On 20 to 22 September 2017, former Chief Superintendent of London Police, Anthony Wills, and Bristol University Professor, Marianne Hester, conducted a fact finding mission to meet relevant stakeholders dealing with policing of cases of violence against women and support services, including shelters, for women. The two international experts were accompanied by the managers of the Council of Europe project “Combating violence against women and children in Ukraine”.

The Council of Europe project team and the international experts met with several NGOs, the National Academy of Police of Ukraine and international organisations (UNFPA, OSCE, EU). They also had the opportunity to discuss the applicable legal and policy framework of Ukraine in the area of violence against women with senior representatives of the Ministry of Social Policy and the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

The project “Combating violence against women and children in Ukraine” aims at strengthening protection for women and children against all forms of violence in line with the Council of Europe and international standards, notably, the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, known as the Istanbul Convention, and the Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse, known as the Lanzarote Convention.