Strasbourg, 28/04/2014 (Agence Europe) - A decisive step was taken last week as, thanks to its ratification by Andorra on 23 April, the Council of Europe's Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence will become applicable on 1 August of this year.
Also known as the Istanbul Convention, this text, which was adopted in May 2011 and signed by 32 countries, now has the 10 ratifications required for its application in the countries which have approved it.
“One of its great strength is that it sets up an independent group of experts who will issue reports assessing to what extent states parties comply with the convention's standards”, commented Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland, who stressed that the convention is the first legally binding set of standards on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence as a whole.
The convention lays down minimum standards in terms of prevention, protection, legal proceedings and services. The countries which ratify it must, amongst other things, set in place telephone helplines, refuges, medical assistance, counselling spaces and legal assistance for victims. In this way, concrete measures are recommended, said Jagland, in order to provide “states parties with a unique opportunity to lift the silence and taboos around all forms of violence against women”. The text is “pioneering”, he stressed, as it will be a “reference in Europe and beyond”.
No country is entirely free from violence against women, described by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as a public health care issue of epidemic proportions. The national state responses to such violence have been criticised by the Council of Europe in a report published by its gender equality commission.
Police inaction, a lack of refuge places and legal gaps in Hungary, fears of expulsion preventing migrant women from seeking help in Belgium, legislative shortcomings and issues in applying existing laws in Turkey, etc. The problems are legion and make the protection systems uncertain, or even fatal for certain victims. In order to set in place effective systems of both prevention and punishment, the Istanbul Convention defines the various forms of violence against women (sexual violence, physical and emotional violence, forced marriage, female genital mutilation, harassment) and call for these to be made criminal offences. The approach aims to be global, whilst taking account of the diversity of the member states of the Council of Europe.
“Violence against women is rooted in the cultures, traditions, institutions and practices of European societies”, concludes the report by the gender equality commission. “A monolithic approach will not work any more than it will gain support (…). Therefore, the monitoring of the Istanbul Convention should take account of the full picture of measures and policies for each country”, the commission stated.
The independent experts who will be responsible for the visits and reports regarding the ten countries which have already ratified the Convention will be appointed in 2015. (VL)