News

Call for proposals – CSO grants on communication and advocacy campaigns on the Istanbul Convention in the Czech Republic, Latvia, or Poland
Photo : Shutterstock - A Katz This call for proposals aims to support civil society (CSOs) projects to promote the values, aims and provisions of the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul Convention) and dispelling myths...
Project Board of the action “Raising awareness of the Istanbul Convention and other gender equality standards in Azerbaijan”
On 17 February 2021, the first meeting of the Project Board of the action “Raising awareness of the Istanbul Convention and other gender equality standards in Azerbaijan” took place online. The Project Board includes the State Committee for Family, Women and Children Affairs, the Ministry of...
New project launched in Ukraine to combat violence against women
On 1 January 2021, the Council of Europe launched a new two-year project, entitled “Combatting violence against women in Ukraine” (COVAW). The COVAW project has been designed in line with the Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine (2018-2022) as regards supporting national legislation and...
How to report on violence against women in the media? Guideline for Armenian journalists and media professionals
Both traditional and social media play a major role both as a source of fact-based information and as a shaper of opinions. The media can promote awareness on equal and indivisible human rights and contribute to prevent and combat violence against women. The Council of Europe guideline on gender...
Experts discuss how to implement Council of Europe quality guidelines for shelters for victims of violence against women and domestic violence in Kosovo*
The development of the quality guidelines for shelters for victims of VAW and DV in Kosovo* continues with discussions with the Council of Europe experts and key local authorities. The experts presented the final draft of the quality guidelines for shelters, and discussions focused on how to...
First online meetings with stakeholders to prepare a Council of Europe gap analysis of the Azerbaijani legislation and policies on violence against women and domestic violence
On 14-15 January 2021, a series of online meetings were held with Azerbaijani stakeholders to support the work of Council of Europe experts in preparing a gap analysis of the Azerbaijani legislation and policies in the field of violence against women and domestic violence in line with the Council...
Rich discussions during the second meeting of the Council of Europe Drafting Committee on Migrant Women, 14-15 December 2020
The Council of Europe’s Drafting Committee on Migrant Women (GEC-MIG) held its second meeting via videoconference on 14 and 15 December 2020. GEC-MIG, a subordinate body to the Gender Equality Commission (GEC), is tasked by the Committee of Ministers to draft a Recommendation on migrant and...
Nabila Hamza and Leoluca Orlando awarded North-South Prize
Portuguese Parliament President Eduardo Ferro Rodrigues today awarded the Council of Europe’s North-South Prize to Nabila Hamza (Tunisia) and Leoluca Orlando (Italy). The 2019 prize – given in the Senate room of the Portuguese Parliament – annually distinguishes two people for their exceptional...
Better data can save women’s lives: webinar on administrative data in Turkey
30 November 2020, the European Union and the Council of Europe organised an international webinar on “Administrative Data Collection and Analysis on Violence against Women and Domestic Violence”. This activity was part of the joint programme “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey...
High-Level Conference - Applying the Council of Europe Istanbul Convention: what does it mean in practice?
On 9 December 2020, the Council of Europe Office in Pristina and OSCE Mission in Kosovo* organised an online High-Level Conference with the aims to enhance the local knowledge on the steps needed to implement of the Istanbul Convention in Kosovo*. The conference was attended by over 80...
Administration of Justice on Sexual Violence Crimes against Women in Georgia
On 8 December 2020, the Council of Europe and the Public Defender of Georgia held a joint online conference and presented the findings of the study “Administration of Justice on Sexual Violence Crimes against Women in Georgia”. The research study analyses legislative gaps as well as barriers in...
All Sectors of the Council of Europe joined the Orange the World! Campaign to mark the 16 Days of Activism to Eliminate Violence against Women 2020
The 16 days between 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, and 10 December, Human Rights Day, are known as the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence Campaign, a time to encourage action to end violence against women and girls around the...
Webinar “Gender Mainstreaming Law Schools’ Curricula”
How can gender mainstreaming strengthen women’s access to justice? What are the promising practices in Europe on ensuring gender equality in academia and research? How gender mainstreaming law schools contributes to addressing gender bias among legal professionals? These were the questions that...
Ukraine: Project results presented at Final Steering Committee Meeting
An online steering committee meeting was held on 4 December to introduce the final results of the Project “The Istanbul Convention: a tool to advance in fighting violence against women and domestic violence in Ukraine”. Participants included the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine, the Ministry...
Legal aid lawyers and access to justice for women victims of violence
” [I] always had to confront the argument that the aggressor must not be evicted from the common dwelling when he had no other place to live. Now I can refer to this case and demand for the aggressor to be evicted when he poses risk for other family members because of him being aggressive. I...
Media Guidance for reporting on violence against women and domestic violence in Ukraine
A Media Guidance for the Development of Self-Regulatory Standards to Report on Cases of Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence has been developed to support Ukrainian media professionals to develop self-regulatory mechanisms to facilitate human rights-based, gender-sensitive and ethical...
Learn about myths and facts about the Istanbul Convention in Ukraine
On the International Day to End Violence against Women and to kick-start the 16-days of Activism against Gender-based Violence, the Council of Europe has worked in co-operation with the Ukrainian Ministry of Social Policy to produce two new infographics. “Myths and facts about the Istanbul...
“We cannot allow the home to become a place of fear, again”
To mark the UN International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, the Secretary General stressed the need to learn lessons from the first lockdowns this past spring, to face increasing calls to domestic violence hotlines since new restrictions have been put into place in much of...
New publications of gender equality indexes at the European and global level confirm that gender equality remains a long way ahead
The 2020 Gender Equality Index, published by the European institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) on 29 October 2020, shows the urgent need for progress in all EU Member States. The score has increased by only 0.5 points since 2017 (and by 4.1 points since 2010). At this pace, it will take more than...
Council of Europe supports Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs of Armenia to develop National Action Plan for Combating Domestic Violence
The Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs of Armenia in cooperation with relevant national and international stakeholders, including the National Council on Preventing Domestic Violence, has started to define national priorities to address existing gaps and challenges in the field to develop the...