The report contains a comprehensive analysis of the implementation of the provisions of the Istanbul Convention in Ireland. It acknowledges the steps taken by the country to comply with the treaty and identifies areas where progress is still needed.

In its baseline evaluation report, GREVIO highlights numerous measures that have been taken by the Irish authorities prior to, and following, Ireland’s ratification of the convention, which demonstrate their firm resolve to prevent and combat domestic violence and violence against women. These positive developments include the adoption of the Criminal Justice Female Genital Mutilation Act 2012, introducing the offence of female genital mutilation; the Domestic Violence Act in 2018, criminalising coercive control and forced marriage; and the adoption of the third National Strategy on Domestic, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence and its implementation plan, which draw direct inspiration from the Istanbul Convention and address its four strategic pillars: prevention of violence against women, protection of victims, prosecution of perpetrators, and co-ordinated policies.

Despite these achievements, GREVIO has observed in the evaluation report a number of issues where improvement is warranted in order to reach higher levels of compliance with the requirements of the Convention. GREVIO raised concerns, for example, about certain judicial and sentencing practices in cases of violence against women, including the frequent application of lenient sentences and the tendency to rely on suspended or conditional sentences, which indicate that acts of violence against women are considered as offences of lower social danger.