Some reflections about due diligence by the State in the protection against gender-based violence in Europe

Abstract

The international Istanbul multilateral Treaty is a real opportunity to achieve systemic changes. As the jurisprudence of international judicial bodies (ECtHR, CEDAW Committee, etc.) has recognised, the transformative power of judgments must highlight the importance of the gender perspective when legislating, preventing, protecting and redressing the injustices of the patriarchal system we have inherited, since States bound by EU law and the Istanbul Convention are required to remove the obstacles that prevent equality and, if they fail to do so, international instruments guarantee redress for such obstacles. This is the greatness of Article 29 of the Istanbul Convention: due diligence of States and positive obligations to transform the position of women in society and, of course, legal remedies for those cases where a harm was done by the inaction of the State. This is aligned with the heightened safeguards and due diligence also recognised by Directive (EU) 2024/1385 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 May 2024 on combating violence against women and domestic violence. This study has a comparative, jurisprudential and dogmatic methodological focus in order to achieve the main objective: to initiate a new period for such a human right for women, defining specific State obligations.