Enforcing the Istanbul Convention and its impact on White Ribbon UK

November is an important month for us. On November 1st 2022, the 2011 Istanbul Convention comes into effect in the UK. The Convention sets out standards that European countries should have in their legislation that aim to prevent and combat violence against women and girls. By agreeing to the Convention, the UK joins a host of other countries in being legally accountable for meeting these standards.

The Convention discusses measures to help bring an end to violence against women and girls, and any government who signed the agreement are expected to implement these measures if they are not already in place. Since the UK signed the agreement in 2012, it has strengthened its legal framework, and is now satisfied that it meets the requirements of the Convention. The Istanbul Convention focuses on four areas of action, also known as the four “Ps”:

• Preventing violence against women, including training professionals, providing education, offering treatment programmes for perpetrators, and running awareness campaigns.

• Protecting victims of violence, including setting up enough shelters for victims of violence, and making available state-wide 24/7 telephone helplines free of charge.

• Prosecuting perpetrators, such as the introduction of new offenses that do not currently exist which may include psychological violence, stalking, and forced abortion. There will be no reason not to prosecute perpetrators for these offences once implemented.

• Co-ordinated policies, involving government agencies, non-governmental organisations and local authorities working together to prevent and tackle violence against women and girls at levels of government.

The Istanbul Convention recognises that governments cannot prevent violence alone and calls upon members of society, particularly men and boys, to do what they can to help – and this is where White Ribbon comes in. White Ribbon’s work is preventative, and we aim to end violence before it starts by reducing the overall likelihood of men and boys from becoming a perpetrator.

We believe that we need to change what it means to be a man, reduce the pressure on men and boys to conform to restrictive ideas of masculinity, and create a more gender equal society. At White Ribbon we feel a vital way to achieve this is for men to challenge dominant masculine norms, to speak out against violence towards women, and promote gender equality. We provide education to men and boys, organisations, and decision makers about what violence is, its root causes and the impact that it has on gender equality.

White Ribbon also run awareness campaigns on what constitutes as violence, and the link between dominant masculine norms, gender inequality and violence against women. #TheGoal, this year’s White Ribbon Day campaign, is a great example of this as it aims to unite men and boys to think about how they can make a positive difference to achieve equality and safety for women and girls.

White Ribbon Day 2022 could not be timelier – falling on November 25th – it shares the same week as the start of the FIFA men’s World Cup in Qatar. What’s more, after the Istanbul Convention comes into effect, the government will be compelled to play on our side. It truly feels as though there has never been a better time for us to come together – whether it’s the government, local authority, charity or individual – and play as a team to end violence against women and girls once and for all.

Make the White Ribbon Promise to never use, excuse or remain silent about men’s violence against women. You can do this on our website here: www.whiteribbon.org.uk/promise