Marja Ruotanen is the Director General of Democracy and Human Dignity at the Council of Europe. She stresses the importance of the Istanbul Convention and reiterates the institution's commitment to gender equality and to preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence.

The project "75 women in 75 years of Council of Europe history" is co-organised with the Council of Europe and the Permanent Representations of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.