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The Istanbul Convention – a Powerful Tool to End Gender-Based Violence

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THE ISTANBUL CONVENTION – A POWERFUL TOOL TO END GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE Violence against women is a violation of human rights and a form of discrimination against women. The Istanbul Convention aims to prevent violence, protect victims and prosecute perpetrators through a comprehensive set of policies and measures. It aims to contribute to the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women, promote substantive equality between women and men and promote international co-operation with a view to eliminating violence against women A handbook for and domestic violence parliamentarians on the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence 010820 against Women and PREMS Domestic Violence ENG The Council of Europe is the continent’s leading human rights organisation. It comprises 47 member SAFE FROM FEAR states, including all members of the European Union. All Council of Europe member states have SAFE FROM www.coe.int signed up to the European Convention on Human Rights, a treaty designed to protect human rights, VIOLENCE democracy and the rule of law. The European Court of Human Rights oversees the implementation of the Convention in the member states. THE ISTANBUL CONVENTION – A POWERFUL TOOL TO END GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE A handbook for parliamentarians on the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence Council of Europe The opinions expressed in this work are the responsibility of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official policy of the Council of Europe. All requests concerning the reproduction or translation of all or part of the document should be addressed to the Directorate of Communications (F-67075 Strasbourg Cedex or publishing@ coe.int). All other correspondence concerning this publication should be addressed to the Secretariat of the Committee on Equality and Non-Discrimination, Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. Prepared by Cover design and layout: Publications and The Secretariat of the Committee on Documents Production Department (SPDP) Equality and Non-Discrimination © Council of Europe, November 2019 of the Parliamentary Assembly Printed at the Council of Europe of the Council of Europe in cooperation F-67075 Strasbourg Cedex with Anne-Katrin Speck, expert consultant Contents ABBREVIATIONS 5 GLOSSARY OF KEY TERMS 7 COUNCIL OF EUROPE: UPHOLDING WOMEN’S RIGHTS, STRIVING TO ACHIEVE GENDER EQUALITY AND TO END VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE 9 The Council of Europe in brief 9 The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe: combating violence against women 9 1. WHY THIS HANDBOOK? 11 2. THE SCOURGE OF VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN 13 3. THE ISTANBUL CONVENTION: A COMPREHENSIVE LEGAL AND POLICY FRAMEWORK TO END GENDER- BASED VIOLENCE 15 3.1. Istanbul Convention: its purpose and scope 16 3.2. Countering misinformation about the Istanbul Convention 19 4. HOW IS IMPLEMENTATION OF THE ISTANBUL CONVENTION MONITORED? 21 4.1. State reporting 21 4.2. Urgent inquiry procedure 22 4.3. General recommendations 22 4.4. Monitoring the implementation of the Istanbul Convention: what role for parliaments? 23 5. THE ROLE OF PARLIAMENTARIANS IN SUPPORTING THE ISTANBUL CONVENTION 25 5.1. Promoting ratification of the Istanbul Convention 26 5.2. Monitoring and supporting the implementation of the convention 28 5.3. Parliamentary engagement in GREVIO’s monitoring 42 5.4. What structures and mechanisms are there for promoting implementation? 48 5.5. Summing up 51 ► Page 3 6. IN-HOUSE EXPERTISE AND EXTERNAL ALLIANCES 53 6.1. In-house expertise 53 6.2. External alliances and expertise 54 7. CONCLUSION 55 APPENDIX 1 – CHECKLIST FOR PARLIAMENTARIANS: HOW TO SUPPORT THE ISTANBUL CONVENTION 57 APPENDIX 2 – TEXT OF THE ISTANBUL CONVENTION ON PREVENTING AND COMBATING VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE (CETS NO. 210) 65 APPENDIX 3 – ADDITIONAL READING AND RESOURCES 99 Selected Council of Europe sources 99 Selected international instruments 104 Other useful links 104 Abbreviations CEDAW UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women CEDAW Committee UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women CETS Council of Europe Treaty Series Committee of the Parties Committee of the Parties to the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (the Istanbul Convention) FGM Female genital mutilation GREVIO Group of Experts on Action against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence HELP Human Rights Education for Legal Professionals Istanbul Convention Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence NGO Non-governmental organisation PACE Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe ► Page 5 Glossary of key terms Violence against women: all acts of gender-based violence that result in, or are likely to result in, physical, sexual, psychological or economic harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life. Domestic violence: all acts of physical, sexual, psychological or economic violence that occur within the family or domestic unit or between former or current spouses or partners, whether or not the perpetrator shares or has shared the same residence with the victim. Gender: the socially constructed roles, behaviours, activities and attributes that a given society considers appropriate for women and men. The Istanbul Convention recognises that gender stereotypes contribute to making violence against women acceptable to some people. Gender-based violence against women: refers to violence directed against women because they are women or violence that disproportionately affects women. Gender stereotyping: Gender stereotypes are preconceived ideas whereby males and females are arbitrarily assigned characteristics and roles that are determined and limited by their sex. ► Page 7 Council of Europe: upholding women’s rights, striving to achieve gender equality and to end violence against women and domestic violence The Council of Europe in brief The Council of Europe is the continent’s leading human rights organisation. All the 47 member states have signed up to the European Convention on Human Rights, a treaty designed to protect human rights, democracy and the rule of law. The Council of Europe has actively promoted the protection of women and girls from gender-based violence. The adoption of the Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (the “Istanbul Convention”) has firmly established the Council of Europe as a leading organisation in promoting gender equality, upholding women’s human rights and ending gender-based violence. Did you know? The Istanbul Convention came into force in 2014, just over three years after its adoption – a clear sign of European states’ commitment to the values and principles enshrined in the convention. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe: combating violence against women The Parliamentary Assembly brings together 648 members from the parliaments of the Council of Europe’s 47 member states. It speaks on behalf of 830 million Europeans and represents the democratic conscience of the European continent. ► Page 9 The Assembly has consistently and forcefully condemned violence against women as one of the most serious and pervasive violations of human rights. In 2006, a group of dedicated parliamentarians set up the Parliamentary Network “Women Free from Violence”1 with the aim of actively engaging parliamen- tarians at all levels throughout Europe and beyond to raise awareness about this serious violation of human rights, and to initiate, encourage and promote legislative and policy changes to end gender-based violence. In 2008, the Assembly called for the adoption of legally binding European stan- dards on violence against women2 – standards that were ultimately enshrined in the Istanbul Convention. The Assembly was closely associated with negotiat- ing and drafting the Istanbul Convention. This means that European citizens’ democratically elected representatives were able to shape the content of the most progressive human rights treaty on ending violence against women. One major innovation of the Istanbul Convention is the involvement of national parliaments in the monitoring of implementation of the convention. Just as important, the Istanbul Convention includes a significant role for the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, which is invited to take stock of the implementation of the convention at regular intervals. 1. Want to know who represents your parliament in the network “Women free from violence”? The list of members is available online, at http://www.assembly.coe.int/nw/Page-EN. asp?LID=WFfV (accessed 22 Oct 2019). 2. See PACE Resolution 1635 (2008) and Recommendation 1847 (2008) on Combating violence against women: towards a Council of Europe convention. Page 10 ►The Istanbul Convention – A powerful tool to end gender-based violence 1. Why this handbook? he Council of Europe Istanbul Convention is the most progressive and ambitious international human rights treaty targeting the elimination of violence against women. It has received two prestigious international T 3 4 prizes and is often referred to as a “gold standard” in the fight against gender- based violence. Since its adoption in April 2011, the convention has had significant positive impact across Europe. It
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