Agenda item

PROPOSED BY:     COUNCILLOR BOWEN-THOMPSON

SECONDED BY:     COUNCILLOR SAEED EBRAHIM

Istanbul Convention - Ending Violence Against Women, Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence Motion

In 2012, the UK signed the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, known as the Istanbul Convention.

The Convention compels states to prevent violence against women, protect its victims and prosecute the perpetrators, whilst establishing robust monitoring to ensure the effective implementation.

This Council welcomes the UK Government’s commitment to ratify the Istanbul Convention by 31^st July 2022. This has taken over 10 years, but is a welcome step toward ending all forms of violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence. However, it is extremely concerning that this UK Government is not ratifying all aspects of the Istanbul Convention.  The UK Government have refused to include provisions aimed at protecting migrant women and children. The reservations that come with this Government’s proposed ratifications will undermine the safety of migrant survivors.

This motion calls on the Council to recognise that:

The protection from violence against women applies to all women

The protection from domestic violence applies to all victims

The reservations that this UK Government have attached with the proposed ratifications is contrary to the work undertaken through the Cardiff Race Equality Taskforce and the Community Safety Partnership that is supported by this Council

The inclusion of the reservations placed on article 4(3) and 59, whereby a migrant survivor would be excluded from life-saving support, goes against the principles of equality and non-discrimination

Further, that this Council will:

Write to the UK Government requesting full ratification of the Istanbul Convention

Write to Welsh Government requesting support for full ratification of the Istanbul Convention reflecting Wales’ ambition to become the world’s first Nation of Sanctuary

Commit to use its full powers to prevent and combat all forms of violence against women, domestic violence and sexual violence.