International Bodies Archives - International Alliance of Women

Ukrainian Women Are Carrying the War on Every Front

Sanja Jeraj — Thu, 25 Jun 2026 14:12:57 +0000

How Domestic Violence, Weaponized Custody Battles, and Demographic Pressure Are Creating an Invisible Crisis

Gender Equality Commission Annual Conference, Council of Europe, 9 June 2026

Ukrainian women are bearing a burden that is almost impossible to put into words. On top of the horrors of war, they face domestic violence — and at the same time fight custody battles against the very fathers from whom they are trying to protect their children. Some of these men have returned from the front traumatised, their unprocessed suffering now erupting inside the family home. Others use custody claims deliberately — as a legal tool to evade military mobilisation.

This is not anecdotal. A 2025 UNFPA report based on extensive consultations with women across Ukraine documents a sharp rise in intimate partner and domestic violence, driven by increased stress, trauma, displacement, and substance abuse associated with the war. Human Rights Watch likewise reports that domestic violence cases increased by 36% in 2024 and notes concerns raised by women’s rights organisations about violence committed by returning combatants and obstacles to accountability. Research from the Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki further describes what some scholars call the “boomerang of violence”: the risk that patterns of violence cultivated during armed conflict may reappear within family and community life after soldiers return home.

This was made clear today by Marta Chumalo, Vice-Director and psychologist at the NGO Centre “Women’s Perspectives” in Lviv, Ukraine, speaking at the Annual Conference of the Commission for Gender Equality at the Council of Europe. Her message was unambiguous: the system is not adequately protecting many women who experience violence. Women who report abuse may face additional legal, economic, and social obstacles when seeking safety for themselves and their children.

The scale is staggering. An estimated 2.4 million people in Ukraine — predominantly women and girls — are experiencing, or are at risk of experiencing, gender-based violence, according to the UN Population Fund’s Voices from Ukraine report. According to the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights, one in four women who fled Ukraine reports having experienced physical or sexual violence since the start of the war.

Women’s right to reproductive self-determination must also remain protected during times of crisis. Since the start of the war, Ukraine has experienced a profound demographic shock: fertility rates have fallen to among the lowest in the world, while millions of people have been displaced — nearly 10 million Ukrainians remain displaced four years into the war, according to UNHCR — and the population has declined dramatically. Demographic challenges, however serious, must never become a justification for limiting women’s autonomy over their own bodies and reproductive choices.

This is not a solution to a crisis. It is the continuation of control by other means.

Ukrainian women are holding their families, their communities, and their country together — often at enormous personal cost. They deserve protection, solidarity, justice, and self-determination. Not more burdens.

Sanja Jeraj
Head of our Delegation to the Council of Europe

Sources

The painting “Hope for Ukraine” by Pedro de Andrade Nunes, on display at the Council of Europe. Photo: Sanja Jeraj

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15 Years of the Istanbul Convention

Sanja Jeraj — Tue, 12 May 2026 12:22:09 +0000

15 Years of the Istanbul Convention: What Has Changed — and What Hasn't

15 years ago today — May 11, 2011 — the Istanbul Convention opened for signature.

Here’s what has happened since. And why it matters more than ever.

The Istanbul Convention remains the first and only legally binding European treaty dedicated solely to combating gender-based violence. Its framework spans everything from prevention to support services and access to justice.

The key milestones:

2014: The Convention entered into force on 1 August 2014, following its 10th ratification. From that point, all ratifying governments became legally bound by its obligations.
2020: Poland signalled its exit from the Convention, though no formal steps have followed.
2021: Turkey — the very country that hosted the signing and was the first to ratify — became the first state to officially withdraw from the Convention. The Council of Europe described the move as a “devastating” setback for women’s protection.
2023: The European Union acceded to the Convention in June 2023, bringing it into force for the EU on 1 October 2023.
2025: Latvia’s attempt to withdraw from the Istanbul Convention was temporarily halted after President Rinkēvičs vetoed the parliamentary vote to leave the treaty. Following public protests and political divisions within the government, lawmakers postponed any final decision until after the 2026 elections, meaning Latvia remains a member of the Convention for now.
April 2026: The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe adopted a new resolution calling for renewed political will and adequate resources to counter growing attacks on the Convention — nearly 12 years after it entered into force.

Today, several EU member states — Lithuania, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, and Bulgaria — still refuse to ratify, often citing the Convention’s use of the term “gender” as ideologically loaded. The influence of anti-gender disinformation, frequently amplified by actors outside Europe, has played a significant role in fuelling this resistance.

The numbers are sobering: Around 2,871 women were killed in femicides in Europe in 2024 (minimum estimate across 35 countries), with wide underreporting and major differences between countries. Roughly one in five women in Europe experience intimate partner violence during their lifetime, though the real number is likely higher due to underreporting.

Civil society alliances warn that anti-feminism, right-wing populism, and cuts to social services are actively endangering protection for survivors of violence. Rising military budgets are undermining the Istanbul Convention by draining the essential funding needed to turn its legal protections into reality.

The bottom line:

15 years in, the Istanbul Convention has changed laws, shaped policies, and saved lives across Europe.

But it was never meant to be self-executing. The Assembly’s 2026 resolution is a clear signal: demonstrated positive impact on the ground is not enough — renewed political will and sustained resources are urgently needed.

