The Council of Europe is working for equal rights and opportunities of women and men. Still in many areas women are facing discrimination. Full and equal participation of women in political and public life at all levels are still in most of the countries below the minimum target of 40%. Women and girls are disproportionately affected by sexist behavior.  Sexism constitutes a barrier to their empowerment. Women, especially some groups of women such as victims of gender-based violence, ethnic minority women and women with disabilities, are facing obstacles to access to justice. One of the most severe forms of violation of women’s rights is violence against women. The CoE Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (the Istanbul Convention) provides a comprehensive framework to tackle this serious human right violation.

Below are examples of our work to enhance women’s rights and contribute to gender equality in Ukraine:

• The project “Strengthening democracy and building trust at local level in Ukraine”, which is implemented by the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, in partnership with the Association of Ukrainian Cities (AUC)  through a number  of thematic events raised awareness of local elected representatives about the principles of equal rights and opportunities for women and men in political life. The project team and partners witness an increasing interest among local authorities in gender equality as an integral part of local policymaking. This is confirmed by the survey “Implementation of gender equality at the local level in Ukraine”, jointly conducted by the project and the AUC in March 2019. The results are quite optimistic: 92.3% of respondents correctly identified the nature of gender policies as equal opportunities for men and women. The project will further continue promoting the adoption of the European Charter for Equality of Women and Men in Local Life by local municipalities.
• The Leadership Academy training course for local authorities implemented by the project “Decentralisation and local government reform in Ukraine” includes specific module “Equal Opportunities and Gender Balance”. With the project support the special provisions on gender equality were included in the policy documents related to implementation of HRM and professional development of public servants in the framework of the reform of the National Training System. Following the last CoE  opinion poll, 16% of citizens believe that the gender of a mayor affects the quality of service provision in a municipality.
• Project "Promoting social human rights as a key factor of sustainable democracy in Ukraine" aiming at enhancement of social rights in Ukraine in line with European standards brings the European Social Charter to the attention of legislators developing the new draft Law on Employment. Elimination of pay gap, ensuring equal access to the parental leave and zero tolerance to the discrimination at the work place should become the objectives of the new legislation on employment discussed.
• Project "Human Rights Compliant Criminal Justice System in Ukraine" experts mentioned that the highest branch of the prosecution system in Ukraine is prevailed by men. For instance, there are no women among deputies to the Prosecutor General. At the level of heads of regional prosecutor’s offices, only one woman holds this position in Lviv region. While the results of attestation of prosecutors from the OPG show that among 610 prosecutors, who passed the tests, 150 were women, i.e. women constitute 25% of the total number of OPG prosecutors.
• “The Istanbul Convention: a tool to advance in fighting violence against women and domestic violence in Ukraine” project supports the necessary institutional mechanisms and multi-agency coordination; strengthens the knowledge and capacities of those in charge of supporting victims by training professionals. The enactment of the law on preventing and combating domestic violence in December 2017 was an important step in the fight against violence against women and domestic violence, however further efforts are necessary and therefore the ratification of the Istanbul Convention in Ukraine is crucial.
• To improve the situation of Roma women and to empower them the CoE has started Roma mediators program in Ukraine within the “Protecting national minorities, including Roma, and minority languages in Ukraine” project. Roma mediators have made great strides in addressing the poor health conditions found in Roma settlements; they have helped increase vaccination rates among Roma children and assisted to obtain identification. In 2013, Ukraine adopted the national “Strategy for the Protection and Integration of the Roma National Minority into Ukrainian Society until 2020”, however, this had limited impact on the situation of Roma women and men. Therefore, the CoE strongly recommends that the post-2020 Roma Strategy includes gender-sensitive objectives.
• “EU and Council of Europe working together to support freedom of media in Ukraine” project experts say that according to the independent public monitoring of media coverage of the Parliamentary and Presidential election campaigns in Ukraine in 2019, men were given overwhelmingly more prime time - 80% on the national TV channels compared to women - only 11%; only in 9% of women’s opinions were present in online media’s news reports, whereas 91% of the news items featured male speakers. Based on the results of media monitoring a set of recommendations for mass media outlets on ensuring gender equality were produced and widely disseminated.
• “Internal displacement in Ukraine: building solutions” project promotes women’s active participation and contribution in its actions. Currently, women constitute around 65% of participants in project activities. The project continuously promotes first-hand expertise and recommendations of women IDPs at local and national level. Women, including women-IDPs, represent 80% of national experts of the project.