Alliance Istanbul Convention on Budgetary Discussions: END TO THE RUG - WE NEED AN OVERALL CONCEPT TO COMBAT VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

On the occasion of the current budget deliberations in the German Bundestag, the Istanbul Convention Alliance is calling for an overall concept to combat violence against women. Above all, this includes a government coordinating agency and an independent, statutory monitoring agency. Because so far the measures for prevention and protection against gender-specific violence have been a patchwork quilt; the cooperation between the federal, state and local governments and the various responsible ministries is inadequate.
The Istanbul Convention is a human rights agreement of the Council of Europe to combat gender-based violence against women and girls and has been in force in Germany since February 2018 - unfortunately still with reservations about the rights of migrants. This goes hand in hand with the obligation to take extensive measures to prevent and sanction violence and to protect against violence. The implementation of the convention requires an overall concept that is continuously checked and controlled. However, the structures for this are still lacking in Germany.
The alliance of the Istanbul Convention therefore calls for a state coordination office to be in place to organize communication between the various ministries at federal and state level as well as their respective (joint) responsibility for combating violence against women. This position must have a clear mandate, be firmly anchored in the administrative hierarchy and be secured with a sufficient budget.
The Istanbul Convention also requires that coordinated measures to combat and protect against violence are constantly monitored. The alliance therefore calls for an independent monitoring body on a legal basis. This should continuously monitor and evaluate the implementation of the agreement and provide advice on improving political practice. To do this, it must take a look at statistics from authorities and institutions and conduct or commission its own research. Such a position needs sufficient and long-term secured financial and human resources in order to be able to fulfill its extensive tasks.
We demand that the federal budget 2020 includes appropriate funds for both the state coordination agency and the independent monitoring agency. Because only with these two bodies can Germany fully meet the requirements of the Istanbul Convention. We also demand that civil society organizations are appropriately involved in the committees of both bodies and that they are able to bring their longstanding and well-founded practical knowledge to the work.
The following women's rights organizations and other federal associations with a focus on violence against women have joined forces in the Istanbul Convention Alliance. We pursue the goal of promoting and monitoring the implementation of this exemplary international convention as a civil society.

BAG Forsa e. V., BAG perpetrator work e. V., bff e. V., BIG e. V., DaMigra e. V., DF e. V., djb e. V., Women's Refuge Coordination e. V., gesine intervention, JUMEN, KOK e. V., SIGNAL e. V., Weibernetz e. V., ZIF