During April 2022, The Platform for Gender Equality submitted a Shadow Report to the independent expert body of the Council of Europe – GREVIO, which is responsible for monitoring the implementation of the Istanbul Convention. The National Network Against Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence provided input to this Report.
The main recommendations of the report are aimed at revising the National Action Plan for the Implementation of the Istanbul Convention (2018-2023) for the activities that have not been implemented or have been partially implemented, as well as harmonizing the national legislation with the Convention, especially the Criminal Code in introduction of new crimes such as stalking, psychological violence, female genital mutilation, forced marriage, forced abortion and forced sterilization, sexual harassment, as well as the concept of consent in relation to the crime of “rape”. Additionally, harmonization of the Law on free legal aid is needed according to all forms of gender-based violence, as well as the Law on social protection, which also covers only the form of “domestic violence” but not all forms of gender-based violence.
In addition, it is recommended to review the standards for specialized services and establish accessible services throughout the country that will be accessible to women with disabilities, minorities, and rural women. In accordance with this, financial support needs to be ensured for civil society organizations to manage specialized services in accordance with the Convention.
The recommendations are also aimed at conducting regular national surveys on the situation with gender-based and doemstic violence, as well as ongoing data collection from all involved institutions and organizations.
More details about the conclusions and recommendations can be found at the following link.
