Responding to the Latvian parliament’s vote to leave the Council of Europe convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, also known as the Istanbul Convention, Amnesty International’s Senior Campaigner on Women’s Rights, Monica Costa Riba, said:
“Latvia’s withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention would be a devastating blow to the protection and rights of the country’s women and girls and all people facing domestic violence. It sends a reckless and dangerous message to perpetrators that they can abuse an kill women and girls with impunity.
We urge the President of Latvia to do the right thing and use his veto to stop Latvia’s withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention
“This decision has been driven by powerful anti-rights groups spreading harmful disinformation about this vital safeguard in order to demonize gender equality, women’s and LGBTI people’s rights.
“We urge the President of Latvia to do the right thing and use his veto to stop Latvia’s withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention and advance measures to ensure its full implementation to protect women and girls from gender-based and domestic violence.
“Amid persistent backlash we must come together to resist further assaults on women’s rights and gender equality in Latvia and across Europe”.
Background
The bill now awaits the President’s decision to either veto or sign it into law. If signed, Latvia will become the second country to withdraw from the Convention, following Türkiye’s widely condemned exit in 2021, and the first country in the EU to withdraw from a major Council of Europe human rights treaty.
The Convention entered into force in Latvia in May 2024 following its ratification in November 2023.
The Istanbul Convention was adopted by the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers on 11 May 2011 and entered into force on 1 August 2014. It is the first European treaty specifically targeting violence against women and domestic violence.
The Convention sets out minimum standards on prevention, protection, prosecution and the development of integrated policies to counter violence against women and domestic violence.
To date, the Convention has been signed (45) and ratified (39) by a vast majority of Council of Europe Member States. On 28 June 2023 the European Union also ratified the convention.
Only Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Lithuania and Slovakia have yet to join the convention.
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