23/04/2020 Equality and Non-Discrimination
The new Handbook for parliamentarians on the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (Istanbul Convention) is now available.
The handbook aims to strengthen parliamentary knowledge about the convention and to support parliamentarians across Europe to play an active role in promoting its signature, ratification and implementation. It also presents examples of how parliamentarians can use their legislative, oversight and other functions to help end violence against women and domestic violence.
As the global coronavirus pandemic ravages Europe, lockdown and confinement measures designed to contain the spread of the coronavirus have led to an increase in violence against women. In tackling the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, governments and national parliaments should raise awareness about the risks of domestic violence and about support services available, including telephone helplines and shelters; guarantee access to such services, step up support to organisations in the frontline of helping victims of gender-based violence, and allocate the necessary funding.
The handbook provides parliamentarians with concrete measures, good practices and tools to act on violence against women as well as useful references and indicators to measure progress made. The handbook also includes a chapter on the role of parliaments and parliamentarians in the context of the monitoring procedure, follow up to GREVIO reports and recommendations by the Committee of the Parties and promising practices identified at the level of national parliaments.
The handbook is available online in English, French and German.
A russian version is also available.