GLOBAL SIGNIFICANCE OF EUROPEAN STANDARDS OF WOMEN HUMAN RIGHTS’ PROTECTION IN DOMAIN OF GENDER BASED AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

One of the most important domain of women human rights’ protection is combating gender based and domestic violence. Every woman has the right to live freely of any form of violence, but reality shows dark picture, since one in three women has experienced physical or sexual violence – 22% at the hands of their partner. The UN estimates that 70% of domestic violence fatalities are women. Gender-based violence against women is a human rights violation and must be combated vigorously . European standards of combating and preventing gender based and domestic violence are defined in the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (“ Istanbul Convention “, which entered into force in 2014). The Istanbul Convention is the most comprehensive, legally binding and far-reaching international treaty to address violence against women laying out state obligations to prevent violence, protect victims and prosecute the perpetrators. It is noteworthy that 33 countries out of 47-member states of the Council of Europe have already ratified it (at the moment of writing this study). However, global reach of this regional human rights instrument is far more significant, bearing in mind that it promotes zero tolerance to all forms of violence globally and through requiring states to criminalize a broad range of violence against women, including physical, sexual and psychological violence, stalking, sexual harassment, female genital mutilation and forced marriage. The independent expert body ( GREVIO ) is tasked to assess the implementation of the Istanbul Convention and to set relevant recommendations based on evaluation reports. Although of regional character, this Convention seeks to achieve universal application, since it is open to accession to non-member countries of the Council of Europe, and accordingly, the author emphasizes the global importance of its provisions.