Panorama.am

18:34 24/11/06

Council of Europe launches European campaign to stop
violence against women in the home

Domestic violence must be criminalised, victims
protected and perpetrators punished across Europe,
says the Council of Europe.The call comes as Europe
marks the UN’s International Day for the Elimination
of Violence against Women. It is also the prelude to a
major conference on the subject in Madrid, Spain,
where the 46 member Council will launch a campaign
aimed at stopping a major human rights abuse. (Monday
27 Madrid, in the Spanish Senate)

The launch ceremony will include Spanish Prime
Minister José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and Senate
President Francisco Javier Rojo García and, from the
Council of Europe, Secretary General Terry Davis,
Committee of Ministers Chair Fiorenzo Stolfi,
Parliamentary Assembly President René van der Linden
and Ian Micallef, President of the Chamber of Local
Authorities of the Congress of Local and Regional
Authorities.

The campaign will run until 2008 and was devised when
the Council’s 2005 Warsaw summit demanded immediate
action in the face of widespread violence to women in
Europe. It will work through governments, parliaments
and regional and local authorities, creating
partnerships with leading NGOs to ensure wide-ranging
action. The Campaign aims to make the public aware of
the extent of violence to women and to encourage new
laws and practices to stop violence.

Figures gathered by the Council show that violence
happens in every European country. Although statistics
are difficult to compare from country to country
because of the different research methods, studies for
individual countries show:

* across countries one fifth to one quarter of all
women have experienced physical violence at least once
during their lives, and more than one-tenth have
suffered sexual violence

* Figures for all forms of violence, including
stalking, are as high as 45%. * Most violent acts
against women are carried out by men in the immediate
social environment, most often partners and
ex-partners.

* It is estimated that about 12% to 15% of all women
have been in a relationship of domestic abuse after
the age of 16. * The cost to society of domestic
violence is enormous. Studies in individual countries
have ranged from 2.4 billion euros per year in Spain,
to 34 billion euros in the UK.

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