The project Raising awareness of the Istanbul Convention and other gender equality standards in Azerbaijan has coordinated a gap analysis of the legislative and policy frameworks in the field of violence against women and domestic violence in Azerbaijan by comparing them with international standards for combating violence against women and domestic violence, including the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul Convention).

The  report finds that “one of the most effective means by which national legislation could be aligned with international standards would be by means of a new, criminal offence of domestic violence” . It also recommends amending the definition of rape to include all acts of non-consensual sex and to provide the right for victims of offences of violence against women and domestic violence (including victims of forced marriage) to claim financial compensation from either the perpetrator or the state.

This report sets out a clear route by which such alignment can be improved and provides a total of 31 recommendations that cover criminal law provisions, civil remedies and custody and visitation rights, as well as areas with potential relevance to both criminal and civil spheres – such as free legal aid, prohibition of mandatory alternative dispute resolution processes, protection orders, and data collection.

The Azerbaijani National Action Plan on Combating Domestic Violence 2020-2023 aims to bring measures implemented in Azerbaijan into alignment with international standards and the Council of Europe supports these national efforts.

 Click here to read the report in English and in Azerbaijani.

This publication was developed under the project “Raising awareness of the Istanbul Convention and other gender equality standards in Azerbaijan,” funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe and implemented by the Council of Europe in their Partnership for Good Governance II 2019-2022.