division_name: Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence (Ratification of Convention) Bill
motion: <p class="indent" pid="a1072.2/4" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;quite simply the best piece of international policy and practice for eliminating violence against women that exists, setting minimum standards for Government responses to victims and survivors of gender based violence&#8230; It is a blueprint for how we move from small change at the margins&#8230;to a system that is designed to end domestic abuse and violence against women.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1075.0/2" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;We will seek to legislate when the approach is agreed and Parliamentary time allows.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1080.1/2" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;more likely than not that a fraudulent prize claim had been made and paid out.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1083.0/15" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls&#8221;.</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1087.0/3" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;Require the United Kingdom to ratify the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (the Istanbul Convention); and for connected purposes.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1089.1/2" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;measures to protect the rights of victims, shall be secured without discrimination on any ground such as sex, gender, race, colour, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, association with a national minority, property, birth, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, state of health, disability, marital status, migrant or refugee status, or other status.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1089.3/2" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;This Convention shall apply to all forms of violence against women.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1091.1/10" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;protect women against all forms of violence, and prevent, prosecute and eliminate violence against women and domestic violence&#8221;.</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1091.1/12" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;contribute to the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women and promote substantive equality between women and men, including by empowering women&#8221;.</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1091.1/14" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;design a comprehensive framework, policies and measures for the protection of and assistance to all victims of violence against women and domestic violence&#8221;.</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1091.1/16" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;promote international co-operation with a view to eliminating violence against women and domestic violence&#8221;,</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1091.1/18" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;provide support and assistance to organisations and law enforcement agencies to effectively co-operate in order to adopt an integrated approach to eliminating violence against women and domestic violence&#8221;.</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1094.1/3" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women&#8221;,</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1094.1/6" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;approving having qualities that give a person or a group of people the means to take more control of their lives and become stronger and more independent&#8221;,</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1094.1/9" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;Together we can end male violence against women&#8221;.</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1094.1/12" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;We are unable to provide information on your specific requests of &#8216;the sex of both the defendant and the victim&#8217;... This is because we record the sex of the defendant and victim as separate statistics rather than as a joined statistic.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1094.1/15" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;You reacted to this very difficult situation by saying &#8216;If I cannot have them&#8217;&#8221;&#8212;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1094.1/17" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;&#8216;neither can he&#8217;&#8230; This is a crime which speaks of rage and I sentence you on the basis that you killed them in anger and out of a desire for revenge.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1097.2/3" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;The perpetrator of physical abuse against females was almost as equally likely to be the mother as the father (33% and 36% respectively).&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1097.2/6" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;25th November 2011 is the international day for the elimination of violence towards women. Like everybody else who reads this statement I am of course totally in favour of the elimination of violence towards women but unlike the instigators of this event I believe that we should be eliminating violence against everyone and that includes men and children.</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1097.2/7" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;I applaud the efforts of Viviane Reding who is the Vice-President and Commissioner responsible for justice, fundamental rights and citizenship, Cecile Grebolvel who is the Secretary General of European Women&#8217;s lobby and Mikael Gustatsson who is Chair of Parliamentary Women&#8217;s Rights and gender equality commission in their efforts to protect women but I am puzzled as to why this enormous empire of women with the huge self important titles manage to avoid any discussion of the effects of violence upon the family, fathers and children.</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1097.2/8" pwmotiontext="yes">If we have any hope of tackling the tragic effects of domestic violence we have to face the facts that women can and are also guilty of violence against their partners. To concentrate only of women as victims is to deny the fact that children are also abused by their mothers. We can no longer afford to cover up the huge scandal that has existed for the last forty years where only men have been held up as perpetrators of all violence.</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1097.2/9" pwmotiontext="yes">My hope is that sufficient political pressure will be brought to bear upon these women who sit in great positions of power to acknowledge that we do indeed need to make November 25th a day when we all agree internationally that there should be zero tolerance for violence against anyone and that we will all work to make the family a safe and harmonious place.