Originally published here.

Violence against women and domestic violence continues to be one of the most pervasive human rights violations worldwide. This phenomenon affects women from all walks of life in all parts of the world, regardless of cultural, religious, economic, social or geographical characteristics. According to global estimates by the World Health Organization, every third woman in the world has experienced gender-based violence at least once in her life [1]. Gender-based violence against women is violence that is directed at a woman because she is a woman, or that clearly affects women [2, p. 4], has devastating consequences, both for the victims and for society as a whole.

All over the world, women are daily subjected to psychological and physical abuse, harassment, rape, mutilation, forced marriage or forced sterilization by their families. Recognition of the scale and impact of this scourge is essential if the fight to prevent violence against women and domestic violence is to be effective. Violence against women is clearly a violation of human rights and no tradition can justify this violation. The inability and/or refusal of political leaders to take a clear position on this issue contributes to the transfer of violence into the sphere of private life, as well as its perpetuation and even justification of acts of violence against women and domestic violence.

Therefore, the elimination of gender-based violence should be a task and a priority for the executive, legislature and judiciary, public and human rights organizations, women’s rights groups and other NGOs, professional organizations and trade unions, the media and the private sector, educational institutions and community groups, regional and international structures and the general public. The Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (hereinafter referred to as the Istanbul Convention) [3] is an innovative and legally binding international treaty aimed at eliminating violence against women and domestic violence.

The Convention [3] is the legal basis for the development and adoption of advanced strategies and measures aimed at preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence in states that have ratified it. The Convention [3] was developed in Europe, but its scope is global. Any state can accede to the Convention [3] or use it as a model for the development of national or regional legislation and policies. The Istanbul Convention of the Council of Europe [3] is the most progressive and ambitious international human rights treaty aimed at eliminating violence against women.

In 2012, the Spanish Observatory on Combating Domestic Violence and Gender-based Violence awarded the Council of Europe with the most prestigious award for its work on the elimination of gender-based violence in connection with the development of the Istanbul Convention [2, p. 13]. In 2015, the Convention received the prestigious Vision Award from the World Future Council, the Inter-Parliamentary Union and UN Women in recognition of its contribution to the fight against violence against women [2, p. 13].

The Istanbul Convention is called the “gold standard” [4] in the fight against gender-based violence. Since the adoption of the Istanbul Convention [3] in April 2011, it has had a major positive impact on the status of women across Europe. It has contributed to the awareness of the European public of the urgent need to take action to combat violence against women and domestic violence. The Convention has served as the starting point for important progressive changes in national laws regarding gender-based violence. However, all the standards laid down in the Istanbul Convention [3] can lead to longterm positive changes in the world only if the largest possible number of European and non-European countries sign, ratify and fully implement the convention. The Istanbul Convention entered into force on August 1, 2014.

Since then, it has been ratified by 35 countries - Turkey, Albania, Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, Estonia, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Portugal, San Marino, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland [5].

The Council of Europe is the continent’s leading human rights organization and actively promotes the protection of women and girls from gender-based violence. The adoption of the Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (Istanbul Convention) has made the Council of Europe the leading organization for promoting gender equality, protecting women’s rights and preventing gender-based violence [2, p 11].

At present, the signing of the Istanbul Convention [3] and the introduction of its basic principles into national legislation is a legally optional, but civilizational integral part of the integration of Eastern European countries into the EU. The Istanbul Convention was signed by Ukraine back in 2011, but has not yet been ratified due to protests from churches and conservative politicians against the term “gender” used in it. The EU and a number of international organizations have repeatedly called on Ukraine to ratify the Istanbul Convention.

The last such statement was made jointly by the EU, the UK, Norway, Switzerland and a number of international organizations on their resources on the International Day to End Violence against Women in 2021 [6]. The urgent and overdue for Ukraine problem of ratification of the Istanbul Convention [3] determines the relevance of the review of the Istanbul Convention [3] as the most important tool for protecting women’s rights, its history and promotion in the world. In this review, the author used the logical method, the method of semantic analysis, as well as the comparative legal method.

Currently, domestic violence is a constant topic in international law studies, illustrating the many ways in which this right interacts with the domestic norms of national laws. The Istanbul Convention as an instrument of EU law for the protection of women’s rights has been deeply studied by a large constellation of European and English-speaking scholars, including J. Gardam [7], Klugman [8], S. Friedman and B. Goldblatt [9] and many others. However, their view characterizes the position of the EU and the British Commonwealth, while the review presented here is a view from Ukraine.

Obviously, having our own laws to combat gender-based violence against women and domestic violence is a good start, but clearly not enough to combat this evil. Firstly, the Istanbul Convention [3] covers those areas of Ukrainian legislation that need to be improved, for example, the organization of shelters, the socialization of victims, the collection of statistics, etc. Secondly, by ratifying the Istanbul Convention [3], Ukraine will join those countries the situation in which is assessed by external experts who monitor the implementation of the Istanbul Convention [3] and can provide recommendations and practical developments for solving problems. Thirdly, by ratifying the Istanbul Convention [3], Ukraine will confirm its adherence to European values.

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