Source description last updated: 23 January 2020

In brief:

Group of Experts on Action against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (GREVIO) is an independent body tasked with monitoring the implementation of the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (Istanbul Convention) by the parties to this convention.

Coverage on ecoi.net:

Evaluation reports, state reports, government comments on the GREVIO report.

Covered weekly on ecoi.net, for countries of priorities A-D.

Mission/Mandate/Objectives:

GREVIO is based on the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (from here on: the Convention).

“In December 2008, the Council of Europe set up an expert committee, the Ad Hoc Committee for preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (CAHVIO) composed of the governmental representatives of Council of Europe member states. The CAHVIO met nine times and in December 2010, it finalised the draft text of the Convention which was later adopted by the Committee of Ministers and opened for signature in Istanbul on 11 May 2011.” (GREVIO website: The Negotiations, undated)

Following the ratification by 10 states parties, it entered into force on 1 August 2014.

According to Article 66 of the convention, the “Group of experts on action against violence against women and domestic violence [GREVIO] shall monitor the implementation of this Convention by the Parties.” (CoE - GREVIO: Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, Chapter IX - Monitoring mechanism, 11 May 2011, p. 19)

“[The Convention] provides that GREVIO shall have between 10 and 15 members, depending on the number of Parties to the Convention, and shall take into account a gender and geographical balance, as well as multidisciplinary expertise in the area of human rights, gender equality, violence against women and domestic violence or in the assistance to and protection of victims. GREVIO members must be nationals of the States Parties to the Convention. Integrity, competence, independence, availability and language skills (English and/or French) are the guiding principles for the nomination and election of GREVIO members. The Convention entrusted the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe to define the election procedure of the members of GREVIO.” (GREVIO website: About GREVIO - Group of Experts on Action against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, undated)

Article 68 of the convention states that “Parties shall submit to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, based on a questionnaire prepared by GREVIO, a report on legislative and other measures giving effect to the provisions of this Convention, for consideration by GREVIO.

Subsequent evaluation procedures shall be divided into rounds, the length of which is determined by GREVIO. At the beginning of each round GREVIO shall select the specific provisions on which the evaluation procedure shall be based and send out a questionnaire. […]

 

If GREVIO receives reliable information indicating a situation where problems require immediate attention to prevent or limit the scale or number of serious violations of the Convention, it may request the urgent submission of a special report concerning measures taken to prevent a serious, massive or persistent pattern of violence against women.” (CoE - GREVIO: Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, Chapter IX - Monitoring mechanism, 11 May 2011, p. 20 - 21)

Funding:

Council of Europe funds.

Scope of reporting:

Geographic focus: Council of Europe member states and states that have acceded to the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence.

Thematic focus: Violence against women and domestic violence.

Methodology:

“Evaluations are carried out on a country-by-country basis. The procedure is triggered by GREVIO when it sends its questionnaire to the state parties concerned (in accordance with its evaluation timetable). [...] According to the timetable, it will take GREVIO 17 months to complete the full procedure, from sending the questionnaire to publishing the GREVIO report. [...]

In order to make a thorough assessment of the situation on the ground, a delegation of GREVIO carries out a visit of five days, on average, to the country concerned. The delegation is generally made up of two Rapporteurs and one or two members of the Secretariat, and when necessary, specialists assist the delegation. During these visits, the delegation meets with governmental officials, relevant professionals (social workers, health care staff, police officers, prosecutors and judges etc), representatives of NGOs and other civil society interlocutors and whenever possible/necessary visit relevant facilities (for example, women’s shelters, police stations, hospital facilities). [...]

On the basis of all the information collected, GREVIO prepares the draft evaluation report, which is later discussed and approved at a subsequent GREVIO meeting. [...]

Government comments on the draft report are taken into consideration by GREVIO when finalising its report which is later adopted by GREVIO. [...]

GREVIO’s evaluation report is then transmitted to the state party concerned which once again has the opportunity to provide comments [...]

Past the deadline, the GREVIO report together with any final comments received from the state party concerned is published and transmitted to the Committee of the Parties.” (CoE - GREVIO: Steps in the first (baseline) evaluation procedure of the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul Convention), 24 November 2016 p. 2)

“Taking into account the information submitted by the Party concerned, as well as any other reliable information available to it, GREVIO may designate one or more of its members to conduct an inquiry and to report urgently to GREVIO. Where warranted and with the consent of the Party, the inquiry may include a visit to its territory.

After examining the findings of the inquiry […] GREVIO shall transmit these findings to the Party concerned and, where appropriate, to the Committee of the Parties and the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe together with any comments and recommendations.” (CoE - GREVIO: Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, Chapter IX - Monitoring mechanism, 11 May 2011, p. 20 - 21)

Language(s) of publications:

Primarily English, some documents are submitted in French.

Further reading / links:

Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence:
https://www.coe.int/en/web/conventions/full-list/-/conventions/rms/090000168008482e

Members of Council of Europe and signatures and ratifications of the Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence:
https://www.coe.int/en/web/conventions/full-list/-/conventions/treaty/210/signatures

Questionnaire on legislative and other measures giving effect to the provisions of the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (Istanbul Convention):
https://rm.coe.int/CoERMPublicCommonSearchServices/DisplayDCTMContent?documentId=09000016805c95b0

Timetable for the first (baseline) evaluation procedure from 2016 to 2023:
https://www.coe.int/en/web/istanbul-convention/timetable

All links accessed 23 January 2020.