05/03/2013 President
Strasbourg, 05.03.2013 – In the run-up to International Women’s Day, the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), Jean-Claude Mignon, has issued the following declaration:
“8 March is an auspicious annual occasion for all those involved in promoting women’s rights. This year the event will have the theme of ‘A Promise is a Promise: Time to Act to End Violence against Women’.
The Council of Europe has a major instrument at its disposal, namely the Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, also known as the Istanbul Convention. This is the first binding text combining all the necessary ingredients: preventing violence, protecting victims, prosecuting those responsible and implementing integrated policies.
The promise to end violence against women is a commitment which must be honoured. The Istanbul Convention provides states with the means of doing so. On 8 March I shall be appealing to Council of Europe member and non-member states, if they have not yet done so, to sign and ratify the Istanbul Convention.
Ending violence against women is the main theme of the 57th session of the Commission on the Status of Women from 4 to 15 March 2013 in New York. I shall be representing the Assembly Parliamentary of the Council of Europe at this meeting, alongside a host of other members. It will be an opportunity to reiterate this appeal to all states.”