Private Members Bill on Istanbul Convention progresses to House of Lords
Significant progress has been made today as Eildh Whiteford (SNP MP for Banff & Buchan) saw her Private Members Bill calling for ratification of the Istanbul Convention pass through its third and final reading in the House of Commons.
The Istanbul Convention (IC) sets minimum standards for governments to meet when tackling violence against women. Although UK government signed the Convention in 2014, it has not yet gone so far as to ratify – which would place it under a legal obligation to uphold the Convention. The full ramifications of this were discussed in an article in the Winter 2016 issue of Townswoman.
The Bill will now progress to the House of Lords, a tremendous achievement and especially for how much resistance this Bill has faced through its readings in the House of Commons. The battle is not yet done, but we are a step further and TG congratulates Eildh and all those involved in seeing that this issue cannot just be brushed aside and forgotten or ignored.
< Back to Message Board and News