In Strasbourg on Monday 12 March, in the wake of International Women’s Day and in the presence of the Commission, the European Parliament discussed the matter of countering violence against women and girls. Speakers taking the floor focused on the current tension regarding the Istanbul Convention.
This Council of Europe convention took effect in August 2014 to put an end to violence to women. It was signed by the EU in June 2017 and ratified by 17 member states although Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Czech Republic, the United Kingdom and Slovakia are dragging their feet.
Christine Revault d’Allonnes-Bonnefoy (S&D, France) deplored the refusal by Slovakia’s Prime Minister Roberto Fico to ratify the international treaty because he said the Istanbul Convention would run counter to the Slovak constitution. She also deplored the Bulgarian government’s withdrawal of the draft law for ratification of the convention. Like many other MEPs, she denounced this “movement of rejection and protest (...) based on fallacious arguments and false ideas”.
Jadwiga Maria Wisniewska (ECR, Poland), on the other hand, strongly criticised the Convention and above all its interpretation of the term “gender”. “Of course”, said Angel Dzhambazki (ECR, Bulgaria), “we hope to combat violence. But the text contains gender ideologies and we do not agree. It is not only Bulgaria but also the United Kingdom which doesn’t agree either. I would ask you, please, to respect the internal order of each society”.
The vice-president of the Commission, Andrus Ansip, summed up the Commission’s stance. He said: “I would like to be clear: the Istanbul Convention relates to the prevention and countering of violence against women, and there is no hidden design here”. In order to dispel any misunderstanding, he added: “The Commission does not force states to authorise gay marriage. This subject does not come within the framework for application of the convention. Neither does it force states to provide lessons on sexual orientation or gender identity or to give a specific status to transgender or intersex persons”. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)