News
Empowering women human rights defenders in Georgia - a high-level meeting held in Tbilisi
On 29 November 2024, Representatives of civil society and international organisations gathered for a high-level meeting under the title “Their Fight, Your Future”, dedictaed to advancing the protection and empowerment of women human rights defenders (WHRDs) in Georgia. Held on the International...
Advancing gender equality in Ukraine
The project " Promoting Gender Equality in Ukraine " has developed a brochure "Key Actions for Gender Equality". Based on the Council of Europe Gender Equality Strategy for 2024-2029, the brochure prioritises equal rights and opportunities for all, including disadvantaged groups. The brochure...
Preventing and combating domestic violence - discussions in Baku during the “16 days of activism against gender-based violence”
On 4 December 2024, the Council of Europe Office in Baku hosted a café discussion on “Domestic Violence in the Case Law of the European Court of Human Rights” as part of the “16 days of activism against gender-based violence.” The event provided a platform for informal discussions among 34 civil...
Progress highlighted on combating violence against women in Moldova
On 27 November 2024, key achievements in implementing the Council of Europe’s Istanbul Convention were the focus of a conference organised by the Council of Europe and the Moldovan Agency for Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence. Bringing together government...
Promoting gender equality and women’s access to justice across the Eastern Partnership and the Western Balkan regions
Judges, prosecutors and representatives from judicial training institutions across the Eastern Partnership and Western Balkans regions met in Tirana, to assess the results of the mentoring programme for legal professionals on women’s access to justice. A series of thematic exchanges were held on...
European Gender Equality Policy-makers hold plenary session in Strasbourg
At its 26th Plenary Session, from 19 to 21 November 2024 in Strasbourg, the Gender Equality Commission (GEC) held several high-level exchanges. The discussions with Michael O’Flaherty, Commissioner for Human Rights highlighted the need for a gendered regulation of AI, the consequence on women and...
Armenian schools foster gender equality through innovative training with Council of Europe support
Around 40 school principals from urban and rural areas of Armenia attended a conference on 20 November on "Gender-responsive education in schools." The event focused on making schools more inclusive by: training teachers to implement gender-responsive teaching practices; promoting equal...
Integrating perpetrator programmes into sentencing - an effective way to break the cycle of violence!
On 7 November 2024 in Pristina, the Council of Europe project “Aligning laws and policies with the Istanbul Convention” held a roundtable on: “Breaking the cycle of violence: Integrating the programmes for perpetrators of domestic violence in sentencing”. The roundtable gathered around 100...
Launch of the HELP course on gender equality and gender mainstreaming in Azerbaijan
On 7 November the Azerbaijani version of an online HELP course on Gender Equality and Gender Mainstreaming was launched. This newly developed course is aimed at a broad audience, to include students, civil society organisations, women’s rights groups - anyone interested in advancing gender...
European gender equality policy-makers to meet in Strasbourg
The 26th plenary meeting of the Gender Equality Commission (GEC) will take place in Strasbourg on 19-21 November 2024. A highlight of the agenda will be an exchange with Yuriko Backes, Luxembourg Minister for Defence, for Mobility and Public Works and for Gender Equality and Diversity. This...
Ukrainian legal professionals exchange on executing European Court of Human Rights domestic violence rulings
On 31 October 2024 the Council of Europe held a roundtable “European Court of Human Rights and women’s rights: execution of ECtHR judgements in cases “Levchuk v.Ukraine No.17496/19 and “Ivashkiv v.Ukraine No.59670/14”, gathering together Ukrainian lawyers, judges, prosecutors, representatives of...
Council of Europe Gender Equality Rapporteurs (GERs) participated in a training workshop on gender equality and intersectionality mainstreaming.
On 5-6 November, a group of Gender Equality Rapporteurs (GERs) participated in the annual training entitled: “ Working to transform: Training workshop on gender equality and intersectionality mainstreaming”, organised by the Council of Europe Gender Equality Division. Gender Equality Rapporteurs...
Bosnia and Herzegovina advances discussions on consent-based legal definition of sexual violence
On 23 October 2024, representatives from institutions, the judiciary and civil society gathered in Sarajevo for a peer-to-peer event aimed at incorporating a definition of sexual violence based on the absence of consent into Bosnia and Herzegovina's criminal legislation. The event, organised by...
Path to justice: Conference highlights need for gender-sensitive approaches in Türkiye’s earthquake recovery
Addressing the unique legal challenges faced by women in Türkiye’s earthquake-affected regions requires urgent, gender-sensitive reforms in disaster recovery frameworks— this was concluded at the “Conference on women’s access to justice after the earthquakes”, organised by UN Women Türkiye and...
Strengthening legal advocacy on women’s rights in Türkiye
Legal experts and civil society representatives from nine cities in Türkiye are now equipped with key legal strategies to effectively use litigation as a tool to protect and promote women’s rights. This achievement follows an online training session held on 25 October 2024, attended by 13...
Guidelines on gender-sensitive journalism in Armenia –with a focus on reporting on women refugees
New guidance on gender-sensitive journalism is now available for media professionals in Armenia. Gender-sensitive reporting can reshape societal norms, especially in today's media-driven world where gender-based violence, forced displacement, and disinformation have profound impacts. The...
Armenian delegation visits Sweden to exchange on combating violence against women
From 21 to 23 October, Armenian representatives from five state agencies and four civil society organisations participated in a study visit to Stockholm, Sweden. The visit focused on learning from Sweden’s legislative framework, practices, challenges, successes, as well as co-operation between...
Council of Europe publishes study on digital violence against women in the Republic of Armenia
The study highlights the rise of digitally facilitated violence against women in Armenia, including cyberstalking, online harassment, and the non-consensual sharing of intimate images and reveals the gaps in Armenia’s legal and support systems for addressing digital violence. It also provides a...
Training on the protection of migrant, refugee, and asylum-seeking women from violence in the Republic of Moldova
On 9 and 10 October, 26 officers (8 men and 18 women) from the General Inspectorate for migration and the border police of the Republic of Moldova participated in a training focused on Articles 60 and 61 of Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and...
Launch of data collection guidelines and indicators on violence against women in the Republic of Moldova
On 3 October 2024, the National Agency for the prevention and combating of violence of the Republic of Moldova presented guidelines and indicators (compendium) on violence against women and domestic violence. Supported by the Council of Europe and UNFPA, the compendium was developed to enhance...
