Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women: The Istanbul Convention after EU accession

January 26-30, 2026

The PhD Academy is led by:

– Ca’ Foscari University of Venice
– University of Milano-Bicocca
– Sabanci University

The purpose of this PhD Academy, in cooperation with the UN.I.RE. (UNiversità In REte contro la violenza di genere) network and OCEAN (Open Council of Europe Academic Networks), is to provide the participants with an in depth and highly qualified legal, philosophical, sociological and political analysis of the content, interpretation, implementation and application of the Council of Europe Istanbul Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence more than ten years after its entry into force, and especially in the aftermath of the EU accession. Participants will acquire knowledge on how the landscape concerning violence against women has changed with the adoption of the Convention and with the consequent accession by the EU.

Thanks to the knowledge of the professors, including the editors of the first commentary to the Istanbul Convention (Elgar Publishing, 2023), this PhD academy will be the first to be focused on this fundamental legal instrument, which is considered as a comprehensive and gold standard in the field of preventing violence against women and domestic violence. Participants will also learn what a gender-sensitive approach and awareness campaigns mean and how they affect policies and decisions also at the judiciary level and in training in a continuous dialogue between institutions, experts and association of the civil society. This PhD academy will be under the auspices of the Academic Network UN.I.RE., composed of universities, research centres and researchers who share the goal of implementing the Istanbul Convention starting with the academic system, and OCEAN, which aims at sharing and creating knowledge around the Council of Europe´s more than 200 conventions in European academia through teaching and research networks.

Faculty
Sara De Vido, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice (Scientific Coordinator)
Marina Calloni, University of Milano-Bicocca (Scientific Co-coordinator)
Zeynep Gülru Goker, Sabanci University (Scientific Co-coordinator)
Sara Dal Monico, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice 
Daniela Belliti, University of Milano-Bicocca, UNIRE network
Ayşe Betül Çelik, Sabanci University
Cenk Özbay, Sabanci University
Micaela Frulli, University of Florence
Olaf Köndgen, Council of Europe, OCEAN network