The Istanbul Convention, also known as the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, is based on the understanding that states must fully address gender-based violence in all its forms and take measures to prevent such violence, protect the victims and prosecute the perpetrators.
GREVIO has only recently launched its first (baseline) evaluation of the Convention and Portugal is the seventh state party to undergo the procedure.
The GREVIO delegation was led by GREVIO’s Second Vice-President, Simona Lanzoni and GREVIO member, Vesna Ratkovic and supported by two specialists: Garden Court barrister, Malek Wan Daud and Chief Executive of Standing Together Against Domestic Violence, UK, Anthony Wills. A member of the Council of Europe Secretariat based in Strasbourg also formed part of the group.
Meetings were held with several public institutions and ministries, including the Commission for Citizenship and Gender Equality, the High Commission for Migration, the Ministries of Labour, Solidarity and Social Security, Justice, Internal Affairs, Education and Health, etc. Meetings with civil society and NGOs included representatives of specialist support services and lawyers practicing in the field.
GREVIO plans to publish its evaluation report by early 2019.
Malek Wan Daud is a member of the Garden Court Chambers Family Team.
