What’s happening in Latvia with the Istanbul Convention?

Last updated: November 19 2025

Latvia is at the centre of a major European debate about women’s rights, international law, and the rise of anti-rights movements across the region. In late October 2025, the Latvian Parliament (Saeima) voted to withdraw the country from the Istanbul Convention,  Europe’s leading human rights treaty on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence.

If completed, Latvia would become the first EU member state ever to withdraw from an international human rights treaty. This would have far-reaching consequences, both for women and girls in Latvia and for the wider European human rights system.

However, the situation is now evolving. Here is what you need to know.

What has happened so far?

30 October 2025: Parliament votes to withdraw

Latvia’s Parliament voted 56 in favour, 32 against, with 2 abstentions, to withdraw from the Istanbul Convention. The vote swiftly triggered national and international concern, including widespread public protests, record-breaking petition signatures, and statements from European institutions and women’s rights organisations.

3 November 2025: The President blocks the withdrawal

Latvian President Edgars Rinkēvičs refused to sign the withdrawal bill. Instead, he sent it back to Parliament for further review, citing unanswered legal questions, risks to women’s safety, and significant concerns about Latvia’s international obligations.

The President warned that:

• Withdrawal would damage Latvia’s credibility within the European Union.
• It would set a dangerous precedent as the first time an EU member state leaves a human rights treaty.
• The move could undermine the shared rule-of-law architecture that protects people’s rights across Europe.
• The government has not completed the necessary legal groundwork, creating potential gaps in protection for women and girls.
• Any reconsideration of withdrawal should be left to the next Saeima, following national elections in 2026.
  

Parliament responds

MPs have since returned the bill to the Foreign Affairs Committee for additional review, allowing up to one year for amendments. Some MPs have suggested a national referendum may be required if the issue remains unresolved.

Why is leaving the Istanbul Convention a problem?

The Istanbul Convention is the strongest legally binding human rights instrument for preventing and responding to violence against women. Latvia ratified it in January 2024, and it entered into force in May 2024.

Since then, the Convention has already delivered real, measurable progress in Latvia, including:

• Stronger criminal sanctions for stalking, threats, and violations of protection orders.
• The introduction of electronic monitoring for high-risk perpetrators.
• The criminalisation of emotional (psychological) violence for the first time in Latvian legal history.
• Adoption of Latvia’s first National Action Plan (2024–2029) on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence.

These reforms are examples of the Convention working exactly as intended: helping governments strengthen laws, improve systems, and coordinate services to protect women and girls.

Withdrawing now would reverse progress and weaken legal protections.

What would withdrawal mean for women and girls in Latvia?

Equality Now is deeply concerned that withdrawal would:

1. Weaken protection and accountability

Latvia would lose the support and oversight of GREVIO, the Convention’s expert monitoring body, which helps ensure national systems are improving, not backsliding.

2. Undermine survivor trust

Sending a signal that women’s safety is negotiable risks discouraging survivors from seeking help.

3. Contradict EU legal obligations

The EU ratified the Istanbul Convention in 2023 and adopted the EU Directive on Combating Violence Against Women in May 2024, which is based on the protections provided by the Convention. Latvia is legally required to implement this Directive by June 2027. Withdrawing from the very treaty underpinning it risks weakening Latvia’s alignment with EU standards.

4. Encourage anti-rights movements

A Latvian withdrawal would embolden anti-rights and populist actors across Europe and globally, who are actively spreading misinformation about women’s rights treaties and gender equality.

Why is this happening now?

The push to withdraw has emerged against the backdrop of:

• The growing anti-gender movement in Europe;
• Increasing disinformation campaigns, including claims that the Convention imposes “foreign ideology”;
• Political actors aligning with populist and Kremlin-linked narratives;
• Rising polarisation ahead of Latvia’s 2026 national elections.
  

Journalists, researchers, and Latvian civil society groups have documented widespread false and misleading claims about the Convention, many of which mirror narratives promoted in other countries by far-right and anti-rights groups.

These narratives misrepresent the Convention’s purpose. The treaty does not redefine family structures or impose foreign values. It simply requires states to take evidence-based, survivor-centred measures to prevent and address violence.

What has been the public response in Latvia?

Public engagement has been significant and growing:

• Thousands of people joined protests in Riga in support of the Istanbul Convention in early November. 
• Latvia recorded the biggest petition in its history, urging MPs to stay in the Convention.
• Civil society organisations, including Equality Now, have issued statements, organised briefings, and mobilised public support.
• International organisations, including the OSCE, have expressed concern over the impact of withdrawal.

The scale of public opposition has already influenced political decision-making and contributed to the temporary pause on withdrawal.

Regional implications: Europe is watching

Developments in Latvia are reverberating across the region:

• In Estonia, MPs have spoken out in support of the Istanbul Convention, highlighting misinformation circulating online.

• In Lithuania, political leaders have suggested that the country should move forward with ratification.

• In several countries, the debate is mirroring wider tensions between pro-EU democratic actors and anti-rights, populist or Kremlin-aligned forces.
  

Latvia’s final decision will send a powerful message; either upholding shared European human rights standards or creating a precedent that anti-rights movements may seek to replicate.

Where does the situation stand now?

The withdrawal process is paused but not resolved.

President Rinkēvičs’ veto has created time for further scrutiny, but unless MPs who supported withdrawal reconsider their stance, the threat remains.

Equality Now continues to monitor developments closely, working with partners in Latvia to ensure the public, policymakers, and international community have access to accurate, evidence-based information.

Equality Now’s position

Violence against women and girls is never inevitable,  and legal protections should never depend on political convenience. The Istanbul Convention is a lifesaving human rights instrument, and Latvia has already shown the progress that is possible when it is implemented.

Equality Now urges Latvian lawmakers to:

• Uphold their international human rights obligations and EU commitments,
• Reject disinformation,
• Listen to survivors and civil society, and
• Protect the hard-won progress made to date.
  

Women’s safety is non-negotiable. Latvia must remain part of the Istanbul Convention.

Media enquiries

For media enquiries reach out Natalia Amaglobeli, Equality Now Eurasia Communications Officer via email: namaglobeli@equalitynow.org. 

Equality Now’s experts are available for comment, including
Tamar Dekanosidze, Human Rights Lawyer & Eurasia Regional Representative.

We can also connect journalists with Latvian civil society partners, including the Women’s NGOs Cooperation Network.