Latvian parliament votes to withdraw from convention protecting women
Illustrative photo: women in Latvia (Getty Images)
Latvian parliament votes to withdraw from the Istanbul Convention on preventing violence against women, defying the prime minister and public protests, Reuters reports.
Latvian parliament votes to withdraw from Istanbul Convention despite PM’s stance and public protests
The Latvian parliament has voted to withdraw from the Istanbul Convention, a key Council of Europe treaty signed by dozens of member states to combat violence against women and gender-based violence, Reuters reports, cited by RBC-Ukraine.
The convention defines such violence as a human rights violation and obliges signatories to adopt preventive, protective, and prosecutorial measures.
Opposition to treaty
Critics in Latvia argue that the document introduces the concept of gender as a social construct, extending beyond biological sex, and insist that national legislation is sufficient to address domestic and gender-based violence.
One of the driving forces behind the withdrawal was the Union of Greens and Farmers, which broke coalition discipline and sided with the opposition. As a result, 56 out of 100 lawmakers voted in favor of leaving the treaty.
"This will not influence domestic violence in any way. Protections against domestic violence were in Latvian law even before the Istanbul Convention," Gunars Gutris, a member of parliament from the Greens and Farmers Union, told Reuters.
Protests and political backlash
The decision has sparked significant public outcry. According to Latvian public broadcaster LSM, around 5,000 people protested in central Riga on Wednesday, opposing the move.
Prime Minister Evika Siliņa addressed the demonstrators, expressing support for keeping the convention in force.
"This will be a devastating blow to Latvia's standing in the European Union, as well as internationally", Andris Suvajevs, chair of the parliamentary group of Progressives, the liberal government coalition party, told Reuters.
Broader context
The Istanbul Convention, signed in 2011 in Istanbul and in force since 2014, has been ratified by most EU countries. Latvia only ratified it in 2023, and could now become the second country to formally withdraw, after Türkiye, which faced strong criticism from the European Commission for its 2021 withdrawal.
Similar withdrawal efforts were launched in Poland (2020) and the Czech Republic (2024), though political shifts in both countries delayed or halted those initiatives.
