The Independent

Protests in Poland against government’s plan to quit domestic abuse convention

- MAYA OPPENHEIM WOMEN’S CORRESPOND­ENT

Tens of thousands of people descended on Warsaw and other Polish cities on Friday to protest against government plans to withdraw from a pan-European convention tackling violence against women.

The Istanbul Convention is the most comprehens­ive legal framework that exists to tackle violence against women and girls, covering domestic violence, rape, sexual assault, female genital mutilation, so-called honour-based violence and forced marriage. Poland ratified the convention back in 2015 before the ultraconse­rvative Law and Justice Party were in power.

Demonstrat­ors shouted “fight against the virus, not against women” while walking through the capital, Warsaw – with several hundred assembling outside the headquarte­rs of an associatio­n pushing back against the convention.

The current Polish government argues that the convention, which was drawn up by the Council of Europe, a human rights organisati­on made up of 47 member states, contravene­s Poland’s Roman Catholic family values.

Britain signed the convention in 2012, making it one of the last EU members to do so – along with Bulgaria, Hungary and a handful of others – and the UK government has been fiercely condemned for failing to ratify it in the eight years since. The lack of ratificati­on means that the UK is not legally bound to follow the convention.

Andrzej Duda, the Polish president who is backed by the Law and Justice Party, narrowly beat the liberal Warsaw mayor, Rafal Trzaskowsk­i, to win a second five-year term in a fierce election earlier in the month.

Campaigner­s have raised serious concerns that Mr Duda’s win could reinvigora­te existing attacks on women’s rights and LGBT+ rights in Poland. Mr Duda promised to outlaw same-sex marriage and LGBT+ adoption rights during his recent election campaign.

The ruling Law and Justice Party is founded on a socially conservati­ve, Catholic ideology and has waged a war on female reproducti­ve rights.

Poland already has one of the most restrictiv­e abortion laws in Europe: having a pregnancy terminated is illegal except in cases of rape or incest, or when a female’s life is at risk or if there is a severe foetal abnormalit­y.

After a draft bill was roundly condemned last year, the Polish government was forced to retreat on plans to redefine the definition of domestic violence so it would only apply when spouses are beaten more than once.

Similar laws apply in Russia, where the parliament implemente­d legislativ­e amendments in February 2017 that decriminal­ised domestic violence – marking a grave setback that decreased punishment­s for perpetrato­rs and put victims at greater risk.

 ?? (Getty) ?? Andrzej Duda’s electoral win has raised fears of a new attack on women’s rights
(Getty) Andrzej Duda’s electoral win has raised fears of a new attack on women’s rights

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