The convention exists. The numbers demand more than existence.

Sanja Jeraj
Head of Delegation to the Council of Europe and
Interest Group Representative to the European Parliament.

Sources

The Convention

Istanbul Convention — full text (Council of Europe)
Key facts (Council of Europe)

Turkey’s withdrawal

Turkish Official Gazette, March 2021
Council of Europe Secretary General’s response
Istanbul Convention framework in crisis (German Marshall Fund)

EU accession

EU accession to the Istanbul Convention (European Parliament)
European Women’s Lobby
Convention enters into force for the EU (Council of Europe)

Latvia

Latvia’s governing coalition dispute over Istanbul Convention (OSW)
Latvia postpones withdrawal vote
Analysis: Latvia and the Istanbul Convention (Stockholm School of Economics)

PACE 2026 resolution

Statistics

Civil society and funding

2025 State of Civil Society Report — gender rights (CIVICUS)
Military spending and gender equality funding (WAVE Network)

Impact

How the Istanbul Convention is saving lives (Council of Europe)
15 years: renewing our commitment (OHCHR)

Map of Istanbul Convention ratification status as of May 2026.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Istanbul_Convention

Signed and ratified

Signed, not yet in force

Not signed (Council of Europe member states)

Former party (withdrawn)

Not signed (non-Council of Europe states)

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Two International Arrest Warrants of 17 March 2023

IAW Communications Unit — Sun, 26 Mar 2023 23:47:33 +0000

The International Criminal Court ICC

On Friday 17 March 2023, the world learned from an ICC communiqué that one of its investigative chambers has issued two international arrest warrants. One against His Excellency the President of the Russian Federation, Mr Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin. And the other against Mrs Maria Lvova-Belova, Commissioner for Children’s Rights in Russia. These arrest warrants were issued following a request from the ICC Prosecutor dated 22 February 2023.

Editor’s note: They are accused of being responsible for the war crime of unlawful deportation of people, in particular children, and their unlawful transfer from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation.

What is the International Criminal Court?

It is a court that was established in Rome on 17 July 1998 by an international treaty called the Rome Statute.
The International Criminal Court was created to judge war crimes and crimes against humanity. Over time, the scope of its activities has expanded to include mass crimes and genocide.
The idea of creating the ICC comes from the Nuremberg tribunals, which were ad hoc, special tribunals.
There were several Nuremberg tribunals, even if the first one is the most famous, there were others. The idea behind the creation of the ICC is to formalise, institutionalise and perpetuate the nature of these special tribunals through a single jurisdiction that will be responsible for judging, at any time, the leaders of all the countries in the world who commit this kind of extraordinary crime judged at Nuremberg.
As I told you, the ICC was created by an international treaty. So the first thing that had to be done was that all the states in the world had to sign the treaty. Then, after signing it, they have to ratify it. The third step is that the treaty must enter into force. An international treaty cannot enter into force if it does not obtain a minimum number of ratifications. In the case of the Rome Statute, the minimum number of ratifications was set at 60. This minimum number was achieved in 2002. So, since 2002, the Rome Statute has entered into force and so has the International Criminal Court.
However, it should be noted that only those States that have signed and ratified the treaty recognize the jurisdiction of the ICC. In other words, only those States that have signed and ratified the treaty are part of the Rome Statute. In other words, only those States that have signed and ratified the treaty are subject to the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court.
The difference between signing and ratifying a treaty is that the supreme representatives of the state, through its executive branch, are empowered to sign a treaty, but its ratification is done by the parliament, i.e. the legislative body representing the people. This is how it is done in most countries of the world.

The question that arises is whether the Russian Federation is justiciable before the International Criminal Court?

The Russian Federation has signed the Rome Treaty, but it has not ratified it. This means that the Russian Federation and its citizens are not subject to the ICC. The Russian Federation is therefore not legally bound to comply with anything emanating from the ICC.

Which states in the world have signed and ratified the Rome Treaty, otherwise known as the Rome Statute?

There are 193 states in the world according to the UN. Of these 193 states, 123 have signed and ratified the treaty.
There are others that have signed but not ratified. There are also those that have not signed at all, and there are also those that have signed and ratified but subsequently denounced the treaty.

Some examples of countries that have signed and not ratified the treaty:

Ukraine signed but did not ratify the Treaty of Rome
The United States signed but did not ratify the Treaty of Rome
The Russian Federation has signed but not ratified the Treaty of Rome
Israel has signed but not ratified the Treaty of Rome.

States that have not signed the Treaty of Rome at all:

India and China.

A very interesting case is that of France and Great Britain. These two countries have signed and ratified the Treaty of Rome, but they have taken a particular position that they can never be prosecuted for war crimes or for crimes of aggression outside their own country, no matter what part of the world they are involved in.

Finally, the last question is what is the value of the warrants issued against His Excellency the President of the Russian Federation, Mr Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, and Mrs Maria Lvova-Belova?

These two warrants have no legal value. Despite this, the fact that they were issued may suggest that they may have political significance. Even if I can make a political analysis of the mandates in question, I think it is up to the political scientists to make such an analysis.

Paulette Oyane Ondo
Lawyer at the Bar of Gabon
President of the Centre for the Promotion of Democracy and the Defence of Human Rights.

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