In a joint statement issued on Thursday 30 July, Evelyn Regner (S&D, Austria), chair of the European Parliament’s Committee on Women’s Rights (FEMM), and Juan Fernando López Aguilar (S&D, Spain), chair of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE), urged Poland to withdraw from the so-called Istanbul Convention (see EUROPE 12536/7).
Considering that the Council of Europe Convention on violence against women remains “the golden international standard and a key tool” for combating gender-based violence, the two chairmen considered that this withdrawal would invalidate the progress made by Poland in this field.
They also recalled that the Covid-19 pandemic had resulted, inter alia, in a significant increase in domestic violence (see EUROPE 12464/23) and made women even more vulnerable (see EUROPE 12457/17).
“We must not lessen, but rather expand our actions to end violence against women”, said Ms Regner and Mr López Aguilar, calling on the six Member States that have signed but not ratified the Convention – Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania and Slovakia – “to do so without delay”.
An injunction which the national parliaments of Slovakia (see EUROPE 12379/19) and Hungary (see EUROPE 12481/15) have already formally refused. (Original version in French by Agathe Cherki)