As in Lithuania, the Istanbul Convention was a hot issue in both Latvia and Estonia. However, the two Baltic countries have ratified the convention and the apocalypse did not happen, experts say.
The Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence, better known as the Istanbul Convention, is an international treaty that obliges countries to combat violence against women and children.
Lithuania signed the Istanbul Convention in 2013, but it must be ratified by the parliament to enter into force. Some politicians are reluctant to back the convention for fears that the treaty would legitimise the concept of “social gender” in Lithuania’s legal system and would introduce “compulsory sex education”.
In mid-March, the Constitutional Court ruled that the Istanbul Convention was not in conflict with the Lithuanian Constitution. This ruling is final, but some politicians still oppose the ratification of the treaty.
Further reading
Currently, Lithuania is one of only five EU member states, alongside Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovakia, that have not yet ratified the Istanbul Convention. Lithuania’s neighbour Latvia ratified the document last November, while Estonia did so in 2017.
Making progress
Estonia is making progress on women’s rights and equality, albeit more slowly than expected, says Pille Tsopp-Pagan, head of the Estonian Women’s Support and Information Centre.
According to her, the country’s progress towards equality is hampered not only by persistent stereotypes but also by various movements that supposedly defend traditional family values, as well as by the negative attitudes of some politicians.
“We are moving forward, but slowly. I hope that we will not start moving backwards, as we see happening in some European countries,” Tsopp-Pagan told LRT.lt.
Madara Kanasta-Ieviņa, head of Youth and Prevention Programmes at the Latvian MARTA Centre, says that when a country takes a step forward on women’s rights, it takes another step back. She points out, however, that the ratification of the Istanbul Convention was a big achievement in the area.
“At the moment, we can say that yes, we are moving forward, but it took more than one terrible case,” she said.
According to Kanasta-Ieviņa, statistics show that one in four Latvian women experience some kind of violence in their lifetime, but the country is starting to talk about such cases more openly.
Opposition to ratification
Both experts note that there are organisations and politicians in their countries who are opposed to Western values. Populist arguments were also used before the ratification of the Istanbul Convention in Latvia and Estonia.
Latvian expert Kanasta-Ieviņa says that her organisation and other NGOs have spent a lot of time over the past few years explaining what the Istanbul Convention actually says and what it means.
She stresses that ratifying the convention does not change a person’s life, but it does create mechanisms to respond to domestic violence.
“Such opposition stems from fear and populist arguments that the convention destroys traditional or family values, fear of the term ‘social gender’, and a lack of knowledge about what it is,” Kanasta-Ieviņa told LRT.lt “There have been arguments that we have enough local legislation and do not need any more conventions. Yes, some legislation worked, but not all of it, and there was no monitoring.”
Although Latvia has only recently ratified the Istanbul Convention, Kanasta-Ieviņa is pleased to see changes. For example, Latvia has started working on a national plan to prevent and respond to violence, she notes.
“We have ratified the convention, and no one is taking to the streets, people’s lives have not changed drastically,” the Latvian expert smiles.
No apocalypse
In Latvia, legislative changes started after the ratification of the Istanbul Convention, while Estonia adapted its legislation before ratification. Here, the biggest change was in the way various organisations approach domestic violence.
“With the ratification of the convention, organisations have a responsibility to really do coordination with strong guidelines on how to do it and monitoring. It is a document for both politicians and NGOs working in this field,” said Estonian expert Tsopp-Pagan.
According to her, the Istanbul Convention sends an important message to victims of violence that the state seeks to protect them. It also obliges the state to set up help centres and not only provide assistance to victims but also work with perpetrators of violence.
Tsopp-Pagan says that before the ratification of the Istanbul Convention, there were fears in Estonia that it would mean trans and gay people having an influence on children’s sexuality.
There were also similar arguments before the legalisation of same-sex marriage: “There was a lot of fear that gays would get married and the apocalypse would come. Nothing happened. No apocalypse, no destruction of families and values. Nobody talks about it anymore.”
Latvian expert Kanasta-Ieviņa also stresses that the ratification of the Istanbul Convention has not changed the lives of Latvians.
“Latvia also survived, nothing happened to us. There was also a huge scandal in Latvia about same-sex partnerships, but life goes on, people just get on with their lives, and some people are now able to do it normally, safely,” she explained. “Latvia is still here after the ratification of the convention, and we hope you will be with us soon.”
What does it say?
The Istanbul Convention condemns “all forms of violence against women and domestic violence” and recognises “that the realisation of de jure and de facto equality between women and men is a key element in the prevention of violence against women”.
The document states that women are disproportionately affected by domestic violence, but men can also be victims of it.
According to the convention, „gender shall mean the socially constructed roles, behaviours, activities and attributes that a given society considers appropriate for women and men”.
Countries that ratify the convention are obliged to take the necessary measures to adopt a policy and allocate adequate financial and human resources to prevent all forms of violence.
They are also obliged to designate or establish one or more official bodies responsible for the coordination, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of policies and measures aimed at preventing and combating violence.
Other commitments include taking the necessary measures to promote changes in the socio-cultural patterns of behaviour, eliminating practices based on the idea of women’s inferiority or stereotyped roles for women and men.
Vilana Pilinkaitė-Sotirovič, an expert at Lithuania’s Centre for Equal Opportunities Development, says that Lithuania has legislation in place to protect against domestic violence but lacks the necessary instruments.
In particular, she points out, the Law on Protection against Domestic Violence is gender-neutral, although women and girls are disproportionately affected by violence.
Secondly, the Istanbul Convention proposes to educate about gