary session in Strasbourg (23-27 January 2012).