A high-level conference on the elimination of gender-based violence financed by Norway Grants and organized by Open Society Fund Prague in co-operation with the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) and the Council of Europe was held on 27th and 28th of May in Prague, Czech Republic. The event took place under the auspices of the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, the Ministry of Justice and the Minister for Human Rights.
The conference has been a follow-up to the 2014 European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) survey on violence against women – the world’s largest survey in this field until now. It has also followed the August 2014 entry into force of the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul Convention). The conference has had a regional outlook with a focus on Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia, countries which implement programmes supported by Norway Grants in the fields of domestic and gender-based violence.
It also linked international experts, such as Marianne Hester, Christine Chinkin, or Feride Acar. The Czech side was represented by the Minister for Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Jiri Dienstbier, Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Michaela Marks and Vladimir Vedra from the Association of Intervention Center Workers.
The conference targeted the policy-makers, experts, government representatives, practitioners, service providers, and researchers. It has aimed to provide a platform for the exchange of knowledge and best practices in preventing and combating gender-based violence. Furthermore, the conference has intended to inspire more research and systematic data collection as an important tool in the process of developing effective policies and measures in this field.
