Europe campaigns to end violence against women

The Council of Europe today launched a campaign to eliminate violence against women, calling for such human rights abuses to be criminalised, victims protected and perpetrators punished.

The campaign, and a conference in Spain’s Senate bringing together hundreds of experts, began with a minute’s silence for the latest victim of domestic abuse in Spain, a 43-year-old woman who was stabbed to death by her ex-husband in Seville on Sunday. She was the 62nd person to die so far this year in Spain as result of domestic abuse.

Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero presided over the opening ceremony, accompanied by Council of Europe Secretary General Terry Davis and an array of government ministers and officials from the Strasbourg-based council, which is Europe’s leading human rights organisation.

“Women suffering from domestic violence are not only victims of abuse, they are also victims of silence, victims of indifference and victims of neglect,” Davis said.

Davis said the campaign was aimed at getting governments and the public to take the problem more seriously.

“The slogan of the Campaign is ’Stop Domestic Violence’,” he said. “This is the message to governments, who must meet their political, legislative and administrative obligations to prevent domestic violence, help the victims and punish the perpetrators.

The 46-nation council chose Spain to launch the campaign in recognition of the Zapatero government’s efforts to crack down on domestic violence, including a 2004 law that toughens penalties against men who commit domestic violence and appoints special judges to investigate suspected cases, among other measures.

Zapatero, who has described domestic violence as Spain’s “greatest national disgrace,” said 40 courts dealing specifically with domestic violence had been set up and the number of police agents who work with abused women boosted by nearly 90 percent to some 1,400.

He said that since the law was passed, women had filed some 150,000 complaints of violence and 5,000 had direct communication links with police.

The Socialist leader promised additional measures in December.

“We hope that the day is not long off when the last woman will have died at the hands of her partner,” said Zapatero. “That the day is near in which for the last time a woman is threatened and she doesn’t feel support from around her or able to face up to her aggressor and denounce him.”

The Council of Europe says the campaign will run until 2008 and work through governments, parliaments and regional and local authorities, creating partnerships with leading NGOs to ensure wide-ranging action.

Council studies show 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.