On the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, 25 November 2015, Thorbjørn Jagland, Secretary General of the Council of Europe issued the following statement:

“Violence against women and girls remains one of the most serious – and sadly most tolerated – human-rights violations worldwide.

No magic bullet exists to solve this problem, but I call on all 47 of our member states to adopt our award-winning Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence.

This international legal treaty remains the first and only one to criminalise all forms of violence against women – physical, sexual and psychological. It obliges states that have fully adopted it to protect victims and prosecute perpetrators.

Since last year, we have set up an independent expert group – GREVIO – to monitor implementation of our convention by states that are parties to it.

With 20 signatures and 19 ratifications so far, I call on those states that have neither signed nor ratified this treaty to do so without delay:

Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Moldova and the Russian Federation.

It is time to join your neighbours, so that Europe has a real, zero-tolerance response to violence against women.”

• Press release
• Speech by Thorbjørn Jagland
• Interview with Liri Kopaci
• Interview with Feride Acar
• Interview with Dubravka Simonovic
• Interview with Sergiy Kyslytsya and Kira Appel

See also:
25 November - International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women