31/10/2025 Women free from violence
“I am dismayed to learn this week’s final vote of the Latvian Parliament to withdraw from the Istanbul Convention, which deprives women victims of violence in Latvia of the protection and support mechanisms of this important Convention which is in application in 37 countries in Europe,” said the Chairperson of the PACE Committee on Equality and Non-Discrimination, Catia Polidori (Italy, EPP/CD).
“I deplore the fact that this decision has been fast-tracked and that it is due to political posturing ahead of next year’s elections, in a wider context of growing attacks on women’s rights in Europe and beyond,” she added.
“At the Assembly, we are determined to address the constant disinformation, manipulation and outright lies that circulate around this important human rights treaty, which saves women’s lives. The Latvian Parliament has failed the women it represents, who have publicly demonstrated against this decision, but have not been listened to. Women victims of violence in Latvia are the real losers of this regrettable parliamentary decision,” underlined Ms Polidori.
“I call on Latvian authorities and parliamentarians to reverse this path and stand in firm support of the right of every woman and girl to a life free from violence,” she concluded.
The Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, known as the Istanbul Convention, entered into force in Latvia on 1 May 2024. The European Union also became a Party to this Convention in 2023.