19/09/2014 President
“The Istanbul Convention has a soul. It constitutes a blueprint for future society in which violence against women will no longer be justified, excused or minimised. It will be prevented, fought, punished and finally rejected by everyone”, said PACE President Anne Brasseur at the Conference ‘Safe from Fear, Safe from Violence’, being held today in Rome to mark the entry into force of the Council of Europe’s Istanbul Convention.
”The coming into force of this convention calls on us all to ensure that this vision of the future becomes a reality as soon as possible, because the women who suffer violence have already been waiting for too long”, she added.
Addressing her fellow parliamentarians, she stressed the crucial role of national parliaments: in the form of legislative work to bring national legislation into line with the Convention, but also through their role in procedures for monitoring and reviewing the implementation of the Convention. “This recognition of the role played by parliamentarians is an innovative aspect of the system created by the Convention and enables us to contribute actively towards keeping women safe from fear and safe from violence by ensuring the effective application of the Convention provisions”, she concluded.