Delegation of the Parliament of Montenegro to PACE notes with satisfaction that Montenegro belongs to the group of the first 11 States where the Convention enters into force, which is yet another proof of our commitment to achieving its goal.

Istanbul Convention is the first legally binding international instrument that provides a comprehensive set of measures to prevent and combat violence against women and domestic violence.

With this Convention violence against women is defined as a violation of human rights and a form of discrimination against women. The Convention requires full commitment of member States to prevention, protection, prosecution and sanctioning of acts of violence.

State Partiesto the Convention are obliged to take all necessary legislative and other measures to adopt and implement effective, comprehensive and coordinated national policies that included preventing and combating all forms of violence covered by the Convention, in a way that rights of victims were at the center of all measures and achieved through the effective cooperation of all relevant authorities, institutions and organizations.

With the entry into force of this Convention, also begun an obligation of Montenegro for taking the necessary legislative and other measures to facilitate and provide, with appropriate geographical distribution, the necessary short-term and long-term specialist support services for any victim who had been exposed to any form of violence covered by the Convention, as well as creation of appropriate easily accessible shelters in sufficient numbers, to secure accommodation and proactive assistance to victims of violence, particularly women and their children.

On this day, apart from Montenegro, the Convention has entered into force in ten other countries, namely: Albania, Andorra, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Denmark, Italy, Portugal, Serbia, Spain and Turkey. It will enter into force in France and Switzerland on 1 November 2014.Aside from these, 23 more countries signed the Convention, but have not ratified it yet.

Convention provides for the establishment of the Expert Group on combating violence against women and domestic violence, which will monitor the implementation of the Convention by the member States.

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe will also regularly monitor the implementation of the Convention by the member States. 

Network Women Free from Violence was established in the Council of Europe. The network consists of 51 MPs belonging to member States and observer states of the PACE. Promotion of the Istanbul Convention is one of the main goals of the Network, headed by a political coordinator, Mr Mendes Bota, and the representative of Montenegro in this Network is Ms Snežana Jonica.