Poland wants to withdraw from the Istanbul Convention on gender-based violence. A choice shared by Hungary, Slovakia and Turkey.
A new front is emerging in Europe, bringing together countries that are in some cases very similar to one another, and in others profoundly different. It is the bloc raising its voice against the Istanbul Convention, a text for the prevention and combating of violence against women and domestic violence, promoted by the Council of Europe in 2011. Poland's Minister of Justice, Zbigniew Ziobro, declared in recent days that it is a mere ideological manifesto, from which it is necessary to dissociate. An approach that follows that of other countries such as Hungary, Slovakia and Turkey.
The Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence was adopted by the Council of Europe on 7 April 2011 in the city of Istanbul. It was initially signed by 32 countries, a number that subsequently grew to 45 over time. The first country to ratify it was Turkey, in 2012, followed by a further 34 countries including Italy.
The text is a legally binding instrument that, for the first time at an international level, affirms a series of fundamental principles. Violence against women is defined as a violation of human rights and a form of discrimination. If the state does not do enough to respond to situations of this kind, it must be held responsible for that same violence. The text also highlights the link between the absence of gender equality and the phenomenon of violence, an element brought to light by statistics and recorded situations. Furthermore, the notion of violence is broadened to include psychological and economic violence, with greater attention paid to domestic violence. Another important aspect is the focus on prevention and awareness-raising, with particular weight given to anti-violence centres.
The Convention is considered the most far-reaching international treaty for addressing the critical issue of violence against women. Women are protected regardless of their origin, age, race, religion, social class, migrant status or sexual orientation, and a series of new offences are identified, including female genital mutilation, forced marriage, stalking, forced sterilisation and forced abortion. It is precisely the section relating to abortion, as well as the one on freedom of sexual orientation, that has led a faction of states to distance themselves from the text today.
"A feminist fantasy and invention aimed at justifying gay ideology." These are the words with which Poland's Minister of Justice, Zbigniew Ziobro, recently described the Istanbul Convention, in support of his official request to withdraw the country from the text, which was ratified in 2015. In his view, the principles set out therein are not in line with those of the Polish government, which is indeed led by a far-right party, Law and Justice (PiS). And, as often happens in these situations, he made reference to an alleged "gender ideology" that would supposedly be conveyed through the Council of Europe document.
Poland has for some time been seeking to restrict the rights of women and homosexual people, as denounced by Amnesty International among others. Recently, a bill was tabled to completely ban abortion in the country (currently permitted only in cases of rape), alongside another whose aim was to block sex education in schools. The country's prime minister, Andrzej Duda, stressed some time ago that the defence of LGBT rights is "more destructive than communism". Withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention would be yet another piece in the puzzle, despite the ruling party's spokesperson having said that no definitive decision on the matter has yet been taken.
Meanwhile, thousands of people took to the streets to protest against the Polish government's latest blow to human rights. "Fight the virus, not women," the crowd chanted in Warsaw, while one of the march organisers stressed that the government is in effect legalising domestic violence. The European Commission also raised its voice. "Adherence to the Istanbul Convention remains a fundamental priority," a spokesperson stressed, adding that there is no place in Europe for violence against women.
Poland's about-turn on the Istanbul Convention is not unprecedented. Last May, Hungary under the authoritarian Viktor Orbán decided, through a parliamentary vote, not to ratify the text. The reasoning was that it would encourage illegal immigration, in the part where it calls for the reception of people who are victims of persecution on the basis of sexual orientation. Here too, the usual reference to the alleged "gender ideology" was made, with principles deemed unacceptable and inconsistent with the Hungarian constitution.
Neighbouring Slovakia had also taken a stance against the Convention. In February, 96 out of 113 parliamentarians voted against its ratification, on a motion by the far-right majority party Slovak National Party. The Council of Europe document was judged to be inconsistent with Polish constitutional principles, first and foremost the one that defines marriage as the union between a man and a woman. Slovakia, like Hungary before it, went on to emphasise its intention to pressure the remaining signatories so that withdrawal from the Convention could spread to other countries.
And indeed it appears they are succeeding. Because it is not only Poland that has embarked on a process in this direction, but also Turkey. A few weeks ago, Numan Kurtulmuş, vice-president of the AKP, the party of President Recep Erdogan, described the Istanbul Convention as an undue instrument "in the hands of LGBT people and elements marginalised by society, aimed at undermining family values". For this reason, he said that ratification had been "a mistake" and that the intention is to withdraw the country from the text.
Yet, looking at the figures, if there is one country that needs the Istanbul Convention more than any other, it is Turkey itself. In 2019 there were 474 femicides in the country, and early data suggest that the situation is worsening in the current year, with the impact of lockdown on domestic violence also a contributing factor. On 16 July, Pinar Gültekin, a 27-year-old woman, was killed by her ex-boyfriend. The news shook the country and many people took to the streets to remember the latest in a long line of victims of gender-based violence in Turkey. The Erdogan government, for its part, appears to want to respond to this tragedy by scrapping a Convention whose very aim is to protect women like Pinar from the systematic abuse of which they are victims.
