On the 10th anniversary of the Istanbul Convention, OSCE leaders stress its importance for progressing towards gender equality

STOCKHOLM/VIENNA/WARSAW, 11 May 2020 – Marking the 10th anniversary of the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, OSCE leaders today underlined the importance of this landmark treaty that provides legal standards so that women and girls can live their lives free from violence and abuse.

Also known as the Istanbul Convention, named after the city in which it opened for signature on 11 May 2011, the treaty is the most comprehensive international legal instrument setting out binding obligations to States to prevent and combat violence against women and girls.

The OSCE leaders call upon participating States that have not yet done so to give consideration to signing and ratifying the Istanbul Convention. The Covid-19 pandemic has brought in its wake a shadow pandemic of deteriorating gender inequality and domestic and other gender-based violence. The time for action is now, to take concrete steps to implement the Istanbul Convention and the commitments on gender equality by the OSCE participating States. Ultimately, this will save the lives of women and girls, the leaders stressed.

The Istanbul Convention, which is open to ratification by countries both inside and outside the Council of Europe region, has been ratified by 33 OSCE participating States and signed by 11. The European Union has also signed the Convention.

OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs Ann Linde, said that the Istanbul Convention provides a gold standard for combating violence against women and girls. “The 10th anniversary of the Istanbul Convention gives us a valuable opportunity to highlight the importance of the convention. We have seen that men’s violence against women and girls has increased during the pandemic, making the Istanbul Convention more relevant than ever. Gender equality is a main priority for the Swedish Chairpersonship and the participating States have committed to preventing and combating violence against women, as rooted in several OSCE commitments”.

OSCE Secretary General Helga Maria Schmid said: “The OSCE participating States have committed to preventing and combating all forms of violence against women and girls. The Istanbul Convention provides powerful standards and tools to improve legal frameworks and policies.”

“The adoption of the Istanbul Convention marked an important step in building a society free from violence against women and domestic violence”, said ODIHR Director Matteo Mecacci. “Research shows that during the Covid-19 pandemic, violence against women has spiked in many OSCE countries. Let’s mark this 10th anniversary by redoubling our efforts for women and girls to live their lives to the full, free of violence.”

OSCE participating States have committed to preventing and combating all forms of violence against women and girls. Three Ministerial Council (MC) Decisions have been adopted on this topic, in 2005, 2014 and 2018. The 2014 Ministerial Council Decision on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women calls on participating States to give consideration to the signature and ratification of the Istanbul Convention.