The Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings, which entered into force on 1 February 2008, aims to prevent trafficking in human beings,
protect victims of trafficking, prosecute traffickers, and promote co-ordination of national actions and international co-operation.
The Council of Europe protects and promotes the human rights of everyone, including children. Based on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, the European Convention on Human Rights and other legal standards, the Council of Europe promotes and protects the rights of 150 million children in Europe.
ECRI is a human rights body of the Council of Europe, composed of independent experts, which monitors problems of racism, discrimination on grounds such as ethnic origin, citizenship, colour, religion and language, as well as xenophobia, antisemitism and intolerance; it prepares reports and issues recommendations to member States.
Gender equality means equal visibility, empowerment, responsibility and participation for both women and men in all spheres of public and private life. It also means an equal access to, and distribution of resources between women and men. It means accepting and valuing equally the differences of women and men and the diverse roles they play in society.
The Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul convention) is based on the understanding that violence against women is a form of gender-based violence that is committed against women because they are women. It is the obligation of the state to fully address it in all its forms and to take measures to prevent violence against women, protect its victims and prosecute the perpetrators. Failure to do so would make it the responsibility of the state. The convention leaves no doubt: there can be no real equality between women and men if women experience gender-based violence on a large-scale and state agencies and institutions turn a blind eye.
The No Hate Speech Movement is a youth campaign against hate speech and for human rights online of the Council of Europe. This site provides information about the campaign, its objectives, who is involved, campaign materials and publications. You will also find information about various sectors of the Council of Europe that combat hate speech and work to strengthen human rights, democracy and the rule of law.
Promoting and protecting human rights of persons with disabilities is central to the Council of Europe work and action to protect and promote the human rights of all citizens.
The Council of Europe standards and mechanisms seek to promote and ensure respect for the human rights of every individual. These include equal rights and dignity of all human beings, including lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) persons.
Visit the Action against Trafficking in Human Beings website
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