Speech by Ms Liri Kopaçi-Di Michele Head of Gender Equality and Violence against Women Division Council of Europe Conference on Eliminating Violence against Women in Europe. Intersectoral Approaches & Actions (Vienna, 25 November 2013) Plenary 2: Legislation and Policies for Intersectoral Approach: International, Regional and National Frameworks Ladies and Gentlemen, I am happy to join today s conference and contribute to its well-timed topic of discussing the agenda of eliminating violence against women in Europe and the more specific angle of designing and promoting intersectoral approaches and actions. A Europe free from violence against women and domestic violence is precisely the vision of the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul Convention), which is the first legally-binding instrument in Europe in this field. As such - to respond to one of the questions the organisers have address to this panel the Istanbul Convention is the main European legal framework that should guide our efforts in the elimination of violence against women. Why? Because the Istanbul Convention is not only the first legally binding instrument in Europe dedicated to ending violence against women, but in terms of in terms of scope; it is the most far-reaching international treaty in this field. For the first time, 1
it is made clear that violence against women and domestic violence can no longer be considered as a private matter but that states have an obligation to prevent violence, protect victims and punish the perpetrators. By accepting the Convention, governments are obliged to change their laws, their policies and their practices, take practical measures and allocate resources to create a zero tolerance zone for violence against women and domestic violence. The Istanbul Convention expands the standards set by the previously available legal instruments and it tackles violence against women in its many forms. The Istanbul Convention bring coherence to the issue of violence against women, highlighting that acts of violence against women are not chance, they are not random, but are rooted in inequality. The Convention contains several features, which highlight its added value in Europe and internationally. The Istanbul Convention breaks new ground by requesting States to criminalise physical, sexual and psychological violence, stalking, sexual harassment, 1 female genital mutilation, forced marriage, forced abortion and forced sterilisation. It provides the first international legal definitions for some of these crimes, for instance stalking. The Istanbul Convention is the first international treaty to contain a definition of gender as a socially constructed category that differentiates between women and men according to socially assigned roles, behaviours, activities and attributes. Building on the jurisprudence of the European Courts of Human Rights, the Istanbul Convention integrates the due diligence standard and it defines it unambiguously as the obligation of states to prevent, investigate, punish and provide reparation for acts of violence perpetrated by non-state actors. 1 For sexual harassment, the Convention gives state parties the discretion to choose between criminal sanction and other ways of sanctioning this type of behaviour. 2
The Istanbul Convention takes a vital cross-border approach, given the transnational nature of violence against women. Forced marriages, for example, often entail crossing borders, because children or adults are taken abroad for this purpose, and the Istanbul Convention makes it clear that such conduct is a crime. States cannot allow their nationals to act with impunity, and commit crimes of violence against women or domestic violence, when they are abroad. In order to enable prosecution in such cases, the Istanbul Convention gives States the possibility to extend jurisdictions for offences committed by their nationals in other countries. In a fundamental departure from the gender blindness that has often characterised the application of the 1951 Refugee Convention, the Istanbul Convention requires states parties to ensure that gender-based violence may be recognised as a form of persecution when establishing refugee status for women, who may be fleeing from rape used as a weapon of war, female genital mutilation or a life of domestic violence. Another important feature of the Istanbul Convention and element of its added value is the protection it affords to migrant women. Sensitive to the problems faced by migrant women who are trapped in an abusive relationship, the Istanbul Convention introduces a number of measures to protect them against violence, including the option of granting them an autonomous residence permit, independent of that of their abusive spouse or partner. I take the term intersectoral action in the title of today s panel to also mean cooperation among regional and international actors. The effective implementation of the standards of the Istanbul Convention requires regional and international organisations to join their expertise, pool their resources and engage with the member states to support them in their efforts to ratify and implement the Convention. I am happy today to share with you the happy news that we have already reached eight ratifications of the Istanbul Convention, including our host country, Austria, which deposited the instrument of ratification this month (14 3
November); only two more ratifications are required for this powerful treaty to enter into force and I urge of all us to make this goal a priority. The Istanbul Convention is increasingly seen as a standard reference for EU institutions also. References to the Council of Europe Convention now appear in a growing number of EU instruments, standards and initiatives. There have been repeated calls for signature and ratification of the Istanbul Convention by EU member states and the European Union, including by the European Parliament and the leaders of the European Commission. We hope the European Union will also accede to the Convention. EU accession will send a strong signal to the member states to speed up the process of signing and ratifying the treaty. Ladies and Gentlemen, The Istanbul Convention is a comprehensive instrument. Its provisions stem from the in-depth analysis of problems and solutions tested throughout the Council of Europe member states and beyond: they are good practices brought up to the level of a legally binding instrument. Practical and detailed, the Istanbul Convention is a blueprint for actions and policies to end