On 28 November, Parliament adopted a resolution urging the Council to conclude the ratification by the EU of the Istanbul Convention as well as the seven EU countries that have only signed it so far. Violence against women should also be included in the catalogue of EU-recognised crimes, MEPs said.

“We know the alarming numbers: one in three women experience physical or sexual violence in their lives," said Austrian S&D member Evelyn Regner, chair of Parliament’s women’s rights committee. "Every second murder of a woman is committed by someone close - friends or family. The perpetrators are often husbands, brothers or partners. So the most dangerous place for women is their own home. Violence against women concerns us all.”