The European Parliament has called on the Commission to propose legislation on violence against women and domestic violence, and on gender-based cyber violence.

On International Women’s Day, the European Commission proposed a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council that aims to:

• make the current EU legal instruments relevant to combating violence against women and domestic violence more effective;
• create upwards convergence and fills gaps in protection, access to justice, support, prevention and coordination and cooperation; and 
• align EU law with established international standards.

An important point of reference for the proposal is the 2014 Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (‘Istanbul Convention’).

• News item: EU-wide rules to combat violence against women (europa.eu)
• Read the full Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council
• Homepage - Istanbul Convention Action against violence against women and domestic violence (coe.int)
• Watch the European Commission video message by Helena Dalli, European Commissioner on the occasion of International Women Day #UnionOfEquality