ENoMW Submission
We have submitted our shadow report to the GREVIO committee on the EU’s implementation of the Istanbul Convention
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Residence Rights
This section examines how the current EU framework fails to provide migrant women fleeing violence with secure or autonomous residence pathways. It highlights the absence of legal safeguards for women whose residence depends on abusive partners or who lack regular status, and the resulting obstacles to accessing protection.
Violence Against Women as Persecution
This section focuses on the gaps in EU asylum law, which does not explicitly recognise violence against women as persecution, leading to inconsistent interpretations across Member States. It also addresses recent developments in EU jurisprudence that affirm persecution on the basis of sex but remain unreflected in EU legislation and operational practice.
Reception and Asylum Procedures
This section examines the lack of binding EU requirements for female-sensitive reception conditions and trauma-informed procedures. It outlines how the absence of enforceable standards—such as single-sex accommodation and safe interview conditions—hampers women’s ability to disclose violence and receive fair assessment of their claims.
Non-Refoulement
This section analyses the shortcomings in EU border, screening and return systems, where sex-based risk assessments are not required before removal decisions. It shows how accelerated and border procedures fail to identify risks of violence, placing women at heightened risk of refoulement.
Cross-Cutting Issues
This section outlines the wider structural problems that undermine EU compliance with the Convention, including the absence of a human-rights-based definition of violence against women in migration policy, institutional fragmentation, the linkage between victim support and immigration enforcement, insufficient sex-disaggregated data, and the dilution of violence against women within broad “gender-based violence” frameworks.
Recommendations
The report sets out general recommendations addressing EU-wide legal clarity, terminology, institutional responsibilities, and the recognition of single-sex specialist services, followed by specific recommendations targeting each of the areas analysed under Articles 59, 60 and 61. These recommendations aim to ensure that EU law and policy fully comply with the Istanbul Convention and provide effective protection for migrant, refugee and asylum-seeking women.