Tal Strasbourg 10 juni 2008
Nyamko Sabuni, Integrations- och jämställdhetsminister

Inledningstal av Sveriges jämställdhetsminister Nyamko Sabuni på avslutningskonferensen för Europarådets kampanj för att motverka mäns våld mot kvinnor

Mr Secretary General, Your Excellencies, Mr Chair, ladies and gentlemen,

The Council of Europe's core objective is to promote and protect human rights, democracy and the rule of law. All activities and work within the Council of Europe must be focused to contribute in reaching these fundamental objectives.

Since the beginning of last month Sweden holds the chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe. The Swedish Chairmanship will focus its work on promoting realization of the Council of Europe's core objective - making Rights become real.

This of course includes the very important work to combat violence against women. Men's violence against women exist in all our countries as a widespread problem affecting the whole community. All individuals must be able to live their lives free from fear of violence and abuse. Ultimately this is a question of gender equality and women's right to fully enjoy their human rights, to which all individuals are entitled.

I'm honoured to be here today at this Closing Conference of the Council of Europe Campaign to Combat Violence against Women, including domestic violence. But let us make this Conference the end of the beginning.

The decision to launch the Campaign was a manifestation of political will. The conclusion from this is crystal-clear: Men's violence against women is unacceptable. And men's violence against women can be stopped.

A Task Force was set up. The mission was to evaluate progress at national level and establish instruments for quantifying developments at pan-European level. The task force also had the important mission to propose concrete measures for our future work.

The three basic aims of the Campaign have been: First; to raise awareness of violence against women as a human right's issue and encourage every citizen to challenge it;

Second; to urge member states to demonstrate political will with a view to delivering concrete results in ending violence against women; and

Third; to promote the implementation of the effective measures contained in the Council of Europe Recommendation on the protection of women against violence.

All member states were invited to make significant progress under four thematic areas: legal and policy measures, support and protection for victims, data collection and awareness raising.

As you will hear during these days, the campaign has lead to a lot of actions and activities in our countries. Almost all member states have participated. Different levels of society, national governments, parliaments and local and regional decision-makers, have been involved. More than 40 governments have submitted their final report on their national Campaigns to prevent and combat violence against women.

In Sweden a national action plan has been adopted. I will have the opportunity to elaborate on this later today. I'm really looking forward to share different experiences on how to combat violence against women. I'm sure that we all will get some more inspiration on how to continue our work.

The Task Force, are expected to present their proposals for future action to prevent and combat violence against women.

Based on the information received from different member states, the Committee of Ministers will decide on possible future action by the Council of Europe in this field. Already next week our ambassadors in the Committee of Ministers will receive the oral report from this conference. They will then have a first discussion on the follow up.

On behalf of the Swedish Government, I hope we can make use of the political momentum that the Council of Europe Campaign has created. I encourage the Council of Europe to start the preparation of the first European human rights treaty to prevent and combat violence against women. I know this is the end of the beginning.

Thank you for listening!