Fight against violence against women (Council of Europe Istanbul Convention)

Presentation

The Principality of Monaco is a party to the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence of 11 May 2011 (Istanbul Convention), in force for it since 1 February 2015.

It has thus committed to adopting a number of measures in terms of prevention, protection, prosecution and integrated policies (i.e. comprehensive and coordinated between the various players at national level: public bodies and authorities, NGOs).

The Group of Experts on Action against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence
(GREVIO) is responsible for monitoring the implementation of the Istanbul Convention.

The baseline evaluation procedure (2015-2021) provided an overview of Monaco's implementation of the Convention's provisions.

The first thematic evaluation cycle, "Building trust by delivering support, protection and justice", was launched in 2022, with GREVIO planning to publish its first report on Monaco for this cycle in 2024.

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Key measures taken by the Monegasque authorities since the benchmark assessment

• Creation of the Committee for the Promotion and Protection of Women's Rights (Sovereign Order no. 7.178 of 25 October 2018), which enables the Government to develop its action in a coordinated manner and in consultation with other institutions and civil society (Committee Activity Report 2022);
• Collection of data on violence against women by the Monegasque Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (IMSEE) since 2019, and extension to violence against men and minors since 2023;
• Training plan for professionals in the reception and care of victims of domestic violence since 2020;
• Communication campaigns to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women (25 November);
• Legislative reforms: strengthening the criminalization of sexual assault (Law no. 1.517 of 23 December 2021), measures to combat harassment and violence in schools (Law no. 1. 513 of 3 December 2021), promotion and protection of women's rights through the repeal in all areas of Monegasque law of provisions that are obsolete or contrary to gender equality (Law no. 1.523 of 16 May 2022), compensation mechanism for victims of sexual offences and domestic violence (Bill no. 1074);
• Financial resources allocated to the Committee for the Promotion and Protection of Women's Rights and to women's rights associations;
• Protocol for the care of victims of domestic violence, coordinating the work of the Social Action and Assistance Department and the Association for Victims of Criminal Offenses (AVIP).

Monaco's first thematic evaluation cycle "Building trust by delivering support, protection and justice" (2022-2024)

GREVIO's first thematic evaluation cycle, based on the questionnaire adopted on 13 October 2022, is devoted to :

• changes following completion of the baseline evaluation procedure, in key areas such as global and coordinated policies, allocation of financial resources and data collection (Part I);
• the implementation of certain provisions in the priority areas of prevention, protection and prosecution of perpetrators of violence (Part II);
• new trends in violence against women and domestic violence (Part III);
• annual administrative and judicial statistics (Part IV).

The Principality submitted its State Report (GREVIO/Inf(2023)14) on 16 June 2023 (published on 23 June 2023).

The GREVIO delegation carried out an on-site visit from 2 to 5 October2023 and held meetings with representatives of public authorities and bodies, NGOs and civil society working in the field of preventing and combating violence against women.

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Some useful links :

App for victims and witnesses of gender-based and sexual violence App-Elles® (covering Monaco since September 2023) > https://app-elles.fr/

Monaco Committee for the Promotion and Protection of Women's Rights > https://dfm.mc/?lang=en

Association for Victims of Criminal Offenses (AVIP) >https://www.avip-monaco.org/en...

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