Ratifying The Istanbul Convention into Law: What This Means for the Prevention of Violence Against Women in the UK

By Talia Hazeldine

In 2011, the Council of Europe created a convention on ‘preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence’, commonly referred to as the Istanbul Convention for short. In July of this year, then Home Secretary Priti Patel ratified the Istanbul Convention. After ten years of delay by our government, with effect from the 1st of November 2022 the UK agreed to update its legal and global position on the prevention and protection of women in the UK from all forms of violence and, crucially, domestic violence.

Member states who have globally signed it have reached thirty-seven, with the UK being the latest country to sign. When each country ratifies the treaty, they agree to conform to the comprehensive list of eighty-one articles of legal and moral codes set out, with the intent to enforce gender-specific ‘pillars’ called the 4Ps; Prevention, Protection, Prosecution, Policies. The expectations for each signed country are laid out in the original convention, but a summary of it can be read here.

So why has it taken the UK so much longer to get on board with the importance of tackling violence against women and making it a key priority in justice and law reform? The answer could be that we have simply been further behind and are a far less progressive nation than we think. Both socially and politically, many consider the UK to be a country leading in human rights, a preferential place to live for many women. But they are wrong.

In a landmark UK national survey reported last year via Victim Focus, 98% of women will have suffered some form of sexual or violent abuse during their lives. This suggests that the conventions, codes and standards expected in law could now apply to that 98% of our female population.

This may explain why there was no obvious public awareness of the UK finally stepping up our legislation and creating robust systems; drawing attention to how far behind we actually were may not have been in the government’s best interests. Misogyny, sexism, gender discrimination and woefully inadequate justice systems have seen the UK become one of the worst countries for equality and protection for women.

The recognition of many changes had to be reflected in the Domestic Abuse Act, particularly that children who witness abuse are to be classed as victims in their own right now (they were not before), along with significant amendments for women seeking asylum and immigration status, those who are victims of forced marriages and also FGM. The UK has been so far behind in these matters that women here have come to not expect much in the way of law enforcement or justice when it comes to protection and policing of our right to live free from all forms of violence, including psychological and financial coercion.

These newer aspects all had to be legally recognised first by the UK in order to fall in line with global recognition of the complex dynamics of abuse and violence that so many women and girls are facing. Whilst the 1st of November may pass by relatively quietly without any significance for most, it will and should assist women who need these extra forms of protection and recognition by international law.

The Istanbul Convention lays out eighty-one Articles that describe what must or must not be done to combat and prevent violence against women. The UN created an earlier convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women in 1979 and later the UN Rights of the Child in 1989. Both these previous treaties build upon the recognition that ‘violence against women is a manifestation of historically unequal power relations between women and men, which have led to domination over, and discrimination against, women by men and to the prevention of the full advancement of women.’

CEDAW has its headquarters in New York, which has often raised eyebrows as the US is not part of the treaty nor the monitoring group to ensure that the countries comply with their legal agreement called GREVIO (Group of Experts on Action against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence). They conduct assessments and checks of each country, reporting on how well or not compliance and treatment of women are being upheld.

The UK has delayed having to participate in this process since 2011 by delaying the ratification – until now. The UN has a special rapporteur on violence against women who will be requesting data and reports from the UK in the next few months. Women who wish to make any applications for inclusion in this process should approach Rights of Women for assistance on how to do so.

Only a small number of media publications have raised any awareness of the convention or its powers and responsibilities. It would appear that the government does not wish to draw attention to the changes it needed to make in order to raise its standards in tackling violence against women and domestic violence. Those who have criticised the treaty and what it sets out to achieve have been extreme far-right fundamental Christian and Islamic groups, but these critics merely highlight why it is so necessary and important.

The rhetoric of each of the eighty-one articles seems simplistic enough and obvious to anyone who feels strongly about equality, yet in 2022 it seems the UK really needs to be given a straightforward set of rules on how to achieve and protect women’s right to peace. From November 1st, additional measures and mechanisms can be referred to by any woman experiencing violence, especially intimate partner violence.

Crucially, the Istanbul Convention recognises post-separation abuse: abuse where an ex-partner continues a campaign of abuse using nefarious and often debilitating forms of attack on victims, most commonly through the exploitative use of the Family Courts or by way of claiming Parental Alienation. The UN has made statements on their recognition of this being a form of torture against domestically abused women and children, so our new inclusion in international law is intended to prevent that and assist our justice systems.

Recent conferences here in the UK show that we still have a long way to go in training for police, judges and public services on violence against women. Ratifying the Istanbul Convention was a step in the right direction, but the path to fully preventing violence against women in the UK is one with many steps yet to be taken.