A/HRC/44/52/Add.1 Bulgaria, were obliged to transpose into domestic legislation by 16 November 2017. In section 17 of the directive, gender-based violence is defined as “violence that is directed against a person because of that person’s gender, gender identity or gender expression or that affects persons of a particular gender disproportionately”. In section 9, it provides that victims of crime must be treated “without discrimination of any kind based on any ground such as ... gender, gender expression, gender identity, sexual orientation …”. In that directive, the term “gender” was translated into Bulgarian as “sex”. Furthermore, article 4 of the Bulgarian Protection against Discrimination Act already prohibits discrimination on numerous grounds including “sexual orientation” and article 2 (3) (5) of the Equality between Men and Women Act confirms the principles of equal treatment of women and men, non-discrimination, the elimination of discrimination and gender-based violence and overcoming stereotypes, based on gender. Finally, in its very recent opinion on the compatibility of the Constitution of Armenia with the Istanbul Convention, the European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission) has emphasized that although the Convention provides a definition of gender, which is not intended in any event to replace the biological definition of sex, it does not require States parties to introduce this definition into their legal order. 3 The definition rather serves States parties as a tool to interpret, better understand and therefore apply the provisions of the Convention. 12. The Special Rapporteur would like to point out that the Istanbul Convention is a living human rights instrument and one of the most detailed treaties on the prevention of violence against women and domestic violence. The analysis provided so far by the Council of Europe Group of Experts on Action against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence in its first baseline evaluation dispels all the allegations and false information disseminated in Bulgaria and elsewhere by the “anti-gender campaign” on the implications of its ratification. Thirty-four member States of the Council of Europe have ratified it and the findings provided by the Group of Experts, the recommendations of the Committee of the Parties and the opinion of the Venice Commission have not revealed “internal contradictions” as identified by the Bulgarian Constitutional Court. 13. For all the reasons mentioned above, the decision of the Constitutional Court should be revisited in the light of the consistent mistranslation of the term “gender” and existing obligations. III. Incorporation of the international and regional frameworks on violence against women 14. Bulgaria is party to seven of the nine principal human rights treaties, including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, together with the Optional Protocol thereto, which it ratified in 2006. The State is also a signatory of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and party to the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime. 15. The visit of the Special Rapporteur preceded the examination of the eighth periodic report of Bulgaria by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women in February 2020. She therefore hopes that the recommendations provided in her report that are focused on gender-based violence against women will complement the Committee’s recommendations and will be implemented jointly and in line with the country’s commitments under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. In support of the previous findings of the Committee (CEDAW/C/BGR/CO/4-7), the Special Rapporteur reiterates with concern that the Convention and the general recommendations of the Committee have not received sufficient visibility and have not been used as the legal basis for eliminating all forms of discrimination and gender-based violence against women. In the view of the Special 3 See Venice Commission, “Armenia: Opinion on the constitutional implications of the ratification of the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul Convention)” (October 2019). 5