01/12/2023 (Agence Europe) – On Thursday 30 November, the Latvian parliament voted in favour of ratifying the Council of Europe convention on combating violence against women and domestic violence, known as the Istanbul Convention. Signed by Latvia in 2016 but still not ratified, this text was the subject of a ruling by the Latvian Constitutional Court in June 2021. It stated that the scope of the Istanbul Convention includes only the elimination of violence against women and domestic violence, and that it does not require the acceptance or introduction of any specific form of marriage or family. The fear of undermining the “traditional family” is frequently the case made by countries opposing the convention on the basis of the concept of gender identity cited in one of its articles. (VL)