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1097.2/12" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;The previous Government signed the Istanbul Convention to show the strong commitment it placed on tackling violence against women and girls and this Government remains committed to ratifying it&#8230; The UK already complies with the vast majority of the Convention&#8217;s articles but further amendments to domestic law, to take extra-territorial jurisdiction over a range of offences (as required by Article 44), are necessary before the Convention can be ratified. The Ministry of Justice is currently considering the approach to implementing the extra-territorial jurisdiction requirements in England and Wales and will seek to legislate when the approach is agreed and Parliamentary time allows.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1097.2/14" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;Parties shall take the necessary legislative or other measures to establish jurisdiction over any offence established in accordance with this Convention, when the offence is committed:</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1097.2/15" pwmotiontext="yes">a in their territory; or</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1097.2/16" pwmotiontext="yes">b on board a ship flying their flag; or</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1097.2/17" pwmotiontext="yes">c on board an aircraft registered under their laws; or</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1097.2/18" pwmotiontext="yes">d by one of their nationals; or</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1097.2/19" pwmotiontext="yes">e by a person who has her or his habitual residence in their territory.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1097.2/21" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;Parties shall endeavour to take the necessary legislative or other measures to establish jurisdiction over any offence established in accordance with this Convention where the offence is committed against one of their nationals or a person who has her or his habitual residence in their territory.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1097.2/23" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;For the prosecution of the offences established in accordance with Articles 36, 37, 38&#8230;and 39&#8230;of this Convention, Parties shall take the necessary legislative or other measures to ensure that their jurisdiction is not subordinated to the condition that the acts are criminalised in the territory where they were committed.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1097.2/25" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;For the prosecution of the offences established in accordance with Articles 36, 37, 38 and 39 of this Convention, Parties shall take the necessary legislative or other measures to ensure that their jurisdiction as regards points d and e of paragraph 1 is not subordinated to the condition that the prosecution can only be initiated following the reporting by the victim of the offence or the laying of information by the State of the place where the offence was committed.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1097.2/27" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;Parties shall take the necessary legislative or other measures to establish jurisdiction over the offences established in accordance with this Convention, in cases where an alleged perpetrator is present on their territory and they do not extradite her or him to another Party, solely on the basis of her or his nationality.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1097.2/29" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;When more than one Party claims jurisdiction over an alleged offence established in accordance with this Convention, the Parties involved shall, where appropriate, consult each other with a view to determining the most appropriate jurisdiction for prosecution.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1097.2/31" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;this Convention does not exclude any criminal jurisdiction exercised by a Party in accordance with its internal law.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1099.0/2" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;Forced abortion and forced sterilisation.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1099.3/3" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;That this House notes that <phrase class="date" code="2016-06-08">8 June</phrase> 2016 marks the fourth anniversary of the UK Government becoming a signatory to the Istanbul Convention on violence against women and girls; expresses disappointment that the Government, despite outlining their commitment to do so several times, has still failed to ratify this important convention; recognises that women still face a significant amount of inequality, with one in four women experiencing some form of domestic, sexual or psychological abuse during their lifetimes; further notes that ratifying the Istanbul Convention should ensure that a series of preventative policies will be introduced to help tackle and end violence against women, such as non-violent conflict resolution in relationships and the right to personal  integrity being included in school curricula at all levels; congratulates the campaign group ICchange for their continuing work in applying pressure on the Government to ratify the convention; and calls on the Government to accede to this pressure and ensure ratification as soon as possible.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1099.3/7" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;In simple terms, preventing violence against women and domestic violence can save lives and reduce human suffering. Governments that agree to be bound by the Convention will have to do the following: train professionals in close contact with victims; regularly run awareness-raising campaigns; take steps to include issues such as gender equality and non-violent conflict resolution in interpersonal relationships in teaching material; set up treatment programmes for perpetrators of domestic violence and for sex offenders; work closely with NGOs; involve the media and the private sector in eradicating gender stereotypes and promoting mutual respect.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1099.3/9" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;Preventing violence against women and domestic violence should not be left to the state alone. In fact, the Convention calls on all members of society, in particular men and boys, to help reach its goal of creating a Europe free from all forms of violence against women and domestic violence. Violence against women is pervasive because misogynistic attitudes towards women persist. Each and every one of us can help challenge gender stereotypes, harmful traditional practices and discrimination against women. It is only by achieving real gender equality that violence against women can be prevented.