The project will contribute to combating and eliminating the systemic barriers which women encounter when accessing justice, both the legal and institutional challenges as well as the socio-cultural barriers that materialises as gender bias in the justice systems of the Eastern Partnership countries.

This project is implemented within the third Phase of the joint programme of the European Union and the Council of Europe “Partnership for Good Governance” running from 2023 until 2027. It builds on the results of the previous phases of the Partnership for Good Governance in the field of advancing women’s access to justice and combating violence against women (Phase I 2015-2018 and Phase II 2019-2023).

 What are the goals and objectives of the project?
  • To strengthen access to justice for women, especially women victims of violence in line with the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul Convention),
  •  to improve the gender-responsiveness of the justice systems in the Eastern Partnership countries and strengthen access to justice for victims of violence against women, through capacity building of legal professionals to implement gender-sensitive measures, and,
  • to raise awareness about the Istanbul Convention.
 How does the project work?

Through a combination of tailored policy/legislative, capacity-building regional activities and awareness raising actions.

 

 What do we expect to achieve?

A change in the Eastern Partnership countries’ policies and practices in order to ensure that the justice chain is gender responsive, particularly for women victims of violence in line with the Council of Europe and international standards.

 How to get more information?

The project is implemented by the Capacity Building and Co-operation Projects Unit at the Council of Europe’s Gender Equality Division:

 Marta BECERRA, Head of Unit

 Danko RUNIC, Project Manager

 Alla KRYTYSNKAIA, Project Assistant

 Partnership for Good Governance website and email address

 

 Publications and translations
  • Barriers, remedies and good practices on women’s access to justice in Azerbaijan ENG
  • Barriers, remedies and good practices on women’s access to justice in Georgia ENG
  • Barriers, remedies and good practices on women’s access to justice in the Republic of Moldova ENG
  • Barriers, remedies and good practices on women’s access to justice in Ukraine ENG
  • Study on the impact of Covid-19 on women’s access to justice ENG
 What is the budget of the action?

The total project budget is 1 000 000 Euros.

 What is the project duration?

The project runs from 1 March 2023 to 28 February 2026.

 Who benefits from the project?
  • general public
  • women and women victims of violence
  • judges, prosecutors, lawyers and civil society advocates
  • legal professionals dealing with cases of violence against women
 Project partners

The “Partnership for Good Governance” (PGG) is a joint initiative of the European Union and the Council of Europe for strengthening good governance in the Eastern Partnership region.1

PGG provides tailor-made support to Eastern Partnership countries to bring their legislation and practice closer to European standards in the fields of human rights, rule of law and democracy. It supports, in particular, Eastern Partnership countries’ domestic reforms to strengthen Justice, counter Economic Crime, promote equality and non-discrimination, advance women’s access to justice and combat violence against women.

1 While the Partnership for Good Governance does not include activities with the participation of the Belarusian authorities, activities may be organised with the representatives of Belarusian civil society and democratic forces as appropriate in line with the European Council Conclusions of February 2022 and the Decision of the Council of Europe Ministers’ Deputies of March 2022.