In a report on Portugal published on Tuesday 27 May, the Council of Europe’s Group of Experts on Action against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (GREVIO) welcomes a number of positive developments, but calls for measures to be taken to close the remaining gaps in the implementation of the Istanbul Convention.
Progress has included a number of criminal law reforms, in particular the adoption of a consent-based definition of rape.
As far as the remaining problems are concerned, GREVIO stresses the issue of “lenient and disproportionate sanctions” handed down by the courts and calls for magistrates to be trained on issues of violence against women.
It also highlights the need to combat the “patriarchal attitudes” that persist in the judicial system and lead to the protection of the family unit taking precedence over the rights of victims.
GREVIO also sees an urgent need to overhaul the system of emergency barring and protection orders.
Link to the GREVIO report: https://aeur.eu/f/h23 (Original version in French by Véronique Leblanc)