The Istanbul Convention: a tool to advance in fighting violence against women and domestic violence in Ukraine (2018-2020)

The project was built on the lessons learned and tools developed under the Council of Europe project “Combating violence against vulnerable group (women and children) in Ukraine” which concluded in February 2018.

The recent changes in the Ukrainian legal framework, in particular, the enactment of the law on preventing and combating domestic violence in December 2017, are a landmark step in preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence and an opportunity for the implementation of the new provisions to be in line with applicable international and European standards, in particular, the Council of Europe Istanbul Convention.
The project was focused on the prevention and support pillars of the Istanbul Convention and it aimed at:
- tackling the prevention of violence against women strategically and in longer-term and by creating the necessary institutional mechanisms and supporting multi-agency coordination (Articles 7 and 10 of the Istanbul Convention)
- strengthening the knowledge and capacities of those in charge of supporting victims at national and local level in particular by training professionals (Article 15) to realise the victims’ right to specialised support services (Article 22 of the Istanbul Convention) and their right to free legal aid (Article 57).


Ministry of Social Policy (Міністерство соціальної політики України)
National School of Judges (Національна школа суддів України)
National Police of Ukraine
National Academy of Public Prosecution
National Bar Association of Ukraine
Coordination Centre for Legal Aid Provision
The Council of Europe additionally co-operates with the Gender Equality Commissioner, different state institutions, non-governmental organisations and international and donor organisations working in the field of combating violence against women and domestic violence.



The project was implemented by
the Capacity Building and Co-operation Projects Unit at the Council of Europe’s Gender Equality Division
Jenna SHEARER DEMIR, Programme Adviser, Project Manager
together with
the Council of Europe Office in Kyiv
Valeriia TKACHENKO, Senior Project Officer
Tetiana ANTONCHENKO, Project Assistant

- Co-operation projects
- HELP online course on violence against women and domestic violence
- Co-operation Newsroom
- Co-operation with the EEA and Norway Grants
- PGG: Strengthening access to justice for women victims of violence (2015-2018)
- PGG II: Women's Access to Justice (2019-2022)
- Preventing and Combating Violence against Women in Armenia (2018)
- The Path towards Armenia's Ratification of the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence
- Raising Bosnia and Herzegovina's institutional capacity to prevent and combat violence against women and domestic violence (2019)
- Preventing and Combating Violence against Women in Georgia (2018-2019)
- Reinforcing the fight against violence against women and domestic violence in Kosovo* (Phase II), 2019 -2021
- Co-operation on the implementation of the Russian Federation National Action Strategy for Women 2017–2022 (2019-2020)
- The Istanbul Convention: a tool to advance in fighting violence against women and domestic violence in Ukraine (2018-2020)
- Co-operation with Southern Mediterranean countries
- Promoting an Integrated Approach to End Violence against Women and Enhancing Gender Equality in Georgia (2020-2022)
- Awareness-raising Activities on the Istanbul Convention in the Republic of Moldova (2020-2021)
- Fostering a comprehensive institutional response to violence against women and domestic violence in Turkey
- Raising awareness of the Istanbul Convention and other gender equality standards in Azerbaijan
- Combating Violence Against Women in Ukraine (COVAW)
- Contact us -coop projects
- Reinforcing the fight against violence against women and domestic violence in Kosovo* (phase III)
- Cooperation for the implementation of the Russian Federation National Action Strategy for Women: applying best practices
- Fostering women’s access to justice in Türkiye
- Supporting the implementation of the Istanbul Convention in the Republic of Moldova
- Ending violence against women: multi-country programme
- Raising awareness of the Istanbul Convention: methodology and toolkit for civil society organisations