“All women and girls have the right to live free from violence. Unfortunately, this is not the reality. One in three women has experienced physical or sexual violence – 22% at the hands of their partner. More than half of all women have been sexually harassed with 20% of young women reporting online sexual harassment” , said today Dunja Mijatović, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, ahead of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

In her statement the Commissioner highlights the importance of the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (“Istanbul Convention”) as the most comprehensive and far-reaching international treaty to address violence against women laying out state obligations to prevent violence, protect victims and prosecute the perpetrators.

“We should aim for the ratification by all 47 member states of the Council of Europe. Scaling up our response to persisting violence against women is necessary. However, I am aware of growing efforts to sow confusion and spread false narratives about the Istanbul Convention to obstruct its ratification. The protagonists often focus on criticising the concept of “gender” and claim that the use of such a term in the Convention would lead to the “destruction of the family” or the “end of traditional values”. In reality, these attacks tend to reject gender equality itself and are aimed at reinforcing harmful stereotypes about women’s and men’s lives. They ignore the diversity of people’s real life situations and attempt to legitimate pervasive discrimination and justify or condone violence against women. Such deliberate misconceptions must be refuted.”

Read the full statement by the Commissioner here