Istanbul convention of the council of Europe and Serbia: Legal aspects of implementation of the convention in Serbia in the field of combating gender-based and sexual violence against women

Abstract

The Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (Istanbul Convention, 2014) is the first legally binding instrument in Europe in this area and the most far-reaching international treaty to combat this serious violation of human rights. The Convention aims at zero tolerance towards violence against women and domestic violence and represents a major step forward in legal terms. By accepting the Istanbul Convention, the governments of the signatory countries undertake to reform their laws, to introduce concrete measures and to allocate resources for the effective prevention and fight against violence against women and domestic violence. The global importance of the Convention is contained in the comprehensive approach to the fight against violence against women and domestic violence and in the fact that it is open for access to countries that are not members of the Council of Europe. In order to monitor the effectiveness of the implementation of the Convention, the independent expert body GREVIO was established. Serbia ratified the Istanbul Convention in 2013. The question arises to what extent the provisions of the Istanbul Convention have been applied in Serbia, especially when it comes to the prevention and fight against sexual and gender-based violence against women. GREVIO Report with recommendations for Serbia was published in January 2020. The standards and principles established in the Istanbul Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence have an emancipatory character and a positive transformative potential for the modernization of the relevant legal framework, public policy measures and administrative practice in Serbia. The concluding remarks are focused on accentuating the importance of implementing the necessary legal reform in Serbia, as a starting point and catalyst for removing negative gender stereotypes towards women.

Keywords

• convention
• serbia
• sexual and gender-based violence against women