Contestation Around the Istanbul Convention and the Questions It Raises

The Istanbul Convention on violence against women and domestic violence has become a central site of contention over gender equality. Resistance and protest to the Convention are particularly strong in Central and Eastern Europe where, in some countries, conservative actors successfully prevented the ratification, or in the case of Poland they propose withdrawal from ratification. The introduction presents the research puzzle of the book by placing these controversies in the context of the politics of violence against women and the adoption of international norms in CEE countries. It presents and justifies the selection of the four analyzed country cases, describes the qualitative methodology used in the book and shows how the book contributes to a variety of debates in the literature.