On 4 July, the Council of Europe organised a round-table meeting with state authorities and non-governmental organisations to discuss the piloting of the Council of Europe methodology and tools for mapping support services for victims of violence against women. The mapping methodology and tools provide means for self-assessment that helps relevant state institutions to collect data about existing support services and to measure progress in the implementation of the standards of the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (the Istanbul Convention). The meeting was led by Council of Europe expert, Professor Elizabeth Kelly, who presented the tools and their contents to the participants. Piloting the mapping methodology for support services for victims is very timely as Georgia will soon be monitored on the implementation of the Istanbul Convention by the Group of Experts on Action against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (GREVIO).

The working meeting raised many issues regarding existing services and their standards as well as on the Istanbul Convention requirements for support services. The Council of Europe will provide further support and involve an expert to coordinate the piloting process.

The meeting was held in the framework of the project ‘’Preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence in Georgia”.