The Council of Europe works in partnership with the EEA and Norway Grants Financial Mechanism under Programme Area 22 – domestic and gender-based violence. 

Co-operation through EEA/Norway Grants builds on the extensive expertise of the Council of Europe and its human rights standards on gender equality and violence against women and domestic violence and, in particular, the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul Convention).

Within the current EEA and Norway Grants cycle 2014-2021, the Council of Europe provides strategic advice through programmes on domestic and gender-based violence in the following countries:

Bulgaria

Lithuania

Romania

Slovakia

Co-operation activities under this programme aim at bringing about substantive changes on the ground in benefit of victims and building up and strengthening the countries’ capacity to prevent and combat violence against women and domestic violence.

The Council of Europe also plays an active role in the EEA/Norway Grants’ SYNERGY Network against gender based and domestic violence. The SYNERGY Network brings together governmental and non-governmental organisations from 16 European countries. It provides a platform of expertise sharing on how the Grants impact policies on violence against women and domestic violence in Europe in line with the Council of Europe’s Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul Convention).

Improving the effectiveness of law-enforcement and justice officers in combating violence against women and domestic violence

Enhancing the professional capacity of the Bulgarian Police to deal with cases of domestic violence and violence against women

Implementing Article 10 of the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence – establishing national co-ordinating bodies

Implementing a comprehensive and co-ordinated approach - An assessment of Poland's response to prevent and combat gender-based violence

Training of Trainers Manual : Effective Multi-agency Co-operation for Preventing and Combatting Domestic Violence

Preventing and Combating Domestic Violence against Women : A learning resource for training law enforcement and justice officers

The Capacity Building and Co-operation Projects Unit at the Council of Europe’s Gender Equality Division

Jenna SHEARER-DEMIR, Programme Adviser