The Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (CETS No. 210) is the first legally binding instrument to address violence against women and domestic violence in Europe. It contains a wide range of obligations aiming to prevent violence, protect its victims, prosecute the perpetrators, implement coordinated policies and promote international co-operation. It also envisages a monitoring mechanism. The convention recognizes violence against women as a violation of human rights and is a major step forward in achieving gender equality in law and in fact.

The book places the Istanbul Convention in context with regard to developments relating to domestic violence as a human rights issue. The background to the adoption of the Convention is examined, and the text of this instrument is analysed in detail. Comparative analysis is engaged in with reference to the duties that have been placed on states by other bodies such as the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and the European Court of Human Rights.

"Violence against women undermines women's core fundamental rights such as dignity, access to justice and gender equality. For example, one in three women has experienced physical and/or sexual violence since the age of 15; one in five women has experienced stalking; every second woman has been confronted with one or more forms of sexual harassment. What emerges is a picture of extensive abuse that affects many women's lives but is systematically underreported to the authorities. The scale of violence against women is therefore not reflected by official data. This FRA survey is the first of its kind on violence against women across the 28 Member States of the European Union (EU). It is based on interviews with 42,000 women across the EU, who were asked about their experiences of physical, sexual and psychological violence, including incidents of intimate partner violence ('domestic violence'). The survey also included questions on stalking, sexual harassment, and the role played by new technologies in women's experiences of abuse. In addition, it asked about their experiences of violence in childhood. Based on the detailed findings, FRA suggests courses of action in different areas that are touched by violence against women and go beyond the narrow confines of criminal law, ranging from employment and health to the medium of new technologies."--Editor.

This guide, produced jointly by Amnesty International and the Council of Europe, aims at helping design policies and measures to better address female genital mutilation and to pave the way for change. It is based on the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (also known as the Istanbul Convention), which entered into force in August 2014. The Istanbul Convention is the first treaty to recognise that female genital mutilation exists in Europe and that it needs to be systematically addressed (Article 38 of the Convention). It requires states parties to step up preventive measures by addressing affected communities, as well as the general public and relevant professionals. It entails obligations to offer protection and support when women and girls at risk need it most – and makes sure that their needs and their safety always come first.

This book theoretically explores intersectionality within human rights norms on violence against women and the derived duties for States.

This Commentary provides the first comprehensive analysis of the Council of Europe (CoE) Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (the Istanbul Convention). It offers a complete article-by-article guide to the Convention with reference to the explanatory report, the findings of the monitoring body (GREVIO) and relevant State practice.

This book examines opposition to the Council of Europe’s Istanbul Convention and its consequences for the politics of violence against women in four countries of Central and Eastern Europe. Krizsán and Roggeband discuss why and how successful anti-gender mobilizations managed to obstruct ratification of the Convention or push for withdrawal from it. They show how resistance to the Convention significantly redraws debates on violence against women and has consequences for policies, women’s rights advocacy, and gender-equal democracy.