A/HRC/44/51/Add.1 Additional measures should be adopted to encourage and support women to stand for election to public office and to support women candidates so that they have a better chance of success. In its concluding observations on the second periodic report of Greece, the Human Rights Committee noted that, despite the then one-third representative quota for women candidates, women in Greece remained underrepresented in decision-making positions in legislative and executive bodies.42 B. Non-governmental organizations and the women’s movement 54. The Working Group met with members of civil society who were actively engaged in working on issues relevant to women’s rights. Many of them also work on the front lines assisting migrant and refugee women. Those individuals and organizations have played an important role in the country’s response to the inflow of migrants and refugees. Most are project-based and face sustainability challenges. They have developed valuable experience and expertise and should continue to play a role in the current efforts aimed at the integration of refugees into Greek society, including through the implementation of the recently developed national integration strategy. 55. Non-governmental organizations working on a broad range of issues relating to women’s rights and gender equality rely on committed volunteers; they require support and sustainable funding to play a transformative role in society for the empowerment of women and gender equality. They should be able to benefit from public funding aimed at strengthening civil society, through a transparent and efficient process. Strategic collaboration and solidarity among women’s organizations will be essential in energizing the women’s movement for equality. VI. Domestic violence A. Responding to gender-based violence against women 56. The experts of the Working Group commend Greece for complying with the Istanbul Convention by including the prevention, prosecution and elimination of genderbased violence in Law No. 4604/2019 and for amending Law No 3500/2006 on domestic violence to expand the scope of its application to cover members of the extended family, such as life partners and their children, and allowing injunctive orders to be issued against perpetrators. 57. During the visit, the experts had expressed their concern about proposed amendments to provisions in the Criminal Code relating to rape. Those amendments appeared to be inconsistent with the international legal obligations of Greece under the Istanbul Convention, because they failed to introduce a consent-based definition and restricted further the circumstances in which the crime of rape could be established. In their end of mission statement, the experts urged the Government to ensure that the amended Criminal Code incorporated a consent-based definition of rape, and they were encouraged by reassurances from government interlocutors that the Government would abide by its obligations under international law. The experts of the Working Group were of the view that the proposed reform of the Criminal Code provided an opportunity to have a wider social conversation on the stigma and stereotypes that surround sexual violence in general and rape in particular. The experts were pleased to learn that, in June 2019, the Government of Greece had amended the Criminal Code to recognize in law that sex without consent is rape, which was hailed by civil society nationally and internationally as a victory for women.43 42 43 See CCPR/C/GRC/CO/2. See, for example, Amnesty International, “Greece: Newly amended rape law is a historic victory for women”, press release, 6 June 2019. Available at www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2019/06/greecenewly-amended-rape-law-is-a-historic-victory-for-women/. 13