| dc.description.abstract | The Group of Experts on Action against Violence against Women and Domestic
Violence (GREVIO) is an independent human rights monitoring body mandated to monitor
the implementation of the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating
Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (“the Istanbul Convention”) by the parties to
the convention.
It is composed of 10 independent and impartial experts appointed on the basis of
their recognised expertise in the fields of human rights, gender equality, violence against
women and/or assistance to and protection of victims.
GREVIO’s statutory activities include country-by-country monitoring of the Istanbul
Convention (evaluation procedure), the initiation of inquiries into specific circumstances
within a party to the convention (inquiry procedure) and the adoption of general
recommendations on themes and concepts of the convention.
This report is the fruit of the first (baseline) evaluation procedure carried out in
respect of Turkey. It covers the Istanbul Convention in its entirety1
and thus assesses the
level of compliance of the Turkish legislation and practice in all areas covered by the
convention. In light of the scope of the convention – as set out in its Article 2, paragraph 1 –
the baseline evaluation focuses on measures taken in relation to “all forms of violence
against women, including domestic violence, which affects women disproportionately”. The
term “violence against women” used throughout this report thus refers to all forms of violence
against women criminalised (or, where applicable, otherwise sanctioned) under Chapter V of
the convention, which are psychological violence, stalking, physical violence, sexual violence
– including rape – forced marriage, female genital mutilation, forced abortion, forced
sterilisation and sexual harassment. It also refers to domestic violence against women, which
is defined as physical, sexual, psychological or economic violence which occurs within the
family or domestic unit or between former or current spouses or partners, whether or not the
perpetrator shares or has shared the same residence with the victim. Hence, the term
“victim” used throughout this report is to be understood as referring to a woman or girl victim.
Based on this assessment, it proposes measures to strengthen the implementation of
the convention. In proposing such measures, GREVIO has adopted the use of different verbs
which correspond to different levels of urgency. These are, in order of priority, “urge”,
“strongly encourage”, “encourage” and “invite”. GREVIO uses the verb “urge” where it
considers that immediate action is required to bring the party’s legislation or policy into
compliance with the Istanbul Convention, or to ensure its implementation. The verb “strongly
encourages” is used where GREVIO has noted shortcomings which need to be remedied in
the near future in order to ensure a comprehensive implementation of the convention. A third
level of urgency is indicated by the use of the verb “encourages”, which is used for
shortcomings that require attention, though possibly at a later stage. Lastly, the verb “invites”
points to small gaps in implementation which the party is requested to consider closing or to
proposals made to provide guidance in the implementation process.
The first (baseline) evaluation procedure is made up of several steps, each of which
allows GREVIO to obtain critical information upon which to base its report. It is carried out as
a process of confidential dialogue with the aim of offering country-specific proposals and suggestions for improvement developed within the national context of the party. These
include the following:
– submission, by the party, of a report (the state report) drawn up on the basis of
GREVIO’s baseline questionnaire (this report is, in general, made public);
– a state dialogue with representatives of the party on issues emanating from the report
on legislative and other measures giving effect to the provisions of the convention,
submitted by the authorities for consideration by GREVIO, in accordance with Article
68, paragraph 1 of the convention;
– an evaluation visit to the party under review to meet with governmental and nongovernmental representatives working in this field;
– comments by the party on GREVIO’s draft report;
– publication of GREVIO’s report after its adoption together with any comments received
from the party.
In addition, GREVIO collects additional information from various other sources,
including non-governmental organisations (NGOs), other members of civil society, national
human rights institutions, Council of Europe bodies (Parliamentary Assembly, Human Rights
Commissioner and other pertinent bodies), as well as other international treaty bodies. Within
the framework of the evaluation of Turkey, GREVIO received written contributions from the
the Istanbul Convention Monitoring Platform; the Independent Communication Network
BİANET, the Rainbow Istanbul Women’s Associations Platform (GIKAP), the Women and
Democracy Association (KADEM) and the Foundation of Support and Training for the
Women in Healthcare (KASAV).
The analysis, suggestions and proposals contained in this first baseline evaluation
report were drawn up under the exclusive responsibility of GREVIO. It covers the situation as
at 9 May 2018. Developments since that date are neither covered in the analysis nor taken
into account in the conclusions and proposals therein.
According to the convention, national parliaments shall receive this report from the
national authorities (Article 70, paragraph 2). GREVIO requests the national authorities to
translate this report into their official national language and to ensure that it is widely
disseminated, not only to the relevant state institutions at all levels (national, regional and
local), in particular to the government, the ministries and the judiciary, but also to NGOs and
other civil society organisations which work in the field of violence against women. | en_US |
