The Strasbourg-based Council of Europe (CoE) on Tuesday called on its member states to eliminate violence against women.
CoE Secretary-General Thorbjorn Jagland said violence against women and girls remains one of the most serious human rights violations worldwide, but no magic bullet exists to solve this problem. He called on all 47 member states to adopt an award-winning convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence.
"This international legal treaty remains the first and only one to criminalize all forms of violence against women -- physical, sexual, and psychological. It obliges states that have fully adopted it to protect victims and prosecute perpetrators," he said.
"With 20 signatures and 19 ratifications so far, I call on those states that have neither signed nor ratified this treaty to do so without delay," he added.