ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a detailed analysis of the text of the Istanbul Convention itself, with a particular focus on the provisions that relate to domestic violence. It analyses the approach adapted by the Istanbul Convention to defining domestic violence. The need to raise awareness within society as a whole is recognised in the Istanbul Convention. The language of the Istanbul Convention is certainly by no means gender-neutral. In 2005 the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) stated that the term 'domestic violence' meant 'any criminal offence arising out of physical, sexual, psychological, emotional or financial abuse by one person against a current or former partner in a close relationship, or against a current or former family member'. On 20 August 2014 the government announced its plans to consult on reconciling the criminal law in England and Wales with the Home Office definition of domestic violence by criminalising coercive control.
