On Wednesday, June 28, the European Union ratified the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence. The document is known as the Istanbul Convention.

Council of Europe Secretary General Marija Pejčinović-Burić announced this on Twitter. She called the event a very good day for Europe.

"I welcome today's EU ratification of the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, known as the 'Istanbul Convention': a very good day for Europe," wrote the Council of Europe secretary general.

Recall that Ukraine completed ratification of the Istanbul Convention almost a year ago. Our country signed this document back in 2011, but could not ratify for another 11 years because of the protests of churches and conservative politicians. The Verkhovna Rada approved the Istanbul Convention on June 20, 2022.

The full name of the Istanbul Convention is the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence. It is an international agreement of the Council of Europe, ratified by 36 countries.

It is the first document legally binding to establish a legal framework to combat violence against women. Countries that have joined the convention must criminalize psychological violence, stalking, physical and sexual violence, forced marriage, forced abortion and sterilization.

The Convention was opened for signature on May 11, 2011 in Istanbul and entered into force on August 1, 2014. Turkey was the first country to ratify the Convention on March 12, 2012, followed by 36 more countries from 2013 to 2022.

The EU acceded to the Istanbul Convention back in 2017, but was unable to ratify it due to the refusal of some member states. They stated that ratification was only possible with unanimous consent. However, in 2021, the Court of Justice of the EU denied this statement.

Interestingly, in March 2021, Turkey revoked its signature and ratification of the Istanbul Convention with the wording it used to "normalize homosexuality.

The fact is that the convention is designed to protect women first and foremost, because they suffer most from domestic violence. But not only men can be rapists, so the convention protects the rights of all victims on any ground such as "sex, gender, race, color, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, national minority, property, birth, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, health, disability, marital status, migrant or refugee status or other status".

That is, it is the word "gender," which has frightened conservatives the most all these years. Since gender does not mean biological sex, but rather how one feels, not only in Turkey, but in other countries as well, they fear that it will lead to the legalization of same-sex marriage and the penetration of so-called "gender ideology" into society.

As OBOZREVATEL reported, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine ratified the Istanbul Convention on June 20. The next day, June 21, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed the law on the ratification of the Istanbul Convention. He stressed that our state shares European values.

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