European Leading Legal Principles of Combating Gender based Violence : “Istanbul Convention”

Abstract

The paper is dealing with the new European leading legal principles of combating gender based violence, more specifically, the new Council of Europe (CoE) Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul Convention set up by the CoE CAHVIO Committee and obtained the title according to the place of its signing), which entered into force on the 1st of August 2014. In this context, concept of gender based violence is analyzed through wider prism of relevant international law. In the Council of Europe’s (CoE) Istanbul Convention, violence against women, i.e. gender based violence has been recognized as a form of discrimination and a violation of women’s human rights. The term “gender-based violence against women” is used throughout the Istanbul Convention and refers to violence that is directed against a woman because she is a woman or that affects women disproportionately. It differs from other types of violence in that the victim’s gender is the primary motive for the acts of violence. Gender-based violence refers to any harm that is perpetrated against a woman and that is both the cause and the result of unequal power relations based on perceived differences between women and men that lead to women’s subordinate status in both the private and public spheres. The Istanbul Convention of the CoE is open for the accession of non-member states of the Council of Europe, which builds its legal principles into global level. CoE Istanbul Convention has set legally binding principles in the field of prevention, protection of victims of domestic and gender-based violence and prosecution of perpetrators. Reflection on direct regulations on investigation, prosecution and protection of victims in the area of fighting gender-based and domestic violence explains concrete obligations for countries signatories of the Istanbul Convention. According to the Convention, through legally established due diligence principle, it is the duty of governments to protect women and girls as their citizens against this sort of violence and, above all, to prevent it. A historic milestone in the 21st century. Besides their direct obligations for states signatories of the CoE Istanbul Convention, those principles contain specific deterrent effect, through setting legal standards that are comprehensive legal framework in Europe for achieving zero tolerance towards gender-based and domestic violence.

Rad se bavi novim evropskim vodećim pravnim principima borbe protiv rodno zasnovanog nasilja, konkretnije novom Konvencijom Saveta Evrope o prevenciji i borbi protiv nasilja nad ženama i nasilja u porodici (Konvencija iz Istanbula koju je uspostavio CAHVIO Komitet Saveta Evrope, dobila naziv prema mestu potpisivanja), a koja je stupila na snagu 1. avgusta 2014. godine. U tom kontekstu, koncept rodno zasnovanog nasilja analiziran je kroz širu prizmu relevantnog međunarodnog prava. U Istanbul Konvenciji Saveta Evrope (SE), nasilje nad ženama, tj. rodno zasnovano nasilje prepoznato je kao oblik diskriminacije i kršenja ljudskih prava žena. Termin „rodno zasnovano nasilje nad ženama“ koristi se u Istanbulskoj konvenciji i odnosi se na nasilje koje je usmereno protiv žene, jer je ona žena ili koja pogađa žene nesrazmerno. To se razlikuje od drugih vrsta nasilja, jer je pol žrtve primarni motiv za nasilje. Rodno zasnovano nasilje se odnosi na bilo kakvu štetu koju trpi žena i što je uzrok i rezultat neravnopravnih odnosa moći zasnovanih na percepiranim razlikama između žena i muškaraca koji dovode do podređenog statusa žena u privatnoj i javnoj sferi. Istanbulska konvencija Saveta Evrope otvorena je za pristupanje I nečlanicama Saveta Evrope, te time svoje pravne principe podiže na globalni nivo. Konvencija Saveta Evrope, koja je potpisana u Turskoj, postavila je pravno obavezujuće principe u oblasti prevencije, zaštite žrtava porodičnog nasilja i nasilja na rodno zasnovanoj osnovi, kao i principe krivičnog gonjenja počinilaca. Analiza propisa o istrazi, krivičnom gonjenju i zaštiti žrtava u borbi protiv nasilja u porodici i rodno zasnovanog nasilja objašnjava konkretne obaveze za zemlje potpisnice Istanbulske konvencije. Prema Konvenciji, putem uspostavljenog pravnog načela obaveze dužne pažnje, dužnost države je da zaštiti žene i devojke kao svoje građane protiv ovakvog nasilja i, pre svega, da ga spreče. To je istorijska prekretnica u 21. veku. Pored direktnih obaveza za države potpisnice Istanbul Konvencije, pravni principi sadrže i specifičan odvraćajućii efekat, postavljanjem pravnih standarda koji su sveobuhvatni pravni okvir u Evropi za postizanje nulte tolerancije prema rodno zasnovanom nasilju i nasilju u porodici.