Inter-ministerial working group for preparation Bulgaria to ratify the Istanbul Convention

Today, 29.03.2016, the Gender Alternatives Foundation team received an invitation to present a representative to take part in an Inter-ministerial working group which aim is to prepare the necessary conditions for the ratification of the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women, including domestic violence (the Istanbul Convention).

The invitation came from the Ministry of Justice.

The ratification of the Istanbul Convention was discussed by the Bulgarian authorities during the Universal Periodic Review (7 of May 2015, Geneva, Switzerland) and was later discussed by the Bulgarian Government to become a fact during the Bulgarian chairmanship of the Committee of the Ministers of the Council of Europe.

GAF was actively involved in the process of motivating the Bulgarian authorities to ratify the Istanbul Convention giving its importance for the protection of the rights of women against gender based violence. Our last step in the process was to present a Shadow report during the 23rd UPR session (7 of May 2015, Geneva, Switzerland).

The Report could be found here.The Report could be found here.