Istanbul Convention

Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence
Signed and ratified[note 1]   Signed, not in force   Not signed (CoE member states)[note 2]   Former party   Not signed (non-CoE states)
Drafted	7 April 2011
Signed	11 May 2011
Location	Istanbul, Turkey
Effective	1 August 2014
Condition	10 ratifications of which 8 from Council of Europe members
Signatories	45 states + EU
Ratifiers	38 states + EU
Depositary	Secretary General of the Council of Europe
Citations	CETS No. 210
Languages	English and French

The Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence, better known as the Istanbul Convention, is a human rights treaty of the Council of Europe opposing violence against women and domestic violence which was opened for signature on 11 May 2011, in Istanbul, Turkey. The convention aims at prevention of violence, victim protection and to end the impunity of perpetrators.^[1]

As of March 2019, it has been signed by 45 countries and the European Union.^[2] On 12 March 2012, Turkey became the first country to ratify the convention, followed by 37 other countries and the European Union from 2013 to 2024 (Albania, Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece,^[3] Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia,^[4] Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, the Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, United Kingdom).^[2] The Convention came into force on 1 August 2014.^[2]

In 2021, Turkey became the first and only country to withdraw from the convention, after denouncing it on 20 March 2021. The convention ceased to be effective in Turkey on 1 July 2021, following its denunciation.^[5][6]

On 1 June 2023 the Council of the European Union approved the EU's accession to the Istanbul Convention.^[7] On 28 June 2023 the European Union ratified the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (CETS No. 210), known as the "Istanbul Convention".^[8] The Istanbul Convention entered into force in the EU on 1 October 2023, where the "EU member states that have not yet ratified the convention themselves will only be bound by the EU acquis, which implements the convention".^[9]

History

The Council of Europe has undertaken a series of initiatives to promote the protection of women against violence since the 1990s. In particular, these initiatives have resulted in the adoption, in 2002, of the Council of Europe Recommendation Rec(2002)5 of the Committee of Ministers to member states on the protection of women against violence,^[10] and the running of a Europe-wide campaign, from 2006 to 2008, to combat violence against women, including domestic violence.^[11] The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has also taken a firm political stance against all forms of violence against women. It has adopted a number of resolutions and recommendations calling for legally-binding standards on preventing, protecting against and prosecuting the most severe and widespread forms of gender-based violence.^[12]

National reports, studies and surveys revealed the magnitude of the problem in Europe.^[12] The campaign in particular showed a large variation in Europe of national responses to violence against women and domestic violence. Thus, the need for harmonized legal standards to ensure that victims benefit from the same level of protection everywhere in Europe became apparent. The Ministers of Justice of Council of Europe member states began discussing the need to step up protection from domestic violence, in particular intimate partner violence.

The Council of Europe decided it was necessary to set comprehensive standards to prevent and combat violence against women and domestic violence. In December 2008, the Committee of Ministers set up an expert group mandated to prepare a draft convention in this field. Over the course of just over two years, this group, called the CAHVIO (Ad Hoc Committee for preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence),^[13] developed a draft text. During the later stage of drafting of the convention, UK, Italy, Russia, and the Holy See proposed several amendments to limit the requirements provided by the convention. These amendments were criticized by Amnesty International.^[14] The final draft of the convention was produced in December 2010.

Main provisions

The Istanbul Convention is the first legally-binding instrument which "creates a comprehensive legal framework and approach to combat violence against women" and is focused on preventing domestic violence, protecting victims and prosecuting accused offenders.^[15]

It characterizes violence against women as a violation of human rights and a form of discrimination (Art.3(a)). Countries should exercise due diligence when preventing violence, protecting victims and prosecuting perpetrators (Art. 5). The convention also contains a definition of gender: for the purpose of the Convention gender is defined in Article 3(c) as "the socially constructed roles, behaviours, activities and attributes that a given society considers appropriate for women and men". Moreover, the treaty establishes a series of offences characterized as violence against women. States which ratify the Convention must criminalize several offences, including: psychological violence (Art.33); stalking (Art.34); physical violence (Art.35); sexual violence, including rape, explicitly covering all engagement in non-consensual acts of a sexual nature with a person (Art.36), forced marriage (Art.37); female genital mutilation (Art.38), forced abortion and forced sterilisation (Art.39). The Convention states that sexual harassment must be subject to "criminal or other legal sanction" (Art. 40). The convention also includes an article targeting crimes committed in the name of "so-called honour" (Art. 42).^[2]

Structure

The convention contains 81 articles separated into 12 chapters. Its structure follows the structure of the Council of Europe's most recent conventions.^[16] The structure of the instrument is based on the "four Ps": Prevention, Protection and support of victims, Prosecution of offenders and Integrated Policies. Each area foresees a series of specific measures.^[17] The convention also establishes obligations in relation to the collection of data and supporting research in the field of violence against women (Art. 11).

