On 20 March 2021, Turkey announced it is withdrawing from an international treaty designed to end violence against women. The Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence, better known as the Istanbul Convention, opened for signatures in 2011. The convention sets out a legal framework to end violence against women, including physical and psychological abuse, forced marriage, so-called “honour-based” violence, and stalking. Charities and professionals have called it the "gold standard" for tackling gender-based violence.
Turkey was the first country to ratify the convention in 2012, although it faced criticism for poor implementation. Turkey’s withdrawal comes as unofficial data suggests gender-based violence is on the rise across the country. The Council of Europe and UN Women have condemned Turkey’s withdrawal. However, Turkey is only the latest in a line of countries that have turned against the convention.
CONSERVATIVE REACTION
Although the Istanbul Convention was intended to end violence against women, conservative groups in Europe and Turkey claim that certain provisions promote homosexuality and threaten the traditional family. In particular, they point to article 4. Article 4(3) requires states to "protect the rights of victims … without discrimination on any ground”. The prohibition on discrimination includes discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. Critics of the convention say this provision "normalise[s] homosexuality".
Critics are also claiming that the convention is a tool of “gender ideology” intended to undermine the traditional family, warns Iris Luarsi, Vice-President of GREVIO (the body that monitors implementation of the convention). This is because article 3 distinguishes between sex and gender, defining gender as "the socially constructed roles, behaviours, activities, and attributes that a given society considers appropriate” for men or women. Article 14 (in addition to numerous studies) thus pinpoints education and non-stereotyped gender roles as a measure for preventing this violence.
Conservatives in Eastern Europe generally oppose these articles. In 2016, Ukraine rejected the ratification of the convention after religious groups argued it would popularise "new gender roles” and same-sex relations. Bulgaria’s VMRO party claimed in December 2017 that the convention seeks to legislate a “third gender” and promote homosexuality. The Bulgarian Constitutional Court ruled in July 2018 that the convention’s definition of gender as a social construct makes it incompatible with the Bulgarian constitution. In November 2019, Slovakia rejected ratification, as did Hungary in May 2020.
Poland announced it was also withdrawing from the convention two months after Hungary. Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro described the convention as “harmful,” alleging that it requires schools to teach children about gender. Poland’s replacement for the Istanbul Convention bans abortion and homosexual marriage. Poland has asked the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Croatia to join this new treaty. While Croatia ratified the convention in 2018, it did so with an accompanying interpretative statement stating that it would not “introduce gender ideology into the legal and educational system,” nor “modify the constitutional definition of marriage” as between a man and a woman. This followed years of conservative opposition to ratification.
COUNCIL OF EUROPE RESPONDS
The Council of Europe, the human rights body that promoted the convention, has sought to address opposition and return attention to the issue of violence against women. It has called the statements of Polish and Turkish politicians “deliberate misrepresentations about the objectives and provisions of the treaty”. It has said that any claims that the convention would “redefine the concept of ‘family’ or regulate family life” are “groundless”. The Council of Europe reiterates that the convention’s “very clear agenda,” as already enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights, is to “ensure the safety of women and girls at risk of violence, promote gender equality, and eliminate discrimination against women”.
FUTURE OF THE CONVENTION
There remain 11 countries which have signed, but not ratified, the Istanbul Convention: Armenia, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Moldova, Slovakia, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom signed the Convention in 2012, but is not yet compliant with the requirement to provide services regardless of victims’ residency or immigration status. The Council of Europe will likely focus on encouraging these countries towards ratification, and returning attention to the issue of violence against women.
Helena Trenkić is studying for an MPhil in Modern European History at Jesus College, Cambridge. She is also a member of the National Council of Women GB, contributing to the organisation's advocacy for legislative change to better tackle Violence Against Women and Girls. She has been their delegate to international conferences including the UN Commission on the Status of Women in New York.