Istanbul Convention. Questions and Answers
13 December 2019
Violence against women is a structural and global phenomenon that does not know social, economic or national boundaries. It is a serious human rights violation, which remains largely unsanctioned. In 2011, the Council of Europe adopted the Convention on the Prevention and Combating of Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (Istanbul Convention).
The convention does not seek to "eliminate the differences" between men and women, or to suggest that men and women are, or should be, "the same." However, the Convention calls for measures to disprove the idea that women are inferior to men. Prejudices, stereotypes, customs and traditions still favor men in many situations. All this hinders women's efforts to disclose and report cases of violence and to achieve respect of their rights.
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