Introduction to the Istanbul Convention

1. Introduction to the Istanbul Convention DrShazia Choudhry, Reader in Law, Queen Mary, University of London

2. Why it was necessary – European Challenges • Male-oriented or gender-neutral laws not taking into account the realities of women • Different levels of protection and support • Insufficient funding of services • Lack of multi-agency co-operation • Protection and support services not meeting the needs of victims • Negative and discriminatory attitudes towards women victims from the police, judiciary or social services

3. Ratifications and Signatories • Ratifications: 22 • Albania, Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Denmark, Finland, France, Italy, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Turkey • Signatories: 22 Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, CzechRepublic, Estonia, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Moldova, Norway, Slovakia, Switzerland, the former YugoslavRepublic of Macedonia, Ukraine and United Kingdom • Not yetsigned/ratified: 3 • Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia

4. Who does the Convention cover? Women and girls, from any background, regardless of their age, race, religion, social origin, migrant status or sexual orientation. • The Convention recognises that there are groups of women and girls that are often at greater risk of experiencing violence, and states need to ensure that their specific needs are taken into account. • The Convention recognises that domestic violence affects women disproportionately. However, states are also encouraged to apply the Convention to all other victims of domestic violence such as men and boys.

5. Purposes of the Convention – Article 1 • Protect women against all forms of violence, and prevent, prosecute and eliminate violence against women and domestic violence; • Contribute to the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women and promote substantive equality between women and men, including by empowering women; • Design a comprehensive framework, policies and measures for the protection of and assistance to all victims of violence against women and domestic violence; • Promote international co‐operation with a view to eliminating violence against women and domestic violence; • Provide support and assistance to organisations and law enforcement agencies to effectively co‐operate in order to adopt an integrated approach to eliminating violence against women and domestic violence.

6. Added Value of the Convention • Violence against women as a form of discrimination and a violation of human rights. • Definitions of domestic violence, of gender, etc. • Definition of specific criminal offences. • Link between equality and ending of VAW. • Gender-specific: directed at combating violence against women. • The “due diligence” standard applied to VAW. • No cultural, traditional or religious justification for acts of VAW. • Importance of national NGOs.

7. Definitions • “violence against women” is understood as a violation of human rights and a form of discrimination against women and shall mean 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” shall mean 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” shall mean the socially constructed roles, behaviour’s, activities and attributes that a given society considers appropriate for women and men; • “gender‐based violence against women” shall mean violence that is directed against a woman because she is a woman or that affects women disproportionately; • “victim” shall mean any natural person who is subject to the conduct specified in points a and b; • “women” includes girls under the age of 18.

8. Structure of theIstanbul Convention

9. Key Standards • Article 4 – Fundamental rights, equality and non‐discrimination • Take the necessary legislative and other measures to promote and protect the right for everyone, particularly women, to live free from violence in both the public and the private sphere. • Condemn all forms of discrimination against women and take, without delay, the necessary legislative and other measures to prevent it, in particular by: • –  embodying in their national constitutions or other appropriate legislation the principle of equality between women and men and ensuring the practical realisation of this principle; • –  prohibiting discrimination against women, including through the use of sanctions, where appropriate; • –  abolishing laws and practices which discriminate against women.

10. Implementation of the provisions of this Convention, in particular measures to protect the rights of victims, shall be secured without discrimination on any ground such as sex, gender, race, colour, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, association with a national minority, property, birth, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, state of health, disability, marital status, migrant or refugee status, or other status. • Special measures that are necessary to prevent and protect women from gender‐based violence shall not be considered discrimination under the terms of this Convention.

11. Article 5 – State obligations and due diligence • 1 Refrain from engaging in any act of violence against women and ensure that State authorities, officials, agents, institutions and other actors acting on behalf of the State do so. • 2 Take the necessary legislative and other measures to exercise due diligence to prevent, investigate, punish and provide reparation for acts of violence covered by the scope of this Convention that are perpetrated by non‐State actors. • Article 6 – Gender‐sensitive policies • Undertake to include a gender perspective in the implementation and evaluation of the impact of the provisions of this Convention and to promote and effectively implement policies of equality between women and men and the empowerment of women.

12. Additional Themes • Gender Perspective • Migrant women, women asylum-seekers and women refugees • Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) • Children

13. Holistic approach to combating violence against women • PROTECTION PREVENTION Istanbul Convention • INTEGRATED • POLICIES • PROSECUTION

14. Integrated policies – Article 7 • Obligation to adopt and implement comprehensive and co-ordinated policies to offer a holistic response to violence against women • Obligation to involve all relevant actors: government agencies, the national, regional and local parliaments and authorities, national human rights institutions and civil society organisations.

15. Monitoring • The Istanbul Convention monitoring mechanism rests on two pillars: • the Committee of the Parties: • a political body composed of Government representatives of all the Parties to the Convention • the Group of Experts on action against Violence againstWomen and Domestic Violence (GREVIO): • an independent expert body set up to monitor the implementation of the Convention composedof 10 independent and impartial experts

16. First evaluation Procedure GREVIO’s baseline questionnaire State report + NGO and other information Examination by GREVIO - and meeting with state party Country visit GREVIO report and findings Transmission to state party Transmission to Committee of the Parties Transmission to national parliament Adoption of recommendations to state party by Committee of the Parties

17. Special inquiry procedure Serious, massive or persistent pattern of violence Special state report Inquiry by one or more members of GREVIO Country visit? Transmission of the findings Committee of the Parties and Committee of Ministers Examination of the findings by GREVIO

18. First evaluation procedure • Initiated in relation to • Austria • Monaco • Deadline for state reports: 1 September 2016 • Next state parties to be monitored: • Albania • Denmark

19. Parliamentary involvement in monitoring • Article 70 paragraph 1 of the Istanbul Convention: • “National parliaments shall be invited to participate in the monitoring of the measures taken for the implementation of this Convention.”