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Parliaments united in combating domestic violence
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Council of Europe Campaign
“Stop domestic violence against women” (2006-2008)
PACE Action Newsletter No. 6 – April 2008
Final Conference in Vienna
Barbara Prammer, Speaker of the Austrian Parliament, and I, have the
honour to welcome the contact parliamentarians who, in their respect
ive parliaments over the past two years, have supported the Council
of Europe Campaign to Combat Violence against Women, including
Domestic Violence.
This last issue of the PACE Action Newsletter reflects the broad range of initiatives taken in
national parliaments. We have shown that powerful political determination gives us the
capacity to join forces across Europe against violence directed at women and defend their
rights. Parliamentarians in the vast majority of Council of Europe member states and our
colleagues from the observer parliaments, the IPU, the European Parliament and the Nordic
Council have, with invaluable assistance from NGOs, contributed to the success of the cam
paign. They all spoke up and broke the silence!
We must now find effective ways of keeping up the pressure and maintaining the parliamen
tary impetus generated by this campaign.
Because we have a lot to share and together we can change people’s mentalities, I look
forward to seeing you in Vienna on 30 April 2008.
Gisela Wurm, Chairperson of the Austrian delegation to the PACE
For the past two years, national parliaments and the PACE have joined
forces throughout Europe to combat domestic violence against
women and implement the parliamentary dimension of the Council
of Europe campaign launched in Madrid on 27 November 2006. The
network of contact parliamentarians has worked hard to combat this
unacceptable violation of human rights. The commitment of these
parliamentarians invites us all to continue the struggle for all women
who are the victims of domestic violence.
Lluís Maria de Puig, President of the Parliamentary Assembly
Highlights of the April 2008 part-session
1418 April 2008:
PACE information stand and slideshow on the Assembly action
“parliaments united in combating domestic violence” near the hemicycle
15 April 2008 :
exchange of views between the grouping on gender equality of NGOs
with participatory status of the Council of Europe and Steingrímur J. Sigfússon,
Chairperson of the Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men and
José Mendes Bota, PACE rapporteur on the parliamentary dimension of the Council
of Europe Campaign (room 2)
17 April 2008:
exchange of views between the PACE Committee on Equal Opportun
ities for Women and Men and Thomas Hammarberg, Commissioner for Human Rights,
on a possible international treaty on domestic violence, with the participation of,
i.a. Maud de BoerBuquicchio, Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe.
On your agenda
Vienna, Austrian Parliament, 30 April 2008:
final conference of the parliamentary
dimension of the Council of Europe Campaign.
Paris, National Assembly, 15 May 2008:
parliamentary symposium on domestic
violence against women, organised by the French delegation to PACE and the PACE
SubCommittee on Violence against Women.
Strasbourg, Council of Europe, 1011 June 2008:
closing conference of the Council
of Europe Campaign
The network of contact parliamentarians gets stronger
Dina Akkelidou (Cyprus), Mirosława Nykiel (Poland) and
Nursuna Memecan (Turkey) joined the network of contact parlia
mentarians, which today comprises 50 members.
For further information on the activities carried out by the
contact parliamentarians and the national parliaments, see
www.coe.int/stopviolence/assembly
The «Handbook for parliamentarians» is now available in new linguistic
versions
Azerbaijan, Hungary, Lithuania, Romania, “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”
and Ukraine now figure among the countries which have taken the initiative to translate
the «Handbook for parliamentarians» and to raise parliamentary awareness at national
level. This reflects the commitment shown by the parliaments of these countries to the
Council of Europe campaign. The handbook is now available in fourteen languages on
the campaign website.
Contact
Secretariat of the PACE Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men
F67075 Strasbourg Cedex
Tel.: +33 (0)3 88 41 35 17 / Fax: +33 (0)3 90 21 56 52
Email: pace.combatviolence@coe.int – Site: www.coe.int/stopviolence/assembly
“The campaign has helped to break
the silence in Europe”
Mr Mendes Bota, in your capacity as PACE rapporteur,
you proposed a questionnaire to assess the parlia-
mentary dimension of the campaign. Are you satisfied
with the initial results?
I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised, as 37 delega
tions – representing 617 million Europeans – carefully filled out a long and detailed ques
tionnaire. I should like to warmly thank the contact parliamentarians and national delegation
secretaries. I hope to have all the replies at the earliest opportunity.
