Violence against women: Europe must become a zone of zero tolerance

On the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, 25 November 2015, Thorbjørn Jagland, Secretary General of the Council of Europe issued the following statement:

“Violence against women and girls remains one of the most serious – and sadly most tolerated – human-rights violations worldwide.

No magic bullet exists to solve this problem, but I call on all 47 of our member states to adopt our award-winning Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence.

This international legal treaty remains the first and only one to criminalise all forms of violence against women – physical, sexual and psychological. It obliges states that have fully adopted it to protect victims and prosecute perpetrators.

Since last year, we have set up an independent expert group – GREVIO – to monitor implementation of our convention by states that are parties to it.

With 20 signatures and 19 ratifications so far, I call on those states that have neither signed nor ratified this treaty to do so without delay:

Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Moldova and the Russian Federation.

It is time to join your neighbours, so that Europe has a real, zero-tolerance response to violence against women.”

Source : Council of Europe