The Istanbul Convention
The Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul Convention) is a human rights treaty which came into force in 2014 and has since been ratified by 37 countries. The Convention is the first legally-binding document to comprehensively tackle violence against women and domestic violence, which includes psychological violence, stalking, physical violence, sexual violence and sexual harassment.
Ratifying countries must agree to implement the 4 pillars of the convention:
- Prevention
- Protection
- Prosecution
- Co-ordinated policies
Learn more about the 4 pillars of the Istanbul Convention here.
Stopping the cycle of violence: Perpetrator programmes
Article 16 of the Istanbul Convention requires countries to set up and support perpetrator programmes (as part of the prevention methods) aimed at breaking the cycle of violence. As well as this, Article 16 requires that these prevention programmes ensure the safety of the victims and take a multi-agency approach. You can read more on the Council of Europe website here.
Monitoring the implementation
Once countries have ratified the Istanbul Convention, their progress in implementing the policies is evaluated by an independent monitoring body: the Group of Experts on Action against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (GREVIO). Perpetrator programmes play an important role in reporting to GREVIO on the level of implementation. You can read more about GREVIO and the reporting process here.
How you can become active
To encourage perpetrator programmes to promote, follow and monitor the Istanbul Convention implementation in their countries, we have compiled the following resources:
- A summary of key findings from GREVIO reports, useful for perpetrator programmes. Here, you can read about recommendations from the GREVIO committee and important aspects of previous countries' reports.
- A summary of all the adopted GREVIO reports, as well as the ongoing reports, with information relevant for programmes for perpetrators of violence.
- A comprehensive template for developing and writing your own shadow report.
- We know that reporting to GREVIO can seem like a daunting task, which is why WWP EN is committed to helping throughout the process. Please contact Alessandra Pauncz with any questions: alessandra.pauncz(at)work-with-perpetrators.eu