The preamble recalls the European Convention on Human Rights, European Social Charter and Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings as well as international human rights treaties by United Nations and Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. In Article 2, this Convention indicates that the provisions shall apply in time of peace and also in situations of armed conflicts in violence against women and domestic violence. Article 3 defines key terms:

• "violence against women" is "violation of human rights and a form of discrimination against women and shall mean all acts of gender-based violation 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 private life",
• "domestic violence": "all acts of physical, sexual, psychological or economic violence that occur with 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": means "the socially constructed roles, behaviours, activities and attributes that a given society considers appropriate for women and men."
• "gender-based violence against women": means "violence that is directed against a woman because she is a woman or that affects women disproportionately."

Article 4 prohibits several types of discrimination stating: The implementation of the provisions of this convention by the Parties, in particular measure to protect the rights of victims, shall be secured without discrimination on any ground such as sex, gender, race, colour, language 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.

Monitoring mechanism GREVIO

The convention mandates an independent expert body, the Group of Experts on Action against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (GREVIO), with monitoring the implementation of the convention. Its members are elected by the state parties; depending on the number of state parties the body consists of between ten and fifteen members.^[18]

The first ten members were elected in 2014: President Feride Acar (Turkey), First Vice-president Marceline Naudi (Malta), Second Vice-president Simona Lanzoni (Italy), and members Biljana Brankovic (Serbia), Françoise Brie (France), Gemma Gallego (Spain), Helena Leitao (Portugal), Rosa Logar (Austria), Iris Luarasi (Albania) and Vesna Ratkovic (Montenegro).^[19]

Five additional members were elected in 2018: Per Arne Håkansson (Sweden), Sabine Kräuter-Stockton (Germany), Vladimer Mkervalishvili (Georgia), Rachel Eapen Paul (Norway) and Aleid van den Brink (Netherlands).^[20]

With several GREVIO members finishing their mandates, new elections were held in December of 2023.

Adoption, signature, ratification and denunciation

General process

The draft of the convention was adopted by the Council of Europe Ministers Deputies on 7 April 2011 on the occasion of the 1111th meeting.^[21] It opened for signature on 11 May 2011 on the occasion of the 121st Session of the Committee of Ministers in Istanbul. It entered into force following 10 ratifications, eight of which were required to be member states of the Council of Europe. As of December 2015, the convention was signed by 39 states, followed by ratification of the minimum eight Council of Europe states: Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Italy, Montenegro, Portugal, Serbia, and Turkey. Later that year, it was ratified by Andorra, Denmark, France, Malta, Monaco, Spain, and Sweden. In 2015, it was ratified also by Finland, the Netherlands, Poland and Slovenia, and in 2016, by Belgium, San Marino and Romania; in 2017 by Cyprus, Estonia, Georgia, Germany, Norway, and Switzerland, in 2018 by Croatia, Greece, Iceland, Luxembourg and Republic of Macedonia, and in 2019, by Ireland.^[3] On 13 June 2017, European Commissioner Věra Jourová (Gender Equality) signed the Istanbul Convention on behalf of the European Union.^[22] On 20 June 2022 the Ukrainian parliament ratified the treaty,^[23] followed in July 2022 by the United Kingdom. States that have ratified the convention are legally bound by its provisions once it enters into force.^[23]

28 June 2023 saw the European Union ratify the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (CETS No. 210), known as the “Istanbul Convention”.^[8] The convention cane into force in respect of the European Union as of 1 October 2023.

The convention can be denounced through a notification to the COE Secretary General (Article 80) and enters into force three months after that notification.^[24]

Signatory[26]	Signature	Ratification	Entry into force	Denunciation
Albania	19 December 2011	4 February 2013	1 August 2014
Andorra	22 February 2013	22 April 2014	1 August 2014
Armenia	18 January 2018
Austria	11 May 2011	14 November 2013	1 August 2014
Belgium	11 September 2012	14 March 2016	1 July 2016
Bosnia and Herzegovina	8 March 2013	7 November 2013	1 August 2014
Bulgaria	21 April 2016
Croatia	22 January 2013	12 June 2018	1 October 2018
Cyprus	16 June 2015	10 November 2017	1 March 2018
Czech Republic	2 May 2016
Denmark[note 5]	11 October 2013	23 April 2014	1 August 2014
Estonia	2 December 2014	26 October 2017	1 February 2018
European Union	13 June 2017	1 June 2023	1 October 2023
Finland	11 May 2011	17 April 2015	1 August 2015
France	11 May 2011	4 July 2014	1 November 2014
Georgia	19 June 2014	19 May 2017	1 September 2017
Germany	11 May 2011	12 October 2017	1 February 2018
Greece	11 May 2011	18 June 2018	1 October 2018
Hungary	14 March 2014
Iceland	11 May 2011	26 April 2018	1 August 2018
Ireland	15 November 2015	8 March 2019	1 July 2019
Italy	27 September 2012	10 September 2013	1 August 2014
Latvia	18 May 2016	30 November 2023	May 1, 2024
Liechtenstein	10 November 2016	17 June 2021	1 October 2021
Lithuania	7 June 2013
Luxembourg	11 May 2011	7 August 2018	1 December 2018
Malta	21 May 2012	29 July 2014	1 November 2014
Moldova	6 February 2017	31 January 2022	1 May 2022
Monaco	20 September 2012	7 October 2014	1 February 2015
Montenegro	11 May 2011	22 April 2013	1 August 2014
Netherlands[note 6]	14 November 2012	18 November 2015	1 March 2016
North Macedonia	8 July 2011	23 March 2018	1 July 2018
Norway	7 July 2011	5 July 2017	1 November 2017
Poland	18 December 2012	27 April 2015	1 August 2015
Portugal	11 May 2011	5 February 2013	1 August 2014
Romania	27 June 2014	23 May 2016	1 September 2016
San Marino	30 April 2014	28 January 2016	1 May 2016
Serbia	4 April 2012	21 November 2013	1 August 2014
Slovakia	11 May 2011
Slovenia	8 September 2011	5 February 2015	1 June 2015
Spain	11 May 2011	10 April 2014	1 August 2014
Sweden	11 May 2011	1 July 2014	1 November 2014
Switzerland	11 September 2013	14 December 2017	1 April 2018
Turkey	11 May 2011	14 March 2012	1 August 2014	1 July 2021
Ukraine	7 November 2011	18 July 2022	1 November 2022
United Kingdom	8 June 2012	21 July 2022	1 November 2022

