Council of Europe Secretary General Alain Berset made the following statement marking International Women’s Day:
Recent headlines feature women every day. The sex-trafficking ring at the centre of the Epstein files. The rape and abuse of Gisèle Pelicot by scores of men. The use of AI to create pornographic images of women and girls, without their consent.
Some people ignore these headlines, burying their heads in the sand. Some say gender equality has “gone too far”. Some do not bother to hide their opinion that women should “know their place”.
But worldwide, a woman is killed by someone she knows every 10 minutes. In Europe, one woman in three faces partner violence. One in six experiences sexual violence. And these are just the reported cases.
I do not believe in a world where a woman’s place is one of limited rights and unlimited fear.
The Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul Convention) exists to strengthen our collective framework for action. In the 12 years since it came into force, it has made a genuine difference across Europe.
Yet the world is changing rapidly. Great leaps in technology have accelerated the deliberate online targeting of women in politics and leadership roles. Often featuring threats of rape and murder or other forms of digital violence, these have forced some women out of office and discouraged others, particularly younger women, from running. And the statistics on femicide and domestic violence remain far too high across Europe.
Member states need to work together to ensure women’s safety and ability to participate fully in our democracies. The standards set by the Istanbul Convention are only effective when member states commit to its principles, implementation and enforcement.
But not all member states have ratified the Istanbul Convention, and others consider leaving.
To do so is to fail, not fifty per cent of Europe’s population, but all of it. Women’s voices are crucial to public life, to strengthening democracy and to ensuring its secure foundations of human rights and the rule of law.
On International Women’s Day, we commemorate the progress of women’s rights. We celebrate the determination, achievement and resilience of women in Europe and beyond. But we must also double-down on our standards and intensify our work for a wholly inclusive Europe, so that our headlines are no longer about women victims, but highlight, without comment on gender, their leadership in equal numbers in every sphere.
The Istanbul Convention, which helps protect women in Europe against domestic violence
Secretary General Alain Berset
