The 2016 annual report on the implementation of the Council of Europe Gender Equality Strategy 2014-2017, the guiding policy framework aimed at realising real equality between women and men in the Council of Europe member states, was published on 2 February 2017. The report refers to a number of challenges for the advancement of gender equality in our member states and beyond, including the difficulty of ensuring that certain disadvantaged groups of women, such as migrant and asylum-seeking women, benefit from Europe’s gender equality policies and relevant standards.  The report, adopted by the CoE’s Gender Equality Commission in November 2016, recognises that the rights and needs of women refugees and asylum seekers need to be protected and addressed, including their safety and protection against violence.