ABSTRACT
The Istanbul Convention is a culmination of years of Council of Europe action in relation to ending violence against women, including case law of the European Court of Human Rights. The Treaty was adopted in 2011 in Istanbul, without a vote, and constitutes the latest transnational treaty focusing on violence against women. It is the most comprehensive victim supporting regional treaty that currently exists. The Convention is made up of 81 Articles, listing specific criminal offences that constitute violence against women and girls. One of the major drawbacks of the Convention is the uneasy relationship with the concept of ‘gender’ that has entered a ‘profound ambiguity’ in relation to domestic violence. Domestic violence includes All acts of physical, sexual, psychological or economic violence that occur within the family or domestic unit or between former or current spouses or partners, whether or not the perpetrator shares or has shared the same residence with the victim.
