Violence against women and girls is a rising phenomenon that knows no geographical boundary, age limit or colour bar. It can take many forms, including domestic or online violence. Statistics not only show that 12% to 15% of women in Europe face domestic violence every day but, according to a Plan International survey from 2020, 58% of girls have experienced online harassment and 50% experience more online harassment than street harassment. With the multiplication of social media platforms and digital places where such harassment can be facilitated, these numbers are threatening to increase in the coming years.
Since the 1990s, the Council of Europe has actively promoted the protection of women and girls from gender-based violence, namely by adopting a Recommendation (2002)5 on the protection of women against violence and by running a Europe-wide campaign on violence against women, including domestic violence in 2006-2008.
The Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, otherwise known as the Istanbul Convention, is the most far-reaching international treaty to tackle this serious violation of human rights. Coupled with the Budapest Convention, it can be particularly relevant to address online and technology-facilitated violence against women.
The International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women will also mark the launch of the UNiTE campaign (Nov 25- Dec 10) managed by UN Women, an initiative of 16 days of activism. This campaign Invest to Prevent Violence against Women & Girls will call on citizens to show how much they care about ending violence against women and girls and call on governments worldwide to share how they are investing in gender-based violence prevention.
On the occasion of this international day, Dominique Hasler, President of the Committee of Ministers and Marija Pejčinović Burić, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, “call on all Council of Europe member states which have not yet done so, and other interested states outside Europe, to join our treaty and our efforts to end violence against women.”
- Go to our Violence against women homepage
- Read the full statement by Dominique Hasler and Marija Pejčinović Burić
- International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women | United Nations
- How the Council of Europe tackles online violence against women through the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime and the Istanbul Convention - Cybercrime (coe.int)
- Violence against Women Division of the Council of Europe
- GREVIO’s General Recommendation No. 1 on the digital dimension of violence against women
- Istanbul Convention on violence against women
- Budapest Convention on cybercrime