PACE: Stance of Slovak Parliament on Istanbul Convention Regrettable

Brussels/Bratislava, December 2 (TASR-corespondent) - The rejection of the Istanbul Convention by the Slovak Parliament is regrettable, Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) President Liliane Maury Pasquier declared on Monday. "We regret to learn of the renewed opposition of the Slovak Parliament to ratification of the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women, including Domestic Violence (the Istanbul Convention)," reads a press statement released by Pasquier and Béatrice Fresko-Rolfo, the Assembly"s General Rapporteur on violence against women. According to the text, the Istanbul Convention is the most ambitious international treaty designed to combat violence against women to date. "Failure by a state to ratify this Convention means that it will not bring its legislation up to the standards promoted by the Istanbul Convention, which are the most advanced to date in combating violence against women," reads the release. That would mean less protection for women and children, who are victims of violence and "fewer services to help victims, less monitoring of perpetrators and fewer convictions against them". "Finally, for the state, this means that it will not be able to benefit from strong international co-operation and exchange of good practices to address these challenges and thus put an end to violence against women and domestic violence," they added. Pasquier and Fresko-Rolfo underlined that the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe stands ready to extend co-operation to national parliaments. "We call on the Slovak Parliament to take advantage of this opportunity and our willingness to work together to better understand the scope of the Istanbul Convention, the importance of its ratification and implementation, and its very great positive potential for helping all women who are victims of violence," they concluded. mf/mcs