The Istanbul Convention is a legal document that was presented by the Council of Europe in 2011. The convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence came into force in 2014 and was ratified by 18 member states and signed by 19 thus far. However EU countries such as the Czech Republic, Bulgaria and Ireland are still not on the list. The Czech government argues that before the ratification of the Istanbul Convention, the Czech legal system needs to be adjusted accordingly. The legislation analysis was promised to be done at the end of 2014 but was further prolonged to June 2015. We can expect updates very soon.
A number of organisations have been calling for action in Europe and have organised events to support the Convention as an international standard. For instance, in the Czech Republic, International Women’s Day 2015 was dedicated to the #ZaIstanbul campaign (#ForIstanbul). Also the participants of an international conference titled “Europe without gender-based violence: from commitments to action,” which took place in Prague in May 2015, issued a joint call for European countries to sign, ratify and implement the Convention.
Read the full Feminist Talk in GenderIT.org .