www.coe.int/violenceconvention-batumi2012

2nd regional seminar in promotion of the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul Convention)

9-10 July 2012, Batumi, Georgia
Sheraton Batumi Hotel

Every day in Europe, women are stalked, harassed, raped, mutilated, forced by their family to enter into a marriage, sterilised against their will or psychologically and physically abused in the “safety” of their own homes. The examples of violence against women are endless, its victims countless. Many women are too afraid or ashamed to seek help, often paying for their silence with their lives. Those that do speak out are not always heard. Domestic violence is another form of violence that is far too common and that affects not only women, but men, children and the elderly as well.

Read more > Concept paper

Objective and contents of the conference

The objective of the regional seminar is three-fold:

to encourage member states to sign and ratify the Convention;

to raise awareness of its existence among members of parliament, NGOs, the media and professionals working in the field;

to discuss the benefits and challenges of ratifying the Convention.

During the regional seminar, participants will consider the scope and content of the Istanbul Convention. Particular emphasis will be placed on the link between achieving gender equality and combating violence against women as well as recognising violence against women as a human rights violation. In addition, the measures which state parties to the Convention will be required to take in the area of prevention, protection and prosecution will be presented in detail. Finally, member states participating in the seminar will be invited to present their national perspective on the benefits and challenges in ratifying the Convention.

The regional seminar is expected to generate interest in the Istanbul Convention among key stakeholders involved in the ratification process and among media and NGO representatives.

Read more > Concept paper

Targeted Participants

The participants will be representatives of the governments of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine. Representatives from the following non-member states will also be invited to participate: Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.

Government delegation shall be composed of a representative from the Ministry of Justice, the ministry responsible for gender equality and a national non-governmental organisation active in the field of combating violence against women and domestic violence.