@ALDEParty Congress resolutions 2014 - A strong focus on the Istanbul Convention of the Council of Europe

It astonishes me that I haven't heard more about this, given the emphasis that our own Government has taken on such issues, so I am grateful to our Swedish-speaking sister parties for bringing this particular resolution to Congress...

The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party convening in Lisbon, Portugal on 20-22 November 2014:

Notes that 

• the level of violence against women is at totally unacceptable levels throughout the world, including, but not limited to, domestic violence, female mutilation, “honour” killings and stalking;
• the Istanbul Convention of the Council of Europe on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence entered into force on 1 August 2014;
• to date, 14 Member States of the Council of Europe have ratified this new human rights treaty and another 22 states have signed it;
• the convention creates a blueprint for a coordinated, victim-centered approach to combating all forms of violence against women and domestic violence;
• 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;

Calls on

• the European Union to ratify the Istanbul Convention;
• every nation to prioritise and take all necessary actions on the implementation of the Istanbul Convention on a national level, as combatting violence against women is fundamental for any civilised society.