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This short working paper, authored by Judit Villena Rodó, PhD researcher and incoming Irish Research Council scholar at the Irish Centre for Human Rights, is based on the findings of a research project commissioned by the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre (DRCC) and conducted as part of the ICHR’s Human Rights Law Clinic 19-20. 

At an especially relevant time to undertake research on the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (the Istanbul Convention), this paper contains a first insight into the Convention’s monitoring process, particularly in relation to State’s obligations relevant to the provision of services to women survivors of violence.  

The first part details GREVIO's (Group of Experts on Action on Violence against Women and Domestic Violence) country monitoring procedure, and briefly examines the content of the questionnaire which GREVIO provides to States Parties to aid in the preparation of their country reports. This part includes information on the potential role of NGOs in the reporting process. 

The second part presents key findings, and good practices as found within GREVIO’s country monitoring reports under the Convention, adopted until February 2020. The reports examined, sorted by date, are: Austria, Monaco, Albania, Denmark, Turkey, Montenegro, France, Portugal, Sweden, Finland, Italy, The Netherlands and Serbia. 

Finally, the third part offers concluding thoughts. Although the original report contained a proposal for potential further research, this has been deleted as it was intended solely for the DRCC’s use.