Partnerships and Networks
The Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul Convention) offers a legal framework to respond effectively to all forms of violence on the basis of integrated policies, to be implemented in a co-ordinated manner.
In addition to the baseline and thematic evaluation of parties to the convention, the Violence against Women Division organises various activities aimed at enhancing knowledge-sharing, networking and the building of partnerships. These include regular meetings of the national co-ordinating bodies set up under Article 10 of the Istanbul Convention and the organisation of round tables in follow-up to the GREVIO findings and Committee of the Parties’ recommendations. It also includes support for and GREVIO’s representation in the End Discrimination and Violence against Women Platform (EDVAW Platform). The most recent initiative to build partnerships is the setting up of a network of specialised lawyers and NGOs assisting victims of violence against women in support of those wishing to pursue strategic litigation in the area of violence against women.
Official co-ordinating bodies
By virtue of the Istanbul Convention, parties are required to set up or designate one or more official body with the responsibility of ensuring the convention's implementation at national level. This entails co-ordinating any existing or new national policies and measures to combat violence against women, implementing such measures, and ensuring their monitoring and evaluation at national level to assess any positive and negative outcomes.
EDVAW Platform
The EDVAW Platform enables GREVIO to exchange directly with other regional and global monitoring mechanisms mandated to assess the level of implementation of key women’s rights treaties. This partnership at international level fosters synergies and helps to identify challenges in the protection of women’s rights, in particular in the area of preventing and combating violence against women, that are common to all regions of the world.
Round tables
The purpose of round tables in follow-up to GREVIO’s evaluation procedure is to support the implementation, at national level, of the findings made by GREVIO in its baseline evaluation and the recommendations of the Committee of the Parties. These meetings bring together public actors from all relevant sectors, as well as NGOs and intergovernmental organisations, in order to create national synergies and therefore boost national initiatives for an advanced implementation of the Istanbul Convention.
Network of specialised lawyers and NGO
As the most recent initiative to promote networking and partnerships, the Network of specialised lawyers and NGOs assisting victims of violence against women was set up in order to support lawyers in Europe in strategic litigation on cases related to the vast field of violence against women. It allows for the sharing of experiences and legal strategies, capacity-building and knowledge-sharing, as well as the building of partnerships and networking.