On 30 June, the President of the ECHR, Mattias Guyomar, delivered an address to students of the Faculty of Law at the University of Strasbourg, marking the opening of the university’s summer school dedicated to the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, also known as “the Istanbul Convention”.

Emphasizing the relevance of the Istanbul Convention, the Court President underscored that violence against women—whether physical, sexual, psychological, economic, or verbal—exists across all Council of Europe member States and beyond.

“The Istanbul Convention is based on the idea that violence against women is gender-based; it is inflicted on women because they are women,” said President Guyomar.

He referenced the Court’s case-law, in particular the 2009 landmark case Opuz v. Turkey, which served as a source of inspiration during the drafting of the Istanbul Convention.

President Guyomar concluded by noting that the Istanbul Convention is guiding the Court’s reasoning and analysis and is referenced even in cases where the State concerned has not ratified it.