On August 1, 2014, the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul Convention) entered into force. The document was opened for signature on May 11, 2011 in Istanbul, and obliges governments that have ratified it to take concrete measures to combat all forms of violence against women. As of today, the Istanbul Convention has been ratified by 34 states.
Ukraine signed the Istanbul Convention on November 11, 2011, but still has not ratified it. In November 2016, the corresponding draft law was not supported by people's deputies.
The Istanbul Convention is the first international legally binding act, potentially open to any country in the world, which provides a comprehensive set of measures to prevent and combat violence against women and domestic violence. The Convention recognizes violence against women as both a violation of human rights and a form of discrimination. It also establishes a clear link between the achievement of equality between women and men and the eradication of violence against women.
The Law of Ukraine "On Prevention and Combating Domestic Violence" and "On Amendments to the Criminal and Criminal Procedure Codes of Ukraine in order to implement the provisions of the Council of Europe Convention on the Prevention of Violence against Women and Domestic Violence and Combating These Phenomena" have been adopted and entered into force in Ukraine. These normative legal acts are an important step, but the issue of Ratification of the Istanbul Convention is very urgent.
We call on the People's Deputies of the Verkhovna Rada of the 9th convocation to ratify the Istanbul Convention, which will be a guarantee of further reform of the legislation of Ukraine (with regard to the fight against domestic violence and violence against women) and will testify to the state's intentions to implement international standards for the protection of human rights.
Українська