The member organisations of the Istanbul Convention Alliance (BIK) monitor the implementation of the ‘Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence’ in Germany. The so-called Istanbul Convention was adopted by the Council of Europe in 2011 and entered into force in this country in 2018. The articles of the Convention include requirements for the provision and funding of protection and support measures and spaces for victims of gender-based and domestic violence, as well as their children.
In light of the socio-political and legal developments that have also emerged in Germany since the adoption of the Convention, it is necessary to specify and define the term ‘gender-based violence’ and the groups of people structurally affected by it. A clarification is needed as to who must be entitled to such protection – moving beyond a binary gender framework as conceived at the time the Convention was drafted. To this end, the Istanbul Convention Alliance has agreed on a definition.
