On 15-18 July 2024 a Ukrainian delegation visited Madrid Spain, representing a cross-section of stakeholders involved in addressing violence against women and responsible for gender equality policies in Ukraine. The aim of this study visit was to improve knowledge regarding implementation of the Istanbul Convention, as well as to learn more about successful strategies and programmes in Spain aimed at preventing and eliminating violence against women at national and local levels. Participants also familiarised themselves with multi-agency co-operation in Spain on combating violence against women and domestic violence, including the work of the Specialised Police Units, 24/7 Courts handling domestic violence cases and perpetrator programmes.
Participants in the capacity building visit included 12 representatives from the Ukrainian Office of the Government Commissioner for Gender Policy, the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine and National Police, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister on European and Euro- Atlantic Integration of Ukraine, the National Social Service of Ukraine and the Ombudsperson’s Office, as well as members of the Parliament of Ukraine and Ukrainian civil society organisations. The Ukrainian participants held a series of meetings with Spanish representatives from the Ministry of Equality, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Spanish Parliament, the Madrid Bar Association, and Spanish CSOs working to combat violence against women and gender equality.
During the visit, the Ukrainian delegation and Spanish colleagues also exchanged on the challenges of alignment of the national legislation on prevention and combating violence against women with the Istanbul Convention, in the context of recent changes to the provisions of the Law of Ukraine on equal rights and opportunities for men and women. These changes were based on the Spanish Organic Act 1/2004 of 28 December on Integrated Protection Measures against Gender Violence. The Spanish law was translated into Ukrainian by the CoE and is now publicly available to Ukrainian stakeholders.
This capacity building visit was organised with the support of the Council of Europe project "Combating Violence against Women in Ukraine – Phase II" (COVAW-II) in joint efforts with the UN Women Ukraine office.
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