Women’s rights and gender equality have a distance to go.

And no-one following the news in 2018 can be in any doubt about the urgency.

Here at the Council of Europe, we are at the forefront of that struggle.

Our Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence – also known as the Istanbul Convention – supports states in both prosecuting the perpetrator and protecting the victim.

Ratified by 28 states, signed by the EU and described as a “gold standard” by the UN, the Convention is protecting women and girls now.

And the MeToo movement has reinforced the urgent need for this debate.

It has shone a light on the everyday acts of sexism that millions of women face, day in, day out.

Discrimination, harassment – and humiliation too.

And it is forcing change to the benefit of women and men alike.

We have an opportunity now to harness that energy and move forward together.

So the Council of Europe is marking this year’s International Women’s Day with an unprecedented, all-round approach to achieving equality between men and women.

We need new standards to fight sexism and stereotypes – whether in education and the workplace, or on the internet and social media.

And we need to place a priority on protecting the rights of migrant, refugee and asylum-seeking women and girls.

Some of the most vulnerable in our midst.

These aims are at the core of our newly-adopted Gender Equality Strategy.

And by International Women’s Day of next year, that Strategy will deliver a range of new proposals to break down the gender barriers that have damaged our societies for too long.

We can afford to wait no longer.

Now is the time.