Today marks the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, raising awareness of the millions of women and children being abused.

According to figures released by the United Nations, one in three women have experienced physical or sexual violence - mainly at the hands of their partner.

The Evangelical Alliance is a part of the ICChange campaign, which is calling on the government to fully support and acknowledge the Istanbul Convention - the most comprehensive legal framework that exists to tackle violence against women and girls.

As a part of the ICChange campaign, the Alliance is urging the government to take this opportunity to tackle all forms of violence against women and girls, including FGM, sexual violence and rape, forced marriage, sexual harassment and stalking.

UN Women have named the Istanbul Convention "a gold standard" for tackling violence against women and Human Rights Watch have called it "ground-breaking".

Some of the countries that have already ratified the Istanbul Convention include Albania, Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Denmark, France, Italy, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, Portugal, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Turkey.

The Alliance strongly believes in protecting the human rights of all people, and so ending violence against women must be a priority.

We want to see all women living free, safe, flourishing lives without fear of violence. The Istanbul Convention is an effective and clear way to ensure women are receiving the protection and support they deserve.

Ratifying the Convention will mean a lasting national commitment to tackling violence against women and an increase in women's safety in the UK.

Many other countries have already done this, committing to making sure women and girls are guaranteed the right to live lives free from violence and the fear of violence.

We strongly urge the government to uphold their promise of working towards ending violence against women.

The implementation of the Istanbul Convention would be an important step towards this.

The Alliance is one of many organisations supporting ICChange. Find the full list of supporters here.

The find out more about the campaign and the details of the Istanbul Convention, visit the website here.

Miss our recent FNT post about violence against women? Catch up here.