Zelenskyy proposes to Ukrainian Parliament to ratify the Istanbul Convention

EUROPEAN PRAVDA – SATURDAY, 18 JUNE 2022, 15:26

On Saturday, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy submitted to the Verkhovna Rada [Ukrainian Parliament] a bill ratifying the Council of Europe Convention on the Prevention of Domestic Violence, also known as the Istanbul Convention.

European Pravda reports that information about the document was published on the parliament's website.

According to European Pravda sources, deputies of the Ukrainian Parliament may consider the bill on Monday, 20 June.

The demand for ratification of the Istanbul Convention has been publicly voiced by some EU member states as a precondition for approving the status of a candidate for EU membership.

The Istanbul Convention or the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence is an international agreement, first signed in 2011.

This is the first document of its kind, which legally mandates the creation of a legal basis for fighting violence against women. Countries that have acceded to the convention must criminalize psychological violence, harassment, physical and sexual violence, forced marriage, forced abortion and sterilization.

The document was signed by 46 countries and the European Union. However, 11 more of them, including Ukraine, have not ratified the agreement. The Istanbul Convention was signed by Ukraine in 2011, but has not yet been ratified due to protests by churches and conservative politicians against the term "gender" used in it.