Council of Europe Treaty Series - No. 210
Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against
women and domestic violence
Istanbul, 11.V.2011
Preamble
The member States of the Council of Europe and the other signatories hereto,
Recalling the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms
(ETS No. 5, 1950) and its Protocols, the European Social Charter (ETS No. 35, 1961, revised
in 1996, ETS No. 163), the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in
Human Beings (CETS No. 197, 2005) and the Council of Europe Convention on the
Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse (CETS No. 201, 2007);
Recalling the following recommendations of the Committee of Ministers to member States of
the Council of Europe: Recommendation Rec(2002)5 on the protection of women against
violence, Recommendation CM/Rec(2007)17 on gender equality standards and mechanisms,
Recommendation CM/Rec(2010)10 on the role of women and men in conflict prevention and
resolution and in peace building, and other relevant recommendations;
Taking account of the growing body of case law of the European Court of Human Rights
which sets important standards in the field of violence against women;
Having regard to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966), the
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966), the United Nations
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (“CEDAW”,
1979) and its Optional Protocol (1999) as well as General Recommendation No. 19 of the
CEDAW Committee on violence against women, the United Nations Convention on the Rights
of the Child (1989) and its Optional Protocols (2000) and the United Nations Convention on
the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006);
Having regard to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (2002);
Recalling the basic principles of international humanitarian law, and especially the Geneva
Convention (IV) relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War (1949) and the
Additional Protocols I and II (1977) thereto;
Condemning all forms of violence against women and domestic violence;
Recognising that the realisation of de jure and de facto equality between women and men is a
key element in the prevention of violence against women;
Recognising 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;