Context:
The Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence was adopted in Istanbul in 2011 and entered into force in Germany on 1 February 2018. Since then, the so-called Istanbul Convention (IC) has been valid federal law in Germany and must be taken into account in the interpretation of laws. However, many provisions of the IC have not been implemented, or have been inadequately implemented (cf. Alternative Report of the Istanbul Convention Alliance 2021), and are not consistently applied by courts, authorities, and other state institutions.
Provisions of the Istanbul Convention for the Coordination Body:
Article 10 of the IC obliges State Parties to establish one or more state bodies responsible for the coordination, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of policies and other measures to prevent and combat violence against women and domestic violence. Due to the federal system of the Federal Republic of Germany, the establishment of a joint coordination body can be useful to coordinate measures nationwide (cf. Explanatory Report IC, p. 53). This coordination body should ensure communication between the different departments at federal and state level, as well as their respective (co-)responsibility for combating violence against women and girls. The state coordination body should also evaluate the effectiveness of the implementation of political approaches and measures. The evaluation of approaches and measures requires close cooperation with the reporting body (Art. 11 IC) to assess their impact based on solid data. The coordination body must be able to commission corrective action if data gaps are identified. The explanatory report states that the evaluation should uncover “undesirable effects” (Istanbul Convention, p. 54) and verify whether the measures meet the needs of victims. To responsibly fulfil this obligation, a reliable cooperation structure must be created between the coordination body and civil society.
Current Situation:
The existing networking and coordination structures in the Federal Republic at federal and state level for the implementation of the IC do not yet meet these requirements. (Alternative Report of the Istanbul Convention Alliance, p. 25 ff) At the federal level, there is a complete lack of a coordination body that operates in the spirit of Article 10. There is also no uniform implementation of the Convention at state level. The coalition agreement of the ‘traffic light’ coalition announced the establishment of a state coordination body in the spirit of the Istanbul Convention. (Coalition Agreement, p. 114)
Recommendations of the Istanbul Convention Alliance:
The Alliance recommends a coordination body anchored high in the administrative hierarchy, at least at the level of state secretaries. To ensure long-term establishment, independent of the composition of the federal government, the Alliance advises a legal regulation of the coordination body’s tasks, rights, and duties. This regulation enables a clear division of tasks between all relevant departments (BMJV, BMI, BMAS, BMFSFJ, and BMG) and establishes corresponding powers of instruction for the mandatory implementation of measures, as well as participation in working groups for the implementation of the IC.
To be able to evaluate the effectiveness of political approaches and measures, the Alliance recommends making these processes transparent. For this purpose, the creation of action plans, involving all political levels of the federal system, is recommended, so that verifiable goals, concrete timelines, and a commitment to compliance with political measures are available for all affected ministries. The Bremen State Action Plan for the implementation of the Istanbul Convention sets good standards for this at state level.
The Alliance demands that civil society organisations be actively involved in the implementation of the IC through an official advisory board and included in decision-making processes, as has already proven successful in Spain (GREVIO Report on Spain). This can ensure that the implementation of the Convention is oriented towards the diverse realities of women affected by violence and is intersectionally aligned.
The Alliance also recommends that the coordination body, with the support of civil society, initiates the development of a cross-departmental political strategy that focuses on the rights of those affected. The strategy defines verifiable goals, prescribes timelines, includes clearly regulated responsibilities, and provides comprehensive financial resources.
The Istanbul Convention Alliance:
The Istanbul Convention Alliance (ICA) is an association of 25 women’s rights organisations and federal associations focusing on violence against women and girls. Since spring 2018, the Alliance has pursued the goal of accompanying, monitoring, and promoting the binding implementation of the Istanbul Convention in Germany as part of civil society, as well as strengthening public awareness of the IC.
Member Organisations: BAG Autonome Mädchenhäuser, BAG Forsa e.V., BAG kommunaler Frauenbüros, BAG Täterarbeit Häusliche Gewalt e.V., BAG Wohnungslosenhilfe e.V., Berufsverband erotische und sexuelle Dienstleistungen e.V., bff – Frauen gegen Gewalt e.V., BIG e.V., BVFeSt e.V., Cora – Frauen helfen Frauen e.V. Rostock, DaMigra e.V., Deutscher Frauenrat e.V., djb e.V., Frauenhauskoordinierung e.V., gesine intervention, JUMEN, KOK e.V., medica mondiale e.V., MIA e.V. i.G., PRO ASYL e.V., S.I.G.N.A.L. e. V., Weibernetz e. V., Zentrale Informationsstelle Autonomer Frauenhäuser
Advisory Experts: Prof. Dr. Ariane Brenssell, Ostfalia University of Applied Sciences Braunschweig/Wolfenbüttel; Karin Heisecke, political consultant and expert on violence against women; Dr. Monika Schröttle, Research and Monitoring Centre for Gender, Violence, Human Rights (FOBES) at the Institute for Empirical Sociology, Nuremberg; Prof. Dr. Kathrin Schrader Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences
Contact for the Alliance: Xenia Bukowsky, Coordinator Istanbul Convention Alliance, 030 204569- 45, bukowsky@frauenrat.de
