GREVIO publishes first baseline report on Ukraine's implementation of Istanbul Convention
The Council of Europe's Group of Experts on Action against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (GREVIO) published on 4 September its first baseline evaluation report on Ukraine's implementation of the Istanbul Convention, which Ukraine ratified in July 2022 and which entered into force on 1 November 2022. The report recognises Ukraine's wartime progress in building specialised services and training law enforcement, while flagging legal gaps — including the lack of criminalisation of stalking, lenient sanctions, and cases that cannot be opened without a personal complaint — and urging broader protection across all forms of violence against women.
Key points
- GREVIO published its first baseline report on Ukraine's implementation of the Istanbul Convention on 4 September.
- Ukraine ratified the Istanbul Convention in July 2022; it entered into force on 1 November 2022.
- GREVIO positively assessed Ukraine's political will and steps taken under full-scale war, including a network of shelters, crisis centres and hotlines built in 2023–2024 and roughly 700 multidisciplinary mobile brigades.
- GREVIO found that stalking is still not classified as a criminal offence in Ukraine.
- The report says punishments for violence are typically mild and often limited to fines or community service, and that some cases cannot be opened without a personal complaint from the victim.
- GREVIO documented a growing link between military service experience and severe domestic violence in Ukraine.
- GREVIO called on Ukraine to ensure consistent nationwide implementation, cover all forms of violence against women under the Convention, and apply effective, proportionate and deterrent sanctions including imprisonment where appropriate.
Why it matters
This is the first official Council of Europe baseline assessment of how Ukraine is applying the Istanbul Convention since ratification in 2022, and it arrives while the country is at war. GREVIO's findings go beyond symbolism: they identify concrete legal gaps — stalking not criminalised, light penalties, cases blocked by the absence of a personal complaint — that directly affect the protection of women and girls in wartime. The report also links military service to severe domestic violence, opening a policy debate about PTSD, reintegration and family-level prevention. By urging Ukraine to move beyond domestic violence and cover all forms of violence against women foreseen by the Convention, GREVIO signals where further legislative and institutional reform is expected.
What happened
On 4 September, GREVIO, the Council of Europe's expert group on violence against women and domestic violence, published its first baseline evaluation report on Ukraine. The assessment is based on Ukraine's state report, additional materials from civil society and human rights organisations, and the results of a three-day GREVIO evaluation visit to Kyiv. It covers the period since Ukraine ratified the Istanbul Convention in July 2022 amid Russia's full-scale invasion. GREVIO positively assessed Ukraine's political will and concrete steps taken during wartime: a 2017 law on preventing and combating domestic violence, the introduction in 2024 of administrative liability for sexual harassment, a consent-based definition of rape, a network of specialised support services (shelters, crisis centres, hotlines, legal and psychological aid) strengthened in 2023–2024, around 700 multidisciplinary mobile brigades serving rural areas, a National Training Centre on combating gender-based violence, a specialised unit on domestic violence in the Office of the Prosecutor General, mobile police response groups operating since 2018, and large-scale training of the National Police, the prosecutor's office and the SBU on investigating conflict-related sexual violence. Alongside these, GREVIO identified significant gaps. It found that stalking is still not classified as a criminal offence, that punishments for violence are typically mild and often limited to fines or community service, and that certain cases cannot be opened without a personal complaint from the victim. The report documented a growing link between military service experience and severe domestic violence in Ukraine and warned that constant exposure to war-related violence risks raising societal tolerance of violence against women. GREVIO also pointed to insufficient recording of children present during domestic violence incidents and limited access to psychological help for them, and called on Ukraine to strengthen protection of women journalists from online attacks. GREVIO urged Ukraine to ensure consistent nationwide implementation of the Convention, cover all forms of violence against women — not only domestic violence — and apply effective, proportionate and deterrent sanctions including imprisonment where appropriate.
How Ukrainian sources describe it
Ukrainian-language coverage, including agency round-ups and a piece from a media outlet focusing on journalist protection, presents the GREVIO report alongside Ukraine's existing institutional measures — the specialised prosecutor unit, mobile police response groups, the network of shelters and crisis centres, and roughly 700 multidisciplinary mobile brigades — as evidence of ongoing reform under wartime conditions. Several Ukrainian outlets frame the report as a baseline against which further legislative and enforcement steps are expected, citing specific GREVIO concerns: stalking not being criminalised, light penalties, cases not opening without a personal complaint, insufficient recording of children present during domestic violence, and online attacks on women journalists. The piece dedicated to journalists highlights GREVIO's call to strengthen protection of women journalists from online attacks and cites national survey data (UNESCO and the NGO Women in Media) showing that 81% of surveyed Ukrainian journalists had experienced online attacks, that only about 25% of Ukrainian media had practices for responding to online violence against journalists, that roughly 43% of Ukrainian journalists reported experiencing aggression or threats, and that the European Federation of Journalists recorded 53 cases of gender-based violence against media workers in 2025.
How international sources describe it
The English-language fact set restates GREVIO's findings in neutral terms, laying out both the positive assessments — policy coordination, the network of specialised services, law-enforcement training on conflict-related sexual violence — and the main criticisms: stalking not criminalised, lenient sanctions, complaint-based case opening, and gaps in data and child protection. It foregrounds GREVIO's cross-cutting recommendations — consistent nationwide implementation of the Convention, coverage of all forms of violence against women, and proportionate and deterrent sanctions including imprisonment where appropriate — alongside concerns that war-related stress risks increasing societal tolerance of violence, including against women.
Where reporting differs
Articles differ in overall tone: some frame the report primarily as recognition of Ukraine's progress under wartime conditions, while others emphasise the legal and institutional gaps GREVIO identified. Ukrainian-language coverage tends to pair the GREVIO findings with a more detailed catalogue of Ukraine's existing institutional measures, presenting them as evidence of ongoing reform, whereas the English-language material foregrounds GREVIO's recommendations and concerns in more neutral, recommendation-focused terms.
Background
Ukraine ratified the Istanbul Convention in July 2022 and it entered into force on 1 November 2022. Ukraine had adopted a 2017 law on preventing and combating domestic violence and, in 2024, introduced administrative liability for sexual harassment. In 2023–2024 the country expanded a network of specialised support services for domestic violence victims — shelters, crisis centres, hotlines, and legal and psychological aid — including about 700 multidisciplinary mobile brigades serving rural areas. A specialised unit on domestic violence has been set up in the Office of the Prosecutor General, and mobile police response groups have been operating since 2018. After the start of the full-scale invasion, the National Police, the prosecutor's office and the SBU received large-scale training on investigating conflict-related sexual violence.