The UK government has finally ratified the Istanbul Convention on violence against women!

These are the words we have long dreamt of writing since the moment we launched the campaign late after work one evening in 2014.

Over a decade since the UK signed the Convention in 2012 and 8 years of campaigning from IC Change and others, the UK ratified it on 21 July 2022. It entered into force and became official on 1 November 2022.

Ratification is a big step towards improved support for survivors, access to justice, effective prosecution of perpetrators and gender equality.

The Istanbul Convention is internationally commended as the “gold standard” approach to tackling violence against women. It is a powerful tool that sets minimum standards for a State’s approach, covering protection, prosecution, prevention, and integrated policies.

Journey to ratification

There has been a real journey to get to this point.The campaign for the Istanbul Convention did not start with IC Change and it does not end with us.

From our very humble beginnings setting up the campaign at dining room tables and in hospital beds, our resources stayed modest - IC Change has always been a group of volunteers driven by a passion for all women to be able to live free from violence and free from the fear of violence.

We saw how transformative the Istanbul Convention could be for women - especially survivors - across the UK and could not settle for anything less.

Some of our personal campaign highlights include:

• Growing and getting to work with our our coalition of 80+ formidable women’s rights organisations;
• Building cross-party support in the House of Commons and the House of Lords and partnering with parliamentarians as committed (stubborn?) as us to securing the Convention;
• Seeing our petition grow to 19,000+ signatures;
• Rocking up at the Home Office to deliver to deliver a motivational mixtape and a 4 ft card to the Home Secretary to urge the Government to hurry up and ratify;
• Seeing multiple domestic laws change to align the UK with the Istanbul Convention (e.g. through the Domestic Abuse Act in England and Wales and Domestic Abuse and Civil Proceedings Act in Northern Ireland).
• Helping to secure the Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence (Ratification of Convention) Act 2017, Eilidh Whiteford’s Private Member’s Bill which succeeded despite the odds, requiring the Government to set out a timetable for ratification of the Convention and report annually on progress towards ratification.

Thank you!

To survivors who bravely shared their stories and raised their voices: your strength and courage have changed her-story. And for those who could not because the change did not come soon enough, we honour you.

To our supportive MPs and peers: thank you for every question you tabled, vote you cast, early day motion you signed, letter you wrote to a Minister, campaign board photo you had taken, and every conversation behind the scenes to build support in your party and networks. Thank you especially to Gavin Newlands and Baroness Gale for your unwavering support and dedication.

To the fearsome organisations in the coalition: thank you for all your wisdom and work to shape the path that brought us here, every social media post, newsletter article, blog, supporter email, signature on a letter, policy submission, and every message of encouragement along the way.

To individuals who signed a petition and wrote to their MP and posted on social media: every single action helped create this change.

To the co-directors and for volunteers past and present: for all your time, energy, snacks, wisdom, love and perseverance, thank you. You have made the seemingly impossible happen.

We did this together.

Use the Istanbul Convention to create change

The Istanbul Convention is not just a piece of paper or a certificate that we can archive and say ‘job done’. Ratification is just the beginning of creating change so that we can move closer to a country where violence and abuse are not a constant threat and reality for women.

The Istanbul Convention is the line in the sand. The minimum standards that we can hold any Government to account on.

We urge you to use the Istanbul Convention as the powerful survivor-centred tool it was designed to be. Use it in your advocacy to make sure that in the current climate we don’t lose what we’ve got, rather we strengthen it. Use it to make sure women’s lives, safety, respect and equality don’t get filed away in the ‘not important’ ‘not now’ drawer.

The Government will have to report regularly on its implementation. Get involved in the review process and keep the pressure up for the Government to strive towards and beyond the standards set out in the Convention.

Please support migrant women

As we mark the milestone of ratification, the moment is bittersweet.

When they ratified, the Government placed reservations on two key articles (44 and 59) which provide life-saving support and protection, with migrant women particularly impacted.

This move reinforces the power of the perpetrators, and increases the risk faced by migrant survivors. It creates a two-tier system of support where migrant women are given lesser status and protections.

It is important for movements to celebrate steps forward but we must also not compromise.

When our sisters are excluded and cut off from vital protections, we can’t sit by and let this happen. The power of the Convention lies in its protection of all women and girls without discrimination.

That’s why we’re calling on the UK Government to remove the reservations.

All women deserve to be safe. All women means all women.

How you can help

We therefore call on you from the bottom of our hearts to give your full support to our sisters at Southall Black Sisters (SBS) and Latin American Women Rights Service (LAWRS) as they now take the lead in campaigning for the reservations to be removed.

As we step back and hand over to our sisters to take forward the cause, we urge you to support by:

• Signing up here to pledge your support for the advocacy of SBS and LAWRS to ensure that the Government’s reservations are removed and migrant women have access to the life-saving support and protection they need. They will then keep you updated with their advocacy and let you know how you can support moving forward.
• Tweeting a photo of yourself showing your support with a campaign board. Here is a sample Tweet you could use/ adapt:

I’m in solidarity with @SBSisters @lawrsuk & @ICChangeUK as they mark the ratification of the #IstanbulConvention & call the Govt to remove the #IstanbulConvention reservations so that migrant women are not cut off from vital protections #AllWomenMeansAllWomen

Download the campaign board to print here - or download and attach a digital version of the campaign board here.

Thank you again for all your support in helping us secure this landmark treaty for women.

Please now go forward and use the legal tool and framework of the Istanbul Convention to strengthen the UK’s approach to addressing violence against women - so that one day women and girls can live lives free from violence.

With love and deep thanks,

Robyn, Kathryn and the IC Change team