Hello!

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all your support for the campaign for the UK to ratify the Istanbul Convention on violence against women! We could not have done this without you.

Ratification is a big step towards improved support for survivors, access to justice, effective prosecution of perpetrators and gender equality. 

Please support migrant women survivors

We remain extremely concerned about the Government’s reservations, particularly on Article 59, which requires member states to grant residence to victims whose immigration status depends on an abusive partner. This reservation reinforces the power of the perpetrators and increases the risk faced by migrant survivors.

All women deserve to be safe. All women means all women.

Please back our sisters at SBS and LAWRS moving forward

The next phase of campaigning for the reservations to be removed needs to be led by migrant women’s organisations. They have the expertise and are best placed to lead on this. 

We will therefore be handing over the campaign resources to Southall Black Sisters (SBS) and the Latin American Women’s Rights Service (LAWRS). You can follow them on Twitter here: @SBSisters and @lawrsuk. 

We will be passing this petition over to them to run so that they can keep you up to date with the ongoing campaign for the reservations to be removed and how you can support - so that migrant women have access to the life-saving support and protection they need.  

We hope that they can count on your continued support as they take this forward but of course you can unsubscribe at any time.

Thank you again for all your support in helping us secure this landmark treaty for women!

This is the IC Change team signing off for the last time.

Robyn and Kathryn

Co-directors, IC Change