By Miriam Specka
On July 25th, 2020 the Polish Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro announced that the country will begin withdrawing from the Council of Europe’s Istanbul Convention, the first legally binding treaty which aims to protect women from gender-based violence and discrimination.
A day after Ziobro’s announcement, former Prime Minister of Belgium, Guy Verhofstadt, condemned Poland’s decision on Twitter, describing it as “scandalous,” and stating that “Violence is not a traditional value. EU and all of its members signed because Europe stands for human rights, equality, and decency.”
The French minister for European affairs also voiced his opinion, saying that Poland would be penalized and face financial consequences if it withdraws from the treaty.
The Council of Europe Secretary-General Marija Pejčinović Burić also expressed disapproval of Poland’s decision, calling it “alarming,” and adding that “Leaving the Istanbul Convention would be highly regrettable and a major step backward in the protection of women against violence in Europe.”
In a press conference, Ziobro responded to criticism by calling out the “ideological nature” of the convention, and accusing it of “constructing the so-called socio-cultural gender in opposition to biological sex.”
Regarding backlash from countries such as Hungary, Slovakia, and now Poland, which accuse the convention of furthering an LGBTQ agenda and being at odds with these countries’ legal definition of marriage as heterosexual, the Council of Europe has emphasized that the Istanbul Convention’s objective is to combat violence against women and does not mention same-sex marriage.
The Istanbul Convention was signed by Poland’s then centrist government in 2012, and ratified in 2015 when Ziobro called the treaty “an invention, a feminist creation aimed at justifying gay ideology.” Family minister Marlena Malag has also expressed discontent with the treaty, calling it “left-wing gibberish.”
This scandal comes after Andrezj Duda was re-elected as the Polish president earlier this month, beating the slightly more liberal candidate Rafal Trzaskowski. Duda is backed by the nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party, which aligns itself closely with the Catholic Church and promotes conservative social policies, and supported by a largely conservative voter base. His administration and re-election campaign have been condemned for their anti-LGBTQ and gender justice views.
Thousands of protesters gathered across major Polish cities in response to the government’s plans, with some protesters carrying posters saying “PiS is the women’s hell.” Protest organizer Magdalena Lempert told reporters that the government acted in an effort “to legalize domestic violence.”
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