International Law and Violence Against Women: Europe and the Istanbul Convention (Routledge Research in Human Rights Law)

Description

This book offers an in-depth and critical analysis of the Istanbul Convention, along with discussions on its impact and implications. The work highlights the place of the Convention in the landscape of international law and policies on violence against women and equality. The authors argue that the Convention with its emphasis on integrated and comprehensive policies has an important role in promoting equality, but they also note the debates on “genderism” that the Convention has triggered in some member states. The book analyses central concepts of the Convention, including violence, gender and due diligence. It takes up major commitments of the parties to the Convention, including support and services to victims, criminal law provisions and protection of migrant women against violence. The book thus makes a major contribution to the development of national laws, policies and practice. It provides a valuable guide for policy-makers, students and academics in international human rights law, criminal and social law, social policy, social work and gender studies. Cover Half Title Series Page Title Page Copyright Page Table of Contents Notes on Editors Notes on Contributors Acknowledgements Abbreviations Table of cases International Court of Justice European Court of Human Rights CEDAW Committee UN Human Rights Committee European Committee of Social Rights Court of Justice of the European Union The Inter- American Court of Human Rights Nuremberg Military Tribunal National Case Law Table of legislation International Treaties European Union Law National Legislation Introduction: the Istanbul Convention as a response to violence against women in Europe 1 Background 2 Violence against women in international law 3 Drafting of the Istanbul Convention 4 Scope and goals of the Convention 5 Three Ps policy 6 International dimensions 7 Impact 8 Aims and organisation of the book Part I Context and role 1 The Istanbul Convention in the context of feminist claims 1 Introduction 2 Feminisms in Europe and the adoption of the Istanbul Convention 3 Contemporary feminist claims and their reception in the Convention 4 Conclusions 2 Unleashing the gender equality potential of the Istanbul Convention 1 Introduction 2 Strong potential to combat subordinating gender stereotypes and prejudices 3 Increasing the potential to enhance women’s political and socio-economic power 4 Conclusion 3 The Istanbul Convention as an interpretative tool at the European and national levels 1 Introduction 2 The provisions of the Istanbul Convention as “relevant rules of international law” 3 The Istanbul Convention as a tool for interpreting EU law 4 The Istanbul Convention as a tool for interpreting national law 5 Concluding remarks Part II Concepts 4 The concepts of gender and violence in the Istanbul Convention 1 Introduction 2 Theory, method and data 3 Defining VAW and gender in the Istanbul Convention 4 Prevention: trust on education 5 Protection and support 6 Criminal law 7 Ambiguous rules on the criminal procedure 8 Conclusion 5 Due diligence versus positive obligations: critical reflections on the Council of Europe Convention on Violence against Women 1 Introduction 2 Due diligence, omissions and positive obligations 3 Due diligence contrasted to positive human rights obligations 4 Conclusion Part III Criminal law responses 6 The Istanbul Convention on sexual offences: a duty to reform the wording of national law or the way we think? 1 Introduction 2 Sexual violence 3 Sexual harassment 4 Conclusion 7 Exploring intersectionality: female genital mutilation/cutting in the Istanbul Convention 1 Introduction 2 Exploring intersectionality in anti-racist feminist literature 3 FGM/C in Europe 4 An intersectional approach to FGM/C in the IC 5 (Provisional) conclusions 8 Forced sterilisation in the Istanbul Convention: remedies, intersectional discrimination and cis-exclusiveness 1 Introduction 2 Background: the Holocaust and international criminal law 3 Forced sterilisation before the European Court of Human Rights 4 The Istanbul Convention: forced sterilisation as gender-based violence 5 Conclusion Part IV Victim services 9 The right to adequate housing of battered women: the added value of the Istanbul Convention? 1 Introduction 2 The right to adequate housing in human rights law 3 Housing solutions for battered women 4 The link between the right to housing and domestic violence 5 Potential of the Istanbul Convention concerning theright to housing of battered women 6 Conclusion 10 Support to battered women in Sweden: non-profits and public authorities collaborating, counteracting and competing 1 Introduction: from private to public to multiple conflicts 2 Conceptualisations of violence 3 Support for battered women: female separatism or cooperation? 4 Support for battered women: sisterhood or professionalism? 5 Conclusion: dilemmas of institutionalisation Part V Migration and asylum 11 Protection beyond victimisation: the significance of the Istanbul Convention for migrant women 1 Introduction 2 The obligations to prevent violence against women 3 Immigration law as a source of vulnerability to violence 4 Concluding observations 12 Gender-based violence against women and international protection needs: the contribution of the Istanbul Convention 1 Introduction 2 Specific challenges regarding gender-based persecution 3 Violence against women as grounds for asylum in the Istanbul Convention 4 Conclusions Part VI National responses to the Convention 13 The Istanbul Convention in Poland: between the “war on gender” and legal reform 1 Introduction 2 Historical and social background: gender (in)equality in Poland 3 Polish accession to the Istanbul Convention and the launch of the “war on gender” 4 Implications of the Istanbul Convention for domestic law: sexual violence 5 Implications of the Istanbul Convention for Polish law: domestic violence 6 Conclusions 14 Reservations and declarations under the Istanbul Convention 1 Introduction 2 Permissible and invalid reservations under the Istanbul Convention 3 The Istanbul Convention procedure for reservations and declarations 4 State practice concerning (interpretative) declarations 5 Conclusions Index