“It’s good news that Norway has now ratified the Istanbul Convention of the Council of Europe. More and more countries realise the need for legally binding standards to help states put an end to the scourge of violence against women, and to commit themselves to co-operating with our monitoring mechanism,” said Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland.
Norway is the 24th state to ratify the Council of Europe’s unique, legally binding treaty that criminalises all forms of violence against women, called the Istanbul Convention because that is where it was first opened for signature.
The Istanbul Convention provides for an independent expert body – the Group of Experts on Action against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (GREVIO) – to monitor compliance of all Contracting Parties with the Convention. It carries out this task in a spirit of dialogue and co-operation with the Contracting Party concerned.
GREVIO currently has 10 members, but 25 ratifications would expand membership to 15. Norway’s ratification, which enters into force on 1 November this year, reflects the growing success of the Convention, as more states commit themselves not only to end violence against women, but also to co-operate with GREVIO.
“We must have zero tolerance for violence against women, and Europe should lead the way in combatting it”, the Secretary General added.
