General information about the Istanbul Convention 

• Leaflet on the Istanbul Convention
• General Leaflet on the monitoring mechanism
• A global tool to prevent and combat violence against women
• Questions and answers on the Istanbul Convention

The Istanbul Convention in practice: GREVIO’s perspective 

• Horizontal review of all available GREVIO baseline evaluation reports
• GREVIO’s 1st Report on General Activities
• GREVIO’s 2nd Report on General Activities
• GREVIO’s written observations submitted to the European Court of Human Rights in connection with the case of Kurt v. Austria (Application no. 62903/15)

A collection of papers explaining the provisions of the Istanbul Convention:

• Ensuring data collection and research: Article 11 of the Istanbul Convention (2016)
• Prevention of violence against women: Article 12 of the Istanbul Convention
• Raising awareness of violence against women : Article 13 of the Istanbul Convention
• Domestic and sexual violence perpetrator programmes: Article 16 of the Istanbul Convention
• Encouraging the participation of the private sector and the media in the prevention of violence against women and domestic violence : Article 17 of the Istanbul Convention
• Emergency barring orders in situations of domestic violence: Article 52
• Gender-based asylum claims and non-refoulement: Articles 60 and 61 of the Istanbul Convention

Main Statements and Declarations from the Istanbul Convention monitoring mechanism 

• Statements made by the President of GREVIO
  • «For many women and children, the home is not a safe place,” statement published on 26 March 2020, calling on Parties to the Convention to uphold its standards during the COVID-19 pandemic."
  • «The Istanbul Convention is a lifeline for women and girls and an essential component of the human rights framework in Europe,” statement published on 12 April 2021."
• Declarations of the Committee of the Parties : Declaration of the Committee of the Parties on the implementation of the Istanbul Convention during the Covid19 pandemic

Select documents from other Council of Europe bodies:

• The Venice Commission’s Opinion on the Constitutional Implications of the Ratification of the Istanbul Convention by Armenia (CDL-AD(2019)018-e), 11-12 October 2019

  This opinion aims to assist the Armenian Constitutional Court by providing an external legal analysis of the Istanbul Convention and by contributing to the public debate on its ratification. It concludes that no provisions of the Istanbul Convention can be considered contradictory to the Constitution of Armenia. Its assessment offers useful clarifications of the legal concerns raised in discussion that emerged in other member states of the Council of Europe.

•  The Council of Europe Committee of Ministers Recommendation CM/Rec(2019)1 on preventing and combating sexism, adopted on 27 March 2019.

  This recommendation represents a great tool for states parties seeking detailed guidance on how to implement Article 12 of the Istanbul Convention (General obligations in the area of prevention).

• The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe Resolution “The Istanbul Convention on violence against women: achievements and challenges” (Res. 2289), adopted in June 2019
•  The Council of Europe Gender Equality Strategy (2018-2023), adopted on 7 March 2018

  The Gender Equality Strategy sets out “preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence” as one of its main objectives, including the promotion of the ratification and implementation of the Istanbul Convention within and beyond Europe.

• Some judgements from the European Court of Human Rights referring to the Istanbul Convention: Bălșan v. Romania (No. 49645/09), Talpis v. Italy (No. 41237/14), Z.B. v. Croatia (No. 60561/14), Halime Kilic v. Turkey (No. 63034/11), Civek v. Turkey (No. 55354/11), M.G.C v. Romania (No. 61495/11), Y. v. Slovenia (No. 41107/10), Buturugă v. Romania (No. 56867/15), Kurt v. Austria (No. 62903/15), Mraović v. Croatia (No. 30373/13), Levchuk v. Ukraine (No. 17496/19), Tërshana v. Albania (No. 48756/14), Association Innocence en Danger et Association Enfance et Partage v. France (No. 15343/15 16806/15), Z v. Bulgaria (No. 39257/17), E.B. v. Romania (No. 49089/10).