Purposes of the Convention protect women against all forms of violence, and prevent, prosecute and eliminate violence against women and domestic violence; contribute to the elimination of all forms of violence against women and promote substantive equality between women and men, including empowering women; design a comprehensive framework, policies and measures for the protection of and assistance to all victims of violence against women and domestic violence; promote international co-operation with a view to eliminating violence against women and domestic violence; provide support and assistance to organisations and law enforcement agencies to affectively co-operate in order to adopt an integrated approach to eliminating violence against women and domestic violence.

Prevention Governments that agree to be bound by the Convention will have to do the following: train professionals in close contact with victims; regularly run awareness-raising campaigns; take steps to include issues such as gender equality and non-violent conflict resolution in interpersonal relationships in teaching material; set up treatment programmes for perpetrators of domestic violence and for sex offenders; work closely with NGOs; involve the media and the private sector in eradicating gender stereotypes and promoting mutual respect.

Protection Some examples of measures include: Granting the police the power to remove a perpetrator of domestic violence from his or her home: In situations of immediate danger, the police need to be able to guarantee the safety of the victim. Setting up easily accessible shelters in sufficient numbers and in an adequate geographical distribution: Victims come from a wide range of social realities. Making available state-wide 24/7 telephone helplines free of charge: Specialised helplines for victims of violence against women and domestic violence can direct the victims to the services they need. They are essential in offering immediate expert advice and pointing victims towards safety. It should be borne in mind that it is not enough to set up protection structures and support services for victims. It is equally important to make sure victims are informed of their rights and know where and how to get help.

Prosecution State Parties will have to: introduce a number of new offenses where they do not exist. These may include: psychological and physical violence, sexual violence and rape, stalking, female genital mutilation, forced marriage, forced abortion and forced sterilisation. take a range of measures to ensure the effective investigation of any allegation of violence against women and domestic violence. This means that the law enforcement agencies will have to respond to calls for help, collect evidence and assess the risk of further violence to adequately protect the victim. carry out judicial proceedings in a manner that respects the rights of victims at all stages of the proceedings and that avoid secondary victimisation.

Monitoring Aims to assess and improve the implementation of the Convention by Parties. It consists of two distinct, but interacting, bodies: an independent expert body, the Group of Experts on Action against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (GREVIO); a political body, the Committee of the Parties. GREVIO will draw up and publish reports evaluating legislative and other measures taken by the Parties to give effects to the provisions of the Convention. In March 2016, GREVIO adopted a questionnaire on legislative and other measures giving effect to the provisions of the Convention.

GREVIO Questionnaire Investigation, prosecution and procedural law and protective measures (Chapter VI of the Convention, Articles 49 to 58): 1. Please provide information on measures adopted to ensure a prompt and appropriate response from law enforcement agencies to all forms of violence covered by the Convention by offering adequate and immediate protection to women victims (Article 50). 2. Please provide any available administrative data (see section I. Introduction) on the number of interventions carried out annually by law enforcement agencies in relation to violence against women. What procedures have been put in place to ensure that an assessment of the lethality risk, the seriousness of the situation and the risk of repeated violence is carried out by all relevant authorities and duly taken into account at all stages of the investigation and the application of protective measures.