Countries still to ratify convention

Armenia

The Armenian government approved the signing of the Convention in the session of 28 December 2017.^[27] In 2019, during the public discussions about the approval of the convention, there were opinions both for and against. A number of politicians and statesmen have stated that it contradicts the Constitution of Armenia^[28][29] and could result in the idea of having a third gender.^[28] On 1 August 2019, the Deputy Minister Kristinne Grigoryan of the Armenian Ministry of Justice released a clarifying statement on the convention, remarking that its purpose is the prevention of violence and not the redefinition of the family.^[30] The ministry also announced that it had sought guidance from the Venice Commission, a Council of Europe body that advises on legal and constitutional issues, on the "constitutional implications" of the ratification of the convention. Assuming that the Venice Commission rules favorably, Armenia's ratification appears inevitable given the fact that an overwhelming majority of members of parliament support it.^[31]

Discussions surrounding the ratification were also met with opposition from some members of the public, who accused the convention to be intended to legalize same-sex marriage and spread LGBT "propaganda". According to Human Rights Watch, some officials used derogatory and hateful words against LGBT activists as a result.^[32]

The United Nations Human Rights Council in its 2020 in the report urged Armenia to immediately ratify the Istanbul Convention to effectively protect the well-being of women who experience domestic violence, but also men,^[33] complaining of insufficient protection for both in existing Armenian legislation.^[32] In November 2022, the European Union's ambassador to Armenia, Andrea Wiktorin, urged the Armenian government to speed up proceedings to ratify the convention.^[34]

Bulgaria

In January 2018, the Council of Ministers of Bulgaria adopted a proposal to the Parliament to ratify the convention. The decision was quickly condemned by some government ministers, members of parliament, media groups and civic organisations, who suggested that the convention would eventually lead to a formal recognition of a third gender and same-sex marriage.^[35] After widespread backlash, the third Borisov Government postponed the ratification and transferred the decision to the Constitutional Court, which would rule whether it would be legal.^[36] President Rumen Radev, an opponent of the ratification, hailed the postponement as a "triumph of common sense", stating that the convention is ambiguous and that domestic violence can only be addressed by adequate Bulgarian laws and improved law enforcement.^[37]

Prime Minister Boyko Borisov cited the isolation of his GERB party, which was not supported even by its coalition partner, the far-right United Patriots. Borisov expressed surprise that the opposition Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) was firmly against the convention as well, and suggested that the Socialists are opposing the European Union altogether.^[38] The BSP declared itself firmly against the convention, causing a rift between the Party of European Socialists and the BSP's new political line under Korneliya Ninova.^[39] According to the Socialists' "Vision for Bulgaria" programme, the convention is "not meant to protect women. The convention is against fundamental values of European civilisation".^[40]

On 27 July 2018, the Constitutional Court pronounced Resolution No 13 on Constitutional Case No. 3/2018 stating that "the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, does not comply with the Constitution of the Republic of Bulgaria". In its decision, the Court identified a relation between previous Council of Europe documents against domestic violence and the expansion of transgender rights. According to the Constitutional Court, the convention offers a binary interpretation of gender as both a biological and social category, which contradicts the constitution of Bulgaria, where humans are irrevocably defined as biologically male or female, with equal standing as citizens. The convention therefore lays formal ground to promote non-biological definitions of gender, which are deemed unconstitutional.^[41]

Women's rights groups were outraged by the Bulgarian government's decision not to ratify the Istanbul Convention. In November 2018, on the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, hundreds of people demonstrated in the centre of Sofia against violence against women under the motto #YouAreNotAlone (#НеСиСама), demanding effective action from the institutions including the creation of prevention programmes and shelters for victims. The organisers, the Bulgarian Fund for Women, cited the fact that in the first eleven months of 2018, almost 30 women were killed in Bulgaria, most of them by their partners.^[42] Zdroj:https://en.wikipedia.org?pojem=Istanbul_Convention
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