Last week, Estonia hosted interviews with the GREVIO monitoring committee, which evaluates how countries implement the Istanbul Convention article by article. Based on its previous report, published in 2022, Estonia has made progress in recent years in tackling domestic violence.

Pille Tsopp-Pagan, head of the Women's Support and Information Center NGO and a member of the GREVIO committee, said the organization has praised Estonia for introducing legislative amendments and improving coordination in its response to domestic violence.

"Estonia has an action plan to reduce domestic violence, which is updated every two years. The measures are very specific and aligned with the Istanbul Convention, outlining how to respond to domestic violence and which ministries are responsible for what," Tsopp-Pagan explained.

However, GREVIO has also raised two major areas of criticism, both of which may soon be addressed if approved by the Riigikogu.

According to Tsopp-Pagan, GREVIO's 2022 report recommended that Estonia revise its definition of sexual intercourse to be based on consent, as required by Article 36 of the convention. "That is now underway," she said, referring to recent developments in which the government submitted a bill to the Riigikogu that defines rape primarily as the absence of consent. Under the previous so-called "no means no" model, victims had to prove they said "no" or otherwise actively resisted.

The second key issue raised by the committee and likely to be highlighted again concerns restraining orders. In Estonia, police can currently impose them for up to 12 hours — far below the minimum 72 hours required by the convention. In comparison, Latvia, which is now considering withdrawing from the convention, allows for an eight-day removal period. In Germany, police can impose a 10-day restraining order under public order law.

"In practice, Estonia's 12-hour limit means police tell the abuser to stay away for 12 hours and then they come back — angrier than before," Tsopp-Pagan said of the current situation.

Planned amendments to the Law Enforcement Act would extend the restraining order period. However, because the initial draft — circulated for approval in October — also included a controversial clause on restricting public assemblies, it must now undergo a second round of interagency review. It is expected to reach the government and the Riigikogu later this year, with the changes scheduled to take effect on July 1 next year.

According to the explanatory memorandum, the primary motivation for the legislation is the 2022 GREVIO report.

"If the restraining order lasts 72 hours, victims have time to decide what to do — whether to leave and, if so, to take what they need. If they stay, they could file for a formal restraining order to extend their protection. The current 12 hours is not safe for victims," said Tsopp-Pagan.

She added that the 72-hour window also gives police time to assess whether the case warrants a criminal investigation.

"This would reduce the burden on police, on us as victim support providers and on the victims themselves," Tsopp-Pagan said.

Yes-model — nearly a decade's worth of proof and evidence

Estonia has also taken a long road to adopting a consent-based definition of sexual violence. Germany, which ratified the Istanbul Convention the same year as Estonia — in 2017 — had already enacted its "yes means yes" consent law beforehand. So why has the process taken nearly a decade longer in Estonia?

"Germany has been supporting victims of violence against women since the 1970s. In Estonia, our first support center only opened in 2002 and as a state, we really began taking this work more seriously when the ratification of the Istanbul Convention got underway," said Tsopp-Pagan. "German society is more accustomed to addressing these issues. They've realized that the better and more uniformly you respond to violence, the cheaper it ultimately is for society."

"In Germany, adopting the 'yes means yes' model likely didn't require as much justification or proof. In Estonia, politicians are still very conservative and lawyers unreasonably conservative. Politicians don't want anything to change because they think everything is fine the way it is," she added.

Tsopp-Pagan believes the Istanbul Convention has brought significant benefits to Estonia.

"Yes, it's been very beneficial for Estonia and when there are setbacks, it's usually because we haven't implemented it properly. I'm looking forward to the new GREVIO report, which will be released next fall. It will be very interesting to see where we've made progress and where we still have challenges," she said.

Minister: Convention ensured cooperation with other states

Justice and Digital Minister Liisa Pakosta (Eesti 200) has become the government's leading voice in support of the consent-based sexual violence bill. She said that while the amendments to the Penal Code would bring Estonia into compliance with the Istanbul Convention, the change isn't being made solely because the convention requires it — it's being done because it's the right thing to do.

"The consent law — amending the Penal Code so that rape is defined as sexual activity without mutual consent — has gone through all stages of preparation and review. It's now on the Riigikogu's table. Hopefully, the Legal Affairs Committee will handle it in such a way that it comes into force no later than next year," Pakosta said.

She also supports extending the restraining order period, but not to the full 72 hours recommended by the Istanbul Convention.

"I fully agree that we should extend the duration of restraining orders without the involvement of a judge or prosecutor. But the maximum should be 48 hours, because that aligns with the timeframe we already use to hold a person caught in the act of committing a crime without court approval. So that seems like a reasonable limit for police-imposed restraining orders," said Pakosta.

She clarified that once criminal proceedings are initiated, a restraining order of up to three years can be imposed — provided a judge agrees.

The Ministry of the Interior's bill, however, does propose a maximum police-imposed restraining order of 72 hours.

According to Pakosta, the most important aspect of the Istanbul Convention is international cooperation in combating violence against women and girls.

"Many things can be addressed domestically, but by being part of international cooperation, we also see that some crimes have a cross-border dimension. For example, female genital mutilation and forced marriage — these are international issues. And unfortunately, everything that happens in the digital space, from the non-consensual distribution of nude images to cyberstalking, tends to cross borders too," Pakosta said.

The Ministry of Justice is also preparing a draft law linked to the Istanbul Convention that targets cyberbullying. It will include protections for individuals in especially vulnerable situations, such as those in nursing homes, orphanages or others at heightened risk, against sexually motivated attacks.

Istanbul Convention passed with 79 votes

Estonia signed the Istanbul Convention in 2014, with then-Justice Minister Andres Anvelt representing the country, and ratified it in 2017 under Prime Minister Jüri Ratas's government.

The Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence — commonly known as the Istanbul Convention — was opened for signature at a meeting of foreign ministers in Istanbul on May 10, 2011. Estonia became the 37th country to sign.

The Riigikogu approved the ratification bill on September 20, 2017, with 79 MPs voting in favor. Six MPs from the Conservative People's Party of Estonia (EKRE) opposed the measure, arguing that the convention disregards traditional gender roles.

"Sometimes, the ideological divide in the Riigikogu chamber becomes so stark you can feel the air getting thinner. I felt that today while listening to the EKRE representative's speech," MP Liina Kersna said at the time.

President Kersti Kaljulaid promulgated the law later that month. "Violence against women is not a private family matter — it is a disturbing societal problem. By joining the convention, we are sending a clear and firm message that our society does not tolerate violence against women," Kaljulaid said at the signing.

"In fact, there should be no room for any form of violence in our society. To make that a reality, we need to replace a culture of looking away with a culture of awareness, raise public consciousness and ensure that our laws reflect this commitment," she added.

The ratification of the Istanbul Convention in Estonia led to the criminalization of stalking, female genital mutilation and forced marriage in the same year. It also made it a crime to purchase sex from victims of human trafficking.

EKRE's opposition to the Istanbul Convention has not diminished. This November, the party's parliamentary group proposed that Estonia follow Latvia's lead and withdraw from the convention, claiming it does not effectively prevent violence against women.

On Wednesday, Latvian lawmakers voted to leave the decision on a withdrawal bill to the next parliament. To date, Turkey remains the only country to have withdrawn from the convention, doing so in 2021.

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