"Italian Senate ratification of theConvention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul Convention), is an act of primary importance for the Council of Europe, given the sensitivity of the topic and the recent atrocious episodes of violence against women in Italy," said in Strasbourg Deputy Secretary General Gabriella Battaini Dragoni. The bill ratifying and implementing this Council of Europe Convention, already approved by the Chamber of Deputies, was voted yesterday unanimously.

"I have closely followed the legislative process at Palazzo Madama, and I welcome the fact that Italy approved a text so relevant to the European and international case law. I also would like to thank the Italian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly for its support for this initiative. We look forward to the visit of the Minister for Equal Opportunities, Josefa Idem, at the beginning of July in Strasbourg, for the official ceremony of ratification and for a broad discussion of those issues that have seen Italy at the forefront internationally," underlined Gabriella Battaini Dragoni.

Italy is the fifth country in the Council of Europe to ratify the Istanbul Convention. The legal text was signed in Strasbourg on 27th September 2012 by the former Italian Minister for Equal Opportunities, Elsa Fornero. Albania, Montenegro, Portugal and Turkey have ratified the International Convention already signed by 30 countries.

This far reaching international treaty aims at achieving the goal of zero tolerance for this kind of human rights violation and constitutes a significant step forward for further awareness against this kind of crime. Preventing violence, protecting its victims and prosecuting the perpetrators are the cornerstones of the Convention.

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Italy and the Council of Europe