On June 18, the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyi, submitted to the Verkhovna Rada a draft law on the ratification of the Council of Europe Convention on the Prevention of Domestic Violence, also known as the Istanbul Convention.
In 2020 and 2021, the UNP EaP CSF appealed to the deputies of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine regarding the ratification of the Istanbul Convention.
June 19, 2022
OPEN APPEAL
to deputies of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on ratification of the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, or the Istanbul Convention
We, the Ukrainian National Platform of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum, appeal to the deputies of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine to immediately ratify the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (hereinafter – the Istanbul Convention) and to introduce international standards for preventing and combating violence on women and domestic and gender-based violence.
It is important to note that Ukraine was directly involved in the development of the Istanbul Convention and signed it in 2011. Almost ten years have passed, but our country has not yet ratified it.
We call on you to immediately ratify the Istanbul Convention of the Council of Europe on the prevention of violence against women and domestic violence, which is the result of many years of gradual and fundamental work by the European community towards the recognition of violence and develop ways to overcome it.
Ratification of the Istanbul Convention promotes an integrated approach to combating violence against women and domestic violence and significantly complements existing instruments, proposes new definitions of terms, and strengthens the protection against gender discrimination. The need to ratify the Istanbul Convention is due to the approximation of current legislation of Ukraine to the legislation of the European Union, as well as related to Ukraine’s human rights obligations to the Council of Europe.
The Ukrainian National Platform of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum appeals to the deputies of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine to immediately ratify the Istanbul Convention and introduce into Ukrainian legislation international standards for preventing and combating violence against women and domestic and gender-based violence.
Reference information:
The Ukrainian National Platform of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum (UNP) is a network of more than 140 non-governmental organizations in Ukraine, established in 2011, which defends Ukrainian interests within the Eastern Partnership. The platform is part of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum, representatives of civil society associations from Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova, Belarus, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and the EU. The forum helps civil society associations in the Eastern Partnership region to advocate for issues important to their countries at the EU level, promotes analytical advocacy and exchange of experience between civil society organizations in the region, and publicly monitors the implementation of the Eastern Partnership goals.
