Together with the international community, Cyprus recently marked the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and Girls and the start of another year’s 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence (GBV). Violence against women and girls is a huge and global issue, one that the Council of Europe has set out to address via the Istanbul Convention.

The Mediterranean Institute of Gender Studies (MIGS) promotes gender equality and women’s rights, a significant part of its work involves tackling violence against women, in issues ranging from FGM and prostitution to sexual harassment in the workplace or at school.

In Cyprus, 2018 was a key year in the fight for the rights of women and girls; it saw the ratification and harmonisation of the Istanbul Convention into national legislation, a development in which MIGS played an integral role, both by conducting research and drafting the required legal wording. As of 30 September 2018, the consultation has closed on the bill bringing Cyprus legislation in line with the Istanbul Convention, and as a final legal step, it will be voted on in 2019.

In the link below MIGS talks about the aims of the Convention, tying it to the work that it does, as an organization, in Cyprus, the Euromed region and across Europe.

For instance, you can read about focus groups conducted by MIGS with local university students and staff, and contributed to a European research paper on ending sexual harassment and violence in third level education.

You can also read about a research conducted by MIGS for ‘’WE GO!’’ a project for women in Europe to exit violent relationships through economic empowerment, or the ‘’Play it for Change’’ EU project that aims to educate youth through audio-visual media and music by encouraging their critical thinking skills thus helping them prevent and combat gender-based violence. MIGS launched this project along with European partners and has already conducted key qualitative and quantitative research across Cyprus schools. MIGS also took part in the WAVE Working Group on Sexualised Violence (WGSV), contributing to the recently published report containing baseline information on service provision for women survivors of sexualised violence.

More details about these projects and other initiatives and actions by MIGS are available in the link below.