Reports that monitor the implementation of the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul Convention) by Turkey and Montenegro have been published by the Group of Experts on Action against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (GREVIO)

In Turkey, under-reporting, restrictions on NGOs, forced and under-aged marriage and victim blaming overshadow progress in efforts to end violence against women, according to GREVIO.

Positive developments include reforms to align Turkish criminal legislation with convention requirements, but a persistence of deep-seated, restrictive and stereotyped views of women’s roles continue to pervade Turkish society and foment violence against women, the experts stress.

Key concerns range from underreporting of gender-based violence against women to widespread cases of underage and forced marriages and increasingly restrictive conditions placed on independent women’s organisations. GREVIO’s report urges Turkish authorities to take specific steps to properly implement the convention.

While highlighting progress towards building a legislative, policy and institutional framework to prevent and combat violence against women in Montenegro, GREVIO notes a lack of specific measures to counter rape, sexual harassment and forced marriage, and found that deeply rooted societal attitudes undermine those efforts.

GREVIO welcomes legislation on domestic violence which introduces emergency barring and restraining orders, but notes measures addressing other types of violence, such as rape and forced marriage, need improvement. “Little to no preventive and protective measures seem to exist for victims of rape and sexual violence, sexual harassment and forced marriage, and no specific services such as rape crisis or sexual violence referral centres have been established”, the experts say.