violence against women and domestic violence. Through the collection of good practice examples from Council of Europe member states, as part of monitoring Recommendation Rec (2002) 5 of the Committee of Ministers on the protection of women against violence, as well as notably, during its 2006-2008 Campaign to Combat Violence against Women, the Council of Europe learned of examples in member states that showed results are enhanced when law enforcement agencies, the judiciary, women s non-governmental organisations, child protection agencies and other relevant partners join forces on a particular case, for example to carry out an accurate risk assessment or devise a safety plan. This is the case of the Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conferences (MARACs) in the UK, for example, which has since been replicated in many countries, such as Poland. Intersectoral collaboration and action ensures the use of multi-disciplinary expertise, which is needed to address cases of violence against women. Such collaboration also fulfills the very important role of reducing the number of times women have to tell 4
their stories of abuse, therefore reducing the risk of further traumatisation, when victims seek help from professionals. This is why Article 18, paragraph 2 of the Istanbul Convention specifically provides that there should be appropriate mechanisms for effective co operation between all relevant state agencies, including the judiciary, public prosecutors, law enforcement agencies, local and regional authorities as well as non governmental organisations and other relevant organisations and entities, in protecting and supporting victims and witnesses. The approach of the Istanbul Convention emphasizes the need for comprehensive and coordinated policies (Article 7). It requires States to offer a holistic response to violence against women, which would comprise a multitude of measures to be taken by all relevant actors and agencies and implemented by way of effective cooperation. It contains provisions aimed at addressing all different types of violence against women through the 4 Ps approach : Prevention of violence through sustained measures that address its root causes and aim at changing attitudes, gender roles and stereotypes that make violence against women acceptable; Protecting women and girls who are known to be at risk and setting up specialist support services for victims and their children (shelters, round-theclock telephone helplines, rape crisis or sexual violence referral centres); Prosecuting the perpetrators, including by enabling criminal investigations and proceedings to continue, even if the victims withdraws her/ his complaint; Adopting and implementing State wide integrated policies that are comprehensive, in that they encompass all relevant measures to prevent and combat all forms of violence against women, effective, and coordinated. When designing and implementing legislation and policies as foreseen by the Istanbul Convention, States are expected to involve the various government agencies concerned, the judiciary, the police, the service providers, NGOs, as well as national, regional and local parliaments and authorities. The setting-up of national or relevant coordinating bodies is required to ensure the smooth cooperation of all 5
actors (Article 10). The Istanbul Convention also places a great importance on the role of national human rights institutions and civil society organisations. What types of intersectoral collaboration have countries implemented in to prevent and respond to violence against women; what are the successes and challenges? The Council of Europe has recently completed the fourth round of monitoring the implementation of Recommendation Rec (2002)5 of the Committee of Ministers on the Protection of Women against Violence. The results, currently being analysed for a report that will be published in the beginning of next year, show a high degree of acceptance of the standards of the Istanbul Convention in our member states. They also show a tangible impact of the Istanbul Convention. Overall, the preparation, adoption and ratification process of the Istanbul Convention has given further impetus to the trend towards more convergence of policy frameworks to prevent and combat violence against women in Council of Europe member states. The Istanbul Convention indeed functions as a common framework for a majority of Council of Europe member states, which have endorsed its guiding principles and standards. This is true in the area of intersectoral policy collaboration also. The information provided by 46 CoE member states this year shows there is a steady increase in the political will to establish a national policy on violence against women as well as on domestic violence. There is a trend towards more comprehensive and coordinated national policy, as requested by the Istanbul Convention, in particular Articles 7 and 10, as already mentioned. The comprehensiveness of national policies has expanded, meaning that the number of forms of violence against women targeted by national policy has increased. Moreover, more countries are setting up national governmental co-ordinating bodies for implementing policies to prevent and combat violence against women and domestic violence (Finland and Slovakia for ex., specifically in the context of preparing 6
ratification of the Istanbul Convention). By now, all but a few member states have established a governmental coordinating body for implementation. Ladies and gentlemen, The legal standards contained in the Istanbul Convention offer a holistic approach to combating violence against women that warrants all our energy, time and resources to ensure it is implemented across Europe and beyond Europe. Having the powerful standard that is the Istanbul Convention is not an end it itself - it is a call to action: for countries to sign and ratify the Convention; for governments to design and implement the policies required by the Convention; for parliaments and parliamentarians to be continuously engaged in reviewing and revising legislation and monitoring the application of the Convention; for local authorities and civil society to participate in the response to violence against women. Making the Istanbul Convention a reality requires a joint and sustained effort to implement its provisions wherever and whenever women suffer gender-based violence, in a dynamic, indeed, intersectoral alliance of all relevant governmental actors, civil society organisations, and regional and international bodies. 7