Charity Call For Action On Violence Against Women

Scottish Women's Aid joins calls for UK Government to ratify the Istanbul Convention on violence against women.

Scottish Women's Aid joins calls for UK Government to ratify the Istanbul Convention on violence against women.
 
David Cameron must take action to ratify a European convention to end violence against women, Scotland's leading organisation to tackle domestic abuse has said.
 
Scottish Women's Aid has joined calls for the UK government to ratify the Istanbul convention – the “gold standard” legal framework for tackling violence against women across Europe.
 
The Istanbul Convention, or The Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, places an obligation on the state to prevent violence against women, protect its victims and prosecute the perpetrators.
 
It is the first European treaty specifically targeting violence against women and domestic violence and sets out minimum standards on prevention, protection and prosecution of violence against women and domestic abuse.
 
The Convention was adopted in Istanbul by the 47 Council of Europe Member States in May 2011, and has since been ratified by 18 countries, including Turkey, Austria, Denmark, France, Italy and Spain.
 
The UK signed the convention in 2012, but without ratification by the Westminster Parliament the Convention has no legal status in the UK.  Ratification means politicians would be legally bound to comply with its provisions.

Scottish Women's Aid Chief Executive, Dr Marsha Scott, said:

“Scottish Women’s Aid is proud to support ICchange and the objectives contained within the Istanbul convention.
 
We know that, despite great steps forward being taken in Scotland and the rest of the UK, too little has changed too slowly in the real lives of too few women and children experiencing domestic abuse and other forms of violence against women. Istanbul helps us make our commitments a reality and maps readily on Scotland’s new Equally Safe strategy on violence against women
 
Last week the Scottish Government announced a package of measures to tackle domestic abuse in Scotland, and these are very welcome.
 
But without ratifying the convention, the UK Government is under no legal obligation to take action to end violence against women.''