ABSTRACT
This chapter highlights a number of the advantages brought about by the adoption of the Istanbul Convention by the Council of Europe as regards combating domestic violence. The Istanbul Convention certainly constitutes an extremely significant development as regards the movement to combat domestic violence, not least because of its symbolic importance. The couching of domestic violence as a violation not only of criminal law standards but also of human rights is important as the use of rights language in itself can be empowering. The fact that domestic violence has now been expressly included in a human rights treaty in the European context is extremely important, given that even the use of the language of rights in itself carries significant symbolic weight. Fredman comments that 'socio-economic rights are often considered to be merely aspirational, and their status as human rights doubted'.
