Ensuring data collection and research on violence against women and domestic violence: Article 11 of the Istanbul Convention

Knowledge is essential to making effective policies to prevent and combat violence against women and domestic violence. Developing knowledge enables policy makers and civil society to evaluate developments and to improve policy. Data collection and research assist in the design of the policies and measures needed to protect and support victims and to eliminate violence against women and domestic violence. Furthermore, data collection and research are necessary to ascertain whether policies are working towards preventing and combating such violence. To be effective, the provision of information needs to be part of an integrated approach, duly taking into account practical developments. To this end, the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (hereinafter “the Istanbul Convention”) requires states parties to collect disaggregated relevant statistical data and support research in the field of all forms of violence covered by the scope of the convention. The purpose of this paper is to give background information on data collection and research and to offer practical advice to policy makers and practitioners as to what needs to be done to implement Article 11 of the Istanbul Convention. It offers information about the measurement framework and data collection tools needed for the development of relevant administrative and survey data. It provides examples of how administrative and survey data may be collected in member states as well as pertinent research programmes. It finishes with a checklist which summarises the requirements on data collection and research as contained in Article 11 of the Istanbul Convention