Transatlantic Take April 30, 2021 The Council of Europe’s Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence is the first legally binding instrument to provide a comprehensive framework to combat gender-based violence. It was opened for signature in Istanbul in 2011, hence it being known as the Istanbul Convention. Turkey played a leading role in its inception, and it was the first state to sign and ratify it. However, it has now achieved another milestone on March 20 as the first state to officially withdraw from the convention. Given the country’s symbolic status, growing campaigns of disinformation about the convention in parts of Europe, and the general absence of international consequences for its decision, the impact Turkey’s withdrawal could have on the convention as well as on the Europe-wide protection of women should not be underestimated.