The Istanbul Convention is not a threat to Latvian values – it is a tool to realise them, and it must be protected

Photo by: Nino Alavidze

Equality Now expresses deep concern over the proposed withdrawal of Latvia from the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, otherwise known as the Istanbul Convention.

On Thursday, 30 October, Latvia’s national parliament, the Saeima, is debating the second and final reading of a draft law seeking to withdraw the country from the Istanbul Convention. This landmark international treaty sets legally binding standards for preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, requiring countries that ratify it to strengthen laws, policies, and support systems that protect survivors, prosecute offenders, and promote gender equality.

If MPs vote to withdraw from the Convention, they will be abandoning a treaty that Latvia ratified less than two years ago – one that has already strengthened the country’s laws and institutions to protect women and girls from violence. Such a move would seriously undermine Latvia’s hard-won progress on women’s rights and hinder life-saving legal and institutional protections established for women and girls under the Convention.

Withdrawal would erode accountability and weaken protections for women in Latvia

The Istanbul Convention is not a threat to Latvian values – it is a tool to realise them. It does not undermine families; it protects them from violence. It does not impose a foreign ideology; it operationalises and confirms universal human rights standards that Latvia has long endorsed and has been participating in developing.

The proposed withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention directly contradicts Latvia’s commitments as a member of the European Union. The EU ratified the Convention in 2023 and adopted its Directive on Combating Violence Against Women in May 2024. This Directive is legislation that Latvia is legally required to transpose into national law by June 2027.

Withdrawing from the very treaty that underpins this Directive would undermine Latvia’s EU obligations and damage its reputation as a defender of women’s rights and human rights within Europe.

Furthermore, claims that Latvia’s national legislation can replicate the protections offered by the Istanbul Convention are misguided. Withdrawal would:

• Weaken prevention, protection, and prosecution of violence against women by reducing accountability and oversight. Women and girls would be left solely reliant on national authorities without the international guidance and sharing of best practices for improvement provided by the Istanbul Convention’s expert body, GREVIO.
• Erode survivor trust, sending the message that protecting women and girls from violence is conditional upon political calculation, convenience, and partisan interests, rather than grounded in enduring human rights principles and upholding international commitments.
• Undermine regional human rights commitments and standards, emboldening other governments to follow suit and contributing to a growing trend in many countries to erode the rule of law, which is the very foundation that protects everyone’s rights. Its weakening should concern us all.

Anti-rights and authoritarian political agendas are increasingly visible across Europe and Central Asia. Accompanying agendas are a threat to democratic institutions, manipulating fear and frequently promoting disinformation and misrepresentation – particularly about issues impacting women’s rights. These efforts exploit notions of “family values” to justify removing safeguards that protect women and children from violence, effectively prioritising perpetrators’ impunity over victims’ safety.

Transformative legal changes show the Istanbul Convention delivered results in Latvia

Since ratifying the Istanbul Convention on 10 January 2024, with entry into force on 1 May 2024, Latvia has undertaken transformative reforms to support women and girls:

• Enhanced criminal sanctions for stalking, threats, and violations of protection orders, replacing fines with imprisonment or probation and signalling zero tolerance for violence against women;
• Introduction of electronic monitoring for high-risk perpetrators, enabling authorities to track offenders who pose the gravest danger to their victims;
• Criminalisation of emotional violence for the first time in Latvia’s legal history, recognising psychological abuse as a punishable offence; and
• Adoption of Latvia’s first comprehensive National Action Plan (2024-2029) on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, coordinating government ministries, law enforcement, social services, and civil society organisations.

These achievements demonstrate how the Istanbul Convention offers a robust, evidence-based framework to prevent violence, protect survivors, and prosecute perpetrators. Dismantling this framework would reverse progress and weaken protections that Latvian women and families urgently need and deserve.

Protecting women and girls in Latvia

As Latvia’s Parliament debates withdrawing the country from the Istanbul Convention, Equality Now urges Latvian lawmakers to uphold their commitments to protect women and girls, reject misinformation and fear-mongering, and stand with survivors of violence and abuse.

Latvia must remain part of the Istanbul Convention, because women’s safety and equality are non-negotiable. Remaining also serves Latvia’s broader national interest. The Convention aligns Latvia with the shared values and legal standards of the European Union, reinforcing its place and leadership among countries committed to human rights, security, and justice. Withdrawal would isolate Latvia from these frameworks and weaken the collective efforts that keep societies safer and more stable.