On May 14, 2021, upon the joint initiative of Ms Olga Stefanishyna, Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine, and the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine, a Round Table (on-line format) dedicated to the 10th anniversary of the Council of Europe's Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (the Istanbul Convention) “Why ratification is important for Ukraine?” was held.
Participants of the event discussed the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women, promotion of real equality between women and men, the importance of Ukraine's ratification of the Istanbul Convention and how effective results in combating violence against women and domestic violence can be achieved.
Mr Steen Nørlov, Head of the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine, moderator of the round table, emphasised that the Council of Europe is holding a number of events dedicated to the 10th anniversary of the Istanbul Convention including an on-line international conference of the Council of Europe “Gender Equality and the Istanbul Convention: Decades in Action”. “The Council of Europe recognises that gender inequality is a root cause of violence against women and domestic violence. The Council of Europe Convention on Prevention of Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, better known as the Istanbul Convention, is the first legally binding instrument to establish structural links between violence against women and gender inequality,” said Mr Steen Nørlov.
According to the Head of the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine, it is essential to remember that violence against women is a violation of human rights: “The Convention is also an important tool for upholding human rights, which benefits society as a whole. The Council of Europe Office in Ukraine is taking steps to support important gender initiatives in Ukraine. In particular, we are implementing the Council of Europe project “Combatting Violence against Women in Ukraine”. By holding a round table, we want not only to mark the 10th anniversary of the opening of the Istanbul Convention but also to note the importance of this convention in Ukraine,” said Mr Steen Nørlov.
Mr Bjorn Berge, Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe, noted Ukraine's legislative innovations to protect women from violence and said: “While national efforts should always be welcome, there is no substitute for a multilateral approach to what remains an appalling and universal problem. We face it all over Europe. At its core, violence against women is a fundamental human rights issue. The case for ratifying the Istanbul Convention rests on three unique factors. The standards that it sets out for the protection of women are higher than national laws in many countries, including Ukraine.”
The Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe stressed that the Istanbul Convention is the most powerful tool for the protection of women and fight against domestic violence, and cooperation with Ukraine is crucial: “As a multilateral initiative to safeguard women, there is simply nothing like the Istanbul Treaty. I am very pleased that various co-operation activities are ongoing between the Council of Europe and Ukrainian authorities and that these have sought to raise awareness and understanding of the Istanbul Convention, including the ongoing project “Combatting Violence against Women in Ukraine”. Certainly, it is our hope that Ukraine will be one of the next member states to join this landmark Convention, in the interests of all its citizens. And the Council of Europe will be there to support you in taking and implementing this important step.”
During the event, Ms Olga Stefanishyna, Deputy Prime Minister stressed the importance of a broad public debate on the ratification of the Convention, which intensifies further cooperation of all institutions to combat domestic violence.
“We must not succumb to provocations and manipulation. We need to dispel the myths about the Istanbul Convention, because its ratification is an important step toward European integration that harmonises national approaches and policies with the practices of the most successful countries in Europe. I am confident that ratification of the Convention will strengthen the legal protection of victims and their access to justice. And, most importantly, it will protect Ukrainian citizens who have suffered from violence, not only in Ukraine but also abroad,” said the Deputy Prime Minister.
Ms Olena Kondratyuk, Deputy Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine stressed that the parliamentary leadership is ready to support consideration of the ratification of the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence as soon as the official text of the document is submitted to the Verkhovna Rada.
“I want to emphasise that for Ukraine this Convention is not something foreign and incomprehensible, because our state was directly involved in its development. Therefore, the ratification of this document is in fact the fulfillment of the promises we made to ourselves as a country moving towards Europe,” Ms Olena Kondratyuk said.
Ms Anka Feldhusen, Ambassador of Germany to Ukraine, representative of the country-chair in the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, emphasised that the Istanbul Convention is one of the most important issues for Germany's Chairmanship in the Committee of Ministers. According to her, violence is not a family tradition, and the Istanbul Convention needs to be ratified to stop the growing number of domestic violence cases.
