The text is now available in 26 languages, in addition to the official English and French versions. The Campaign Sexism: See it. Name it. Stop it! aims at raising awareness about the causes of sexism and its various forms, and at identifying ways to prevent and combat it. The action page on sexism, recently translated into Azerbaijani is now available in 21 languages. More language versions of the sexism brochure are also available (Georgian, Romanian, Russian), while the dubbed version of the sexism video is now also available in Italian.

What are the main challenges for survivors of violence against women and domestic violence when they want to break free from violence? What are the State’s obligations to combat domestic violence? What are the consequences of domestic violence on national economies? In these podcasts in Armenian, two experts addressed these and many other questions related to violence against women in Armenia.

The Project Board met on 20 September to take stock of the results achieved to date. The Board took note that, since its last meeting in February 2021, numerous Council of Europe core materials have been translated and disseminated for the benefit of state authorities, civil society and legal professionals; a total of 166 participants attended project activities related to combating violence against women and domestic violence and the Istanbul Convention; and a further 500 participants actively engaged through social media actions. Partners also presented ideas on how to better contribute towards achieving the project’s objectives and discussed the way forward.
The latest versions of the European Court of Human Rights factsheets on violence against women, domestic violence, and gender equality have been translated in Azerbaijani. These factsheets will be distributed to the Academy of Justice of Azerbaijan, partner of the project, and the Bar Association of Azerbaijan, so that they can be used in the daily practice of legal professionals.

Presented online on 22 September 2021, the manual for Georgian investigators, prosecutors and judges on cases of sexual violence crimes was developed with the support of the Council of Europe's Georgia Office, UN Women and Equality Now, as well as the Prosecutor’s Office, Ministry of Internal Affairs, international and local experts, including representatives from Georgian courts.
Deputy Minister Darakhvelidze noted: “This is a very important document that will help investigators to accurately and correctly handle the investigation process, to have the right communication with the victim and witnesses and to choose the right investigation strategy so that no such crime goes unanswered. The public should have high trust in law enforcement.”

The Project which started on 1 July 2021, will hold its first steering committee meeting in Pristina on 26 October 2021. The meeting will gather local partners including the National Coordinator against Domestic Violence, the Agency for Gender Equality, the Kosovo* Academy of Justice and the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare. They will discuss the project’s plans and generally provide strategic guidance for its implementation.

 *All reference to Kosovo, whether to the territory, institutions, or population, in this text shall be understood in full compliance with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244 and without prejudice to the status of Kosovo.

A new Council of Europe and European Union joint project started on 18 September. It builds on the lessons learned from the project “Co-operation in the implementation of the Russian Federation National Action Strategy for Women (2017-2022)” which ended in May 2020.
This project aims at building institutional capacities to promote women’s political participation and to prevent and combat violence against women and domestic violence in the Russian Federation. It aims at empowering those who can be actors of change in the Russian Federation, hence contributing to mobilise them in favour of gender equality and women’s human rights.

Two Ukrainian civil society organisations, La Strada Ukraine and the Public Movement “Faith, Hope, Love” have been awarded grants to raise awareness about the Istanbul Convention.
A new video about the Istanbul Convention in Ukraine outlines the history of Ukraine’s signature of the Istanbul Convention, explains its four pillars and describes the positive changes which will take place following Ukraine’s ratification.
A documentary on the impact of the Istanbul Convention is now available in Ukrainian. The documentary analyses the on-the-ground impact of the Istanbul Convention. It provides testimonies by state authorities and civil society, presenting concrete examples of measures taken in Albania, France, Italy and Sweden.

On 28 September, the second communication workshop #IstanbulConventionSavesLives targeting NGOs in Latvia took place online. The Council of Europe, UN Women and WAVE Network brought together communication specialists, journalists and NGO activists to exchange practices on impactful communication on gender equality and human rights. The first workshop took place on 25 June joining Czech and Polish civil society organisations.

Three NGOs in the Czech Republic, Latvia and Poland received Council of Europe grants to raise awareness on countering violence against women and domestic violence and run advocacy and communication campaigns on the Istanbul Convention.

On 1 October 2021 the Council of Europe Gender Equality Division in co-operation with the Council of Europe Office in Ankara, began implementing the new action “Fostering women’s access to justice in Turkey” under the joint European Union and Council of Europe programme “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey”.
The action aims to strengthen women's access to justice in Turkey in line with international and European standards. It will contribute to improving the capacity of legal aid and victim support services to effectively respond to the needs of women, enhancing legal aid access for women through work with legal aid lawyers and civil society, and increasing legal literacy and awareness among women, especially groups of women in vulnerable situations. The action will run for 15 months from 1 October 2021 to 31 December 2022.