Press release – 831(2008)
Strasbourg, 24.11.2008 – On the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women tomorrow, Council of Europe Secretary General Terry Davis today called on states to improve support services for victims.
“Our responsibility does not stop at adopting laws. We need to create minimum standards for services to support women victims of violence”, he said.
The Council of Europe today published two studies which address two of the organisation´s objectives to combat violence against women: support and protection of victims, and arrangements for the systematic collection of statistical data.
The study “Combating violence against women: minimum standards for support services “ by Prof. Liz Kelly and Lorna Dubois points out that the availability and quality of services vary considerably within and between states, and that even the provision of shelters, the most available service, “is considered insufficient in most countries”. It recommends states to establish minimum services such as at least one national telephone help line depending on population and also provide crisis services which are available 24 hours every day of the year.
The report “Administrative data collection on domestic Violence in Council of Europe member states ” by experts Elina Ruuskanen and Kauko Aromaa points out that the judiciary, the police and social services rarely collect data on violence against women and as a consequence “violence against women remains invisible in the public administration system”.
Council of Europe Press Division
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