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1099.3/12" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;When preventive measures have failed and violence incidents have happened, it is important to provide victims and witnesses with protection and support. This means police intervention and protection as well as specialised support services such as shelters, telephone hotlines etc. It also means making sure that general social services understand the realities and concerns of victims of domestic violence and violence against women and support them accordingly in their quest to rebuild/resume their lives.</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1099.3/13" pwmotiontext="yes">Some examples of measures set forth in the Convention include:</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1099.3/14" pwmotiontext="yes">Granting the police the power to remove a perpetrator of domestic violence from his or her home: In situations of immediate danger, the police need to be able to guarantee the safety of the victim. In many instances this may mean ordering the perpetrator for a specified period of time to leave the family home and to stay away from the victim.</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1099.3/15" pwmotiontext="yes">Ensuring access to adequate information&#8230;victims are usually traumatised and need easy access to clear and concise information on available services, in a language they understand.</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1099.3/16" pwmotiontext="yes">Setting up easily accessible shelters in sufficient numbers and in an adequate geographical distribution: Victims come from a wide range of social realities. For instance, women from rural areas or disabled women need to have access to shelters as much as women from big cities.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1099.3/19" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;Making available state-wide 24/7 telephone helplines free of charge: Specialised helplines for victims of violence against women and domestic violence can direct the victims to the services they need&#8230;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1099.3/20" pwmotiontext="yes">Setting-up easily accessible rape crisis or sexual violence referral centres: These centres provide immediate medical counselling, trauma care and forensic services and are extremely rare across Europe. It is important to make these services more widely available.</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1099.3/21" pwmotiontext="yes">It should be borne in mind that it is not enough to set up protection structures and support services for victims. It is equally important to make sure victims are informed of their rights and know where and how to get help.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1099.3/24" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;Overall, 27.1% of women and 13.2% of men had experienced any domestic abuse since the age of 16, equivalent to an estimated 4.5 million female victims and 2.2 million male victims.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1099.3/27" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;20 organisations offer refuge or safe house provision for male victims in the UK&#8212;a total of 82 spaces, of which 24 are dedicated to male DV victims only (the rest being for victims of either gender).&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1099.3/29" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;For female victims, there are nearly 400 specialist domestic violence organisations providing refuge accommodation for women in the UK with c4,000 spaces for over 7,000 women and children.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1099.3/32" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;Male victims (29%) are over twice as likely than women (12%) to not tell anyone about the partner abuse they are suffering from. Only 10% of male victims will tell the police (26% women), only 23% will tell a person in an official position (43% women) and only 11% (23% women) will tell a health professional.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1099.3/34" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;12% of female victims and 25% of males told someone they knew personally about childhood sexual assault by rape or penetration (including attempts) at the time, usually a family member (18%). Only 10% of female victims told someone in an official position, with 8% reporting the abuse to the police. Only 2% of male victims reported the abuse to the police.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1099.3/37" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;The convention defines and criminalises the various forms of violence against women as well as domestic violence. This is one of the many achievements of the convention. To give effect to the convention, state parties will have to introduce a number of new offenses where they do not exist. These may include: psychological and physical violence, sexual violence and rape, stalking, female genital mutilation, forced marriage, forced abortion and forced sterilisation. In addition, state parties will need to ensure that culture, tradition or so-called &#8216;honour&#8217; are not regarded as a justification for any of the above-listed courses of conduct.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1099.3/40" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;Of those that suffered partner abuse in 2014/15, a higher proportion of men suffered from force (37%) than women (29%). For emotional and psychological abuse the proportions were 61% and 63% respectively.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1099.3/43" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;Of those who experienced psychological abuse as a child, the perpetrator was most likely to have been the victim&#8217;s mother (40%) or father (35%). Women were more likely to have experienced this form of abuse from their mothers (42%) than fathers (33%), whereas men were equally likely to be abused by either parent.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1099.3/45" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;Of those that suffered from partner abuse in 2012/13, 29% of men and 23% of women suffered a physical injury, a higher proportion of men suffering severe bruising or bleeding (6%) and internal injuries or broken bones/teeth (2%) than women (4% and 1% respectively). 30% of men who suffer partner abuse have emotional and mental problems (47% women). Only 27% of men sought medical advice whilst 73% of women did.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1099.3/49" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;Once these new offenses have found their way into the national legal systems, there is no reason not to prosecute offenders. On the contrary, state parties will have to take a range of measures to ensure the effective investigation of any allegation of violence against women and domestic violence.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1099.3/51" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;This means that the law enforcement agencies will have to respond to calls for help, collect evidence and assess the risk of further violence to adequately protect the victim.