10 | - Número: 025 | 4 de Fevereiro de 2012

Sweden, “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” and Ukraine – to take prompt measures, if necessary relying on the advice and expertise provided by the Council of Europe, to adapt their national legislation to the convention and accelerate the ratification process.
8. The Assembly also calls on the Council of Europe member states which have not yet signed the convention to do so and rapidly proceed to ratification.
9. It also asks the Council of Europe member states to: 9.1. refrain from making reservations to the convention; 9.2. apply the convention not only to women but also to other victims of domestic violence, as allowed by Article 2.2; 9.3. organise awareness-raising campaigns to enhance the knowledge of the phenomenon of violence against women in society at large; 9.4. support activities aimed at providing information about the convention, including ensuring its translation into national languages; 9.5. make voluntary contributions in support of the work undertaken by the Council of Europe to promote the convention and facilitate its signature and ratification.
10. As regards the potential impact of the convention beyond the member states of the Council of Europe, the Assembly: 10.1. encourages UN Women and the Inter-Parliamentary Union, in the light of their universal outreach capacity and their commitment to the eradication of violence against women, to promote the convention as an instrument which could be acceded to also by non-Council of Europe member states, or which could inspire the strengthening of national legal frameworks in the area of violence against women; 10.2. encourages other regional parliamentary assemblies to take a similar position; 10.3. calls on Council of Europe observer states and the European Union to sign and ratify the convention; 10.4. encourages the parliaments enjoying the status of partner for democracy to promote accession to the convention by their states.
11. Expressing appreciation for the work accomplished by non-governmental organisations in a wide range of activities aimed at preventing violence against women and assisting its victims, the Assembly encourages them to pursue their work to promote the signature and ratification of the convention and resolves to work in close co-operation with them.
12. The Assembly calls on the parliaments of the Council of Europe member states to: 12.1. urge their governments to sign the convention; 12.2. organise or promote parliamentary debates and hearings on the convention; 12.3. play a proactive role in the context of the ratification process; 12.4. promote and conduct activities to raise awareness about the convention amongst the general public, practitioners, non-governmental organisations and civil society.
13. As regards its own work, the Assembly: 13.1. decides to enlarge the Network of contact parliamentarians committed to combating violence against women to include also contact parliamentarians appointed by the parliaments enjoying the status of partner for democracy; 13.2. welcomes the decision taken by the Committee on Equality and Non-Discrimination to appoint a general rapporteur on violence against women, and believes that such a step will contribute to enhancing the visibility and relevance of the Assembly's work in this area.
14. Finally, the Assembly calls on the Secretary General of the Council of Europe to appoint a Council of Europe Special Envoy on Gender Equality, to continue to provide political impetus to the Council of Europe’s work in this area, ensure the visibility of the Organisation at the highest political level and represent it with relevant high-level external interlocutors.

1 Assembly debate on 26 January 2012 (8th Sitting) (see Doc. 12810, report of the Committee on Equality and Non-Discrimination, rapporteur: Mr Mendes Bota). Text adopted by the Assembly on 26 January 2012 (8th Sitting).