II SÉRIE-D — NÚMERO 7

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- the Committee of the Parties, composed of representatives of the State Parties to the Convention.

GREVIO members will be people competent in the fields of human rights, gender equality and violence

against women. They will have to be not only competent, but also independent in the exercise of their functions.

Parliaments will also be involved in monitoring the implementation of the Convention. Monitoring will be

based on reports submitted by the State parties, but also on information provided by the parliaments.

This involvement of parliamentarians is twofold: at national level, parliaments will participate in monitoring

the measures taken by the State parties to implement the Convention; at a European level, the Parliamentary

Assembly of the Council of Europe will be invited to regularly take stock of the Convention.

It will have the opportunity to raise concerns, indicate shortcomings, and draw attention to the need to turn

specific provisions of the Convention into reality.

This is another innovative element of this landmark convention. And it’s good news not only for us

parliamentarians, but for all citizens. In fact, it is in the best interests of everybody that elected representatives

be allowed to give their contribution to the very important task of monitoring the implementation of the

Convention.

How to amplify impact

As you certainly know, the Agency for Fundamental Rights recently published the most comprehensive

survey on violence against women ever carried out in the European Union. The survey indicates that:

- 28 per cent of women have experienced physical and/or sexual violence since the age of 15;

- 22 per cent have experienced this kind of violence from their partner,

- 7 per cent have experienced physical violence in the course of the 12 months before the survey. This

means 13 MILLION WOMEN in total.

And, as if this were not disturbing enough, set against these alarming figures, there is A VERY LOW

CONVICTION RATE.

Victims’ awareness

If we want the Istanbul Convention to have a real impact on the lives of women, one of the main challenges

is to create the conditions for victims to realise what is happening to them and its gravity.

The majority of women who are victims of violence do not report it to the police. Many of them do not even

inform their friends or support structures.

All too often violence against women is not acknowledged as a human rights violation, even by its victims.

Some women feel that they are partly responsible for it, excuse it, justify it, FORGIVE it.

At a meeting of the Parliamentary Network Women Free from Violence, in October 2013, we heard this

directly from a former perpetrator of domestic violence, who told us his story: he humiliated and abused his

partner, psychologically and physically. He tried to kill her. But she always protected him, denying what was

happening even when the police came round to their home after having been called by neighbours. It took this

woman ten years to file a complaint. By doing this, she certainly saved her life. And, to quote his own words,

she also saved the life of the perpetrator, who decided to face the problem and undertook voluntary

rehabilitation.

Trust

For victims to report what is happening to them, we must ensure that they can trust the authorities, in

particular the police and the judicial system. We must ensure that they will not be subjected to secondary

victimisation, to public humiliation, to lengthy judicial proceedings, to injustice.