</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1099.3/52" pwmotiontext="yes">Furthermore, state parties will have to carry out judicial proceedings in a manner that respects the rights of victims at all stages of the proceedings and that avoid secondary victimisation.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1103.1/3" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;the UK&#8217;s international leadership is weakened by its failure to address violence against women and girls within its own borders&#8221;.</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1103.1/5" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;I think we have a hypocrisy about human rights. We talk about human rights internationally for others, and we are mealy-mouthed about it at home. If we could have a common discourse that, actually, this happens here, too&#8212;then I think we might be able to have a more constructive conversation about it.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1103.1/7" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;Ratification would emphasise that the state has a positive duty in law to intervene in a proactive way to modify practices that result in harm, violence and degradation to women and girls. It would provide a further basis in law for those who wish to persuade the state to provide adequate and meaningful resources to construct an effective mechanism to protect women from gender violence and harm.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1105.1/3" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;most of the Istanbul Convention obligations are implemented through UK legislation&#8221;,</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1105.1/6" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;Violence against women continues to persist as one of the most heinous, systematic and prevalent human rights abuses in the world. It is a threat to all women, and an obstacle to all our efforts for development, peace, and gender equality in all societies&#8230; Let us take this issue with the deadly seriousness that it deserves&#8221;.</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1105.1/8" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;This is indeed a unique opportunity in the UK so that we can show our support to women and girls who should be living free from any form of violence, and the fear of it.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1105.1/11" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;This new landmark treaty of the Council of Europe opens the path for creating a legal framework at pan-European level to protect women against all forms of violence, and prevent, prosecute and eliminate violence against women and domestic violence. It also establishes a monitoring body to evaluate implementation and progress.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1105.1/14" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;an independent expert body, the Group of Experts on Action against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (GREVIO), which is initially composed of 10 members and will subsequently be enlarged to 15 members following the 25th ratification&#8221;,</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1105.1/16" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;a political body, the Committee of the Parties, which is composed of representatives of the Parties to the Istanbul Convention. The task of GREVIO is to monitor the implementation of the Convention by the Parties.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1106.1/3" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;GREVIO may also adopt, where appropriate, general recommendations on themes and concepts of the Convention.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1106.1/5" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;The Committee of the Parties follows up on GREVIO reports and conclusions and adopts recommendations to the Parties concerned.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1106.1/7" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;It is also responsible for the election of GREVIO members.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1106.1/9" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;may be initiated by GREVIO when there is reliable information indicating that action is required to prevent a serious, massive or persistent pattern of any acts of violence covered by the Convention. In such a case, GREVIO may request the urgent submission of a special report by the Party concerned&#8230; After having been examined by GREVIO, the findings of the inquiry are transmitted to the Party concerned and, where appropriate, to the Committee of the Parties and the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, together with any comments and recommendations.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1106.1/14" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;An effective response to such violence requires concerted action by many different actors.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1106.1/16" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;law enforcement agencies, the judiciary&#8221;&#8212;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1106.1/18" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;law enforcement agencies, the judiciary, NGOs, child protection agencies and other relevant partners&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1106.1/20" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;join forces on a particular case.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1118.0/3" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;our failure to ratify the Istanbul convention, which we helped to draft, is embarrassing.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1118.0/8" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;by the time they leave, everything&#8217;s on top form.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1118.0/12" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;concerted action by many different actors&#8221;,</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1118.0/14" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;comprehensive and co-ordinated policies involving government agencies, NGOs as well as national, regional and local parliaments.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1118.0/17" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;From health providers, to law enforcement, to employers and friends and family we all need to play our part.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1128.3/5" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;teaching material on issues such as equality between women and men, non-stereotyped gender roles, mutual respect, non-violent conflict resolution in interpersonal relationships, gender-based violence against women and the right to personal integrity&#8221;.</p>
  
  <p class="italic" pid="a1131.2/3" pwmotiontext="yes">The House divided:</p>
  
  <p pid="a1131.2/4" pwmotiontext="yes">Ayes 133, Noes 2.</p>