ABSTRACT
The chapter examines the background to the adoption of the Istanbul Convention. It analyses the development of domestic violence as a policy issue within the Council of Europe. Since 2007 the European Court of Human Rights has built up a substantial body of jurisprudence on domestic violence. In 2007 the European Court directly and substantively addressed the issue of domestic violence for the first time in Kontrova v Slovakia. In December 2008 the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe subsequently established an Ad Hoc Committee on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (CAHVIO). A Task Force to Combat Violence against Women, including Domestic Violence, was subsequently established in early 2006. Citizens should be encouraged, through educational programmes, 'to accept their responsibilities, and take positive steps to reduce and prevent domestic violence in society'.