In the light of the initial results, can you say whether the parliamentary dimen-
sion of the Council of Europe campaign has been a success?
I would say no to begin with, as no country meets all of the minimum criteria set out in
my report. That shows clearly that these criteria are still not unanimously accepted, even
though they should be applied universally. However, I would like to remain optimistic.
Over these two years, awareness has clearly been raised. The silence has been broken, from
the Atlantic to the Caucasus! Much has been done: seminars, public hearings and media
campaigns have been organised. The efforts made here offer grounds for satisfaction both
for national parliaments and also for the Council of Europe.
What has the campaign’s impact been on the parliaments of the 47 member
states?
The Parliamentary Assembly’s efforts are far from over yet! There is much to be done in the
coming weeks! Now is not the time to lower our guard; instead, we should capitalise on our
best practices so that the maximum possible number can benefit from them. I am particu
larly proud that we have succeeded in involving men more closely. The campaign has also
allowed us to tackle new issues such as marital rape, the concept of stalking, education and
prevention, assistance for migrant women, the necessary cooperation with NGOs and the
mobilisation of a minimum level of financial resources – as domestic violence involves costs
for our democracies. Many issues deserve to be looked at in greater depth. We are going to
discuss together the role which the network of contact parliamentarians may play in future.
It has demonstrated that exchanging our experience helps us to tackle the flaws in our
legislation and raise our standards. Above all, it has highlighted that the fight must go on
as wherever women are victims, human rights are flouted.
PACE action promoted at the United Nations
Carina Hägg, Chairperson of the SubCommittee on Violence
against Women, highlighted the parliamentary dimension of
the campaign at the IPU sideevent on “The role of parliaments
in financing for gender equality” alongside the Session of the
UN Committee on the Status of Women, in New York on
27 February 2008. Carina Hägg and Doris Stump, Contact Parliamentarian for Switzerland,
also had the opportunity to speak to Yakin Ertürk, UN Special Rapporteur on violence
against women, on the occasion of the launch of the UN Campaign to End Violence
against Women (20082015).
Tarja Halonen, President of the Republic of Finland,
supports the parliamentarians involved in the campaign.
At the invitation of Jukka Gustafsson, Contact Parliamentarian for Finland,
Tarja Halonen, President of the Republic of Finland, gave the opening
address at the conference dedicated to the situation of Domestic Violence
against Women in Finland, on 7 April, at the Parliament of Finland, in the
presence of prominent politicians, including Sinikka Hurskainen,
Chairperson of the Finnish delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly and
Heidi Hautala, Chairperson of the Legal Affairs Committee.
Singer Axelle Red highlights role of men
in fighting domestic violence
“The majority of perpetrators of domestic violence are men, and
since it is largely men who still hold positions of power in society,
they have an important role to play in combating this crime,”
said Belgian singer Axelle Red, UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador
involved in promoting women’s rights, introducing a Brussels
lunchdebate on the role of men in fighting domestic violence
organised by the Madariaga European Foundation and PACE on
the eve of International Women’s Day. PACE members Kent Olsson (Sweden, EPP/CD) and
Nursuna Memecan (Turkey, ALDE) and MEP Raul Romeva I Rueda, Member of the Committee
on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality in the European Parliament, highlighted the
contribution of parliamentarians and their national experiences to successfully involve
men.
New Family Violence Prevention Act in Slovenia
Through the impetus given by Majda Potrata, Contact Parliamentarian,
Slovenia adopted a new Family Violence Prevention Act, which came
into force on 26 February 2008. Ms Potrata also organised, in co
operation with SOS Helpline and Amnesty International, an interna
tional conference dedicated to “Violence against Women in relation
to Development Awareness”, on 7 March 2008, in the Slovenian
Parliament. During this conference, discussion panels were organised on domestic violence,
violence against migrant women, trafficking in women and the victims’ position in the labour
market.
Legal Aspects of Protection against Violence
in Family Relations: parliamentary hearing in Azerbaijan
Bahar Muradova, Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of Azerbaijan,
Kristiina Ojuland, Deputy Speaker of the Estonian Parliament, Ali
Huseynov, Chairman of the Milli Majlis Standing Commission on
Legal Policy and State Building and Gular Ahmadova, Contact
Parliamentarian for Azerbaijan, contributed to the hearing organ
ised by the parliament in Azerbaijan on 31 March 2008. A new
bill on the prevention of domestic violence should soon be sub
mitted to the Milli Majlis.