“I would like to recall to each and everyone of us that during the two hours of this event there will be thousands of women beaten. As we sit here, women will even be beaten to death. And we are not talking just about some cases, but about thousands and thousands of acts of violence. Just think about it”, PACE President Rik Daems said at the opening of an event organised during the PACE 2021 Summer Plenary Session to mark the 10th anniversary of the Council of Europe Istanbul Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence.
“The Council of Europe brought global attention to the issue of gender-based violence by passing the Istanbul Convention. You cannot now look away from what you correctly identified as one of the most dangerous and pervasive human rights violations”, said Nadia Murad, Human Rights activist and winner of the Council of Europe Vaclav Havel Prize 2016 and the Nobel Peace Prize 2018. “The gravity of this issue demands that it be addressed at every level: in international bodies such as this, in your national governments, and in our communities”, she added.
