Anniversary Istanbul Convention: Expansion necessary for protection against gender-specific violence

Von NAG Redaktion

On February 1, 2018, the Istanbul Convention (Convention of the Council of Europe for contraception and combating violence against women and domestic violence) came into force in Germany. This marked an important step for combating gender -specific violence in Germany. The convention obliges all government agencies to prevent and combat gender -specific violence. On the occasion of the annual day of the entry into force of the convention, the reporting agency calls for gender-specific violence of the German Institute for Human Rights the needs-based and discriminatory expansion of the protection and support system for affected gender-specific violence in Germany.

The Berlin citizens are alerted about the lack of around 15,000 family places in women's shelters that are needed nationwide. A comprehensive and low -threshold aid system is particularly important in an emerging metropolis such as Berlin with a various population and various social backgrounds. The topic of "access to protection and advice" is therefore the focus of the reporting agency gender -specific violence. It is important that the Federal Government is further expanding the aid system and ensuring federal protection of the law for protection against violence.

In Berlin there are numerous advice centers and help for affected gender -specific violence. These facilities play an important role in supporting and advising those affected from various population groups, including women with disabilities or with uncertain residence status. Despite these offers, however, there are still large hurdles when accessing advice and help. It is of great importance that the city of Berlin and other federal states seriously implement the Istanbul Convention and ensure that all affected gender-specific violence get access to protection and advice.

The reporting agency Gender Violence of the German Institute for Human Rights will collect data as part of its data collection for all federal states, the federal government and civil society in order to monitor the implementation of the Istanbul Convention. Initial results are to be published at the latest at the first periodic report in 2024. This is an important step to evaluate the effectiveness of the measures to combat gender -specific violence in Germany.

The Berlin citizens welcome the federal government's project to further expand the aid system and to ensure a nationwide uniform financing of women's shelters. This could help to address the urgent need for action in the area of ​​protection against gender -specific violence. It is of the utmost importance that Germany will implement the requirements from the Istanbul Convention as quickly as possible in order to offer all affected gender-specific violence the necessary protection and support.


Source: German Institute for Human Rights / OTS