Ms Iryna Venediktova, the Prosecutor General, informed event participants that the bill on ratification of the Istanbul Convention was submitted to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine in 2016 but did not receive the required number of votes. “Five years have passed, the legislation has changed, but the statistical information on the activities of the prosecutor's office and law enforcement agencies, the real life stories behind it, are eloquent arguments as to why the Istanbul Convention should be ratified,” the Prosecutor General said.
“I have signed the official position of the Office of the Prosecutor General that there are no obstacles to the ratification process of the Istanbul Convention, the importance of which is difficult to overestimate and which is designed to protect everyone from domestic and gender-based violence. The slogan of the Istanbul Convention, “Free from fear, free from violence” must become a reality for Ukraine,” Ms Iryna Venediktova stressed.
Three weeks ago, the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine sent a revised draft law on ratification of the Istanbul Convention to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in turn, submitted the draft to the President of Ukraine. This was announced during the round table by Ms Maryna Lazebna, Minister of Social Policy of Ukraine. “Now more than ever, Ukraine needs maximum consolidation of efforts and a deep understanding of the problem of domestic violence and ways to solve it by all relevant structures and organisations - from heads of central and local executive bodies to heads of local communities, from MPs to civil society. We have a common vision of public policy in this direction, and now it is necessary to finally fix it at the legislative level and ensure quality implementation. Therefore, I hope for the ratification of the Istanbul Convention in the near future, as this Convention is about the rights of everyone, about their protection and dignity”, said Ms Maryna Lazebna.
Ms Maryna Honda, Deputy Head of the Kyiv State Administration for Self-Government, stressed that the need to ratify the Istanbul Convention is obvious and urgent, and build an effective communication system between government and local authorities to prevent domestic violence and provide timely assistance and help to the victims: “Currently, the issue of prevention of domestic violence arises for cities, villages and settlements. And what does that mean? It means that we have to communicate on the ground with many services – social services, children's affairs, the Department of Health, Education, where there is bullying, coordinate secondary legal aid, police and other structures that work according to their norms and standards”. Ms Maryna Honda said that the city of Kyiv has approved the City Target Program “Prevention and Counteraction to Domestic and Gender-Based Violence for 2022-2024”. The program will become a normative document that will define and consolidate the powers of the responsible structural units. In general, the program will regulate the further development of the system of counteraction and prevention of domestic violence in Kyiv.
Ms Maria Mezentseva, Deputy Chairperson of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Ukraine’s Integration to the EU, head of the Ukrainian delegation to the PACE, emphasized that ratification of the Istanbul Convention is a strategically important task for parliamentarians and for this purpose MPs, representatives of central state executive bodies and society need to unite. On behalf of the Ukrainian delegation to the PACE, Maria Mezentseva thanked the Council of Europe for its expert and methodological support and training for MPs.
Mr Steen Nørlov, Head of the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine, summed up the round table, noting that the Istanbul Convention is needed now because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the increase in violence against women more than ever: “We hope that the Сonvention will be ratified soon. It will assist Ukraine in combating violence against women in all its forms, provide the necessary tools to prevent violence, protect its victims and bring the perpetrators to justice”.
The speakers of the round table were also: Mr Victor Ivankevych, Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights; Ms Maryna Bardina, Deputy Chairperson of the Committee, Chairperson of the Sub-committee on Ukraine’s Compliance with International Commitments in Human Rights Protection and Gender Policy of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Committee; Ms Kateryna Pavlichenko, Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine; Ms Osnat Lubrani, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator; Ms Kateryna Levchenko, Government Commissioner on Gender Policy; Ms Valeria Kolomiets, Deputy Minister of Justice on European Integration; Mr Andriy Vitrenko, Deputy Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine; Mr Tobias Thyberg, Ambassador of Sweden to Ukraine; Ms Kateryna Cherepakha, President of NGO La Strada.
More than 120 representatives of central and local authorities of Ukraine, the Council of Europe, international organizations, non-governmental organizations and the media attended the round table.
