Ireland signs Istanbul Convention

Published: Thursday, November 05, 2015

After a long campaign by the National Women's Council of Ireland, our members and women throughout the country, Ireland has finally signed the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, also known as Istanbul Convention.

It is the first legally binding instrument, widely acknowledged as the blueprint for best practice, and it is a unique opportunity for Ireland to change its abysmal track record on violence against women.

The Istanbul Convention provides the potential to strengthen the focus on perpetrators as it crucially tackles the issue of prosecution, ensuring that all forms of violence against women are criminalised and appropriately punished. The Convention places an obligation on Ireland to ensure that the Gardai respond immediately to calls for assistance and that all victims have access to special protection measures during investigation and judicial proceedings. And the Convention deals with prevention, requiring Ireland to put in place policies to change attitudes, gender roles and stereotypes.

NWCI has called on the Irish government to work towards its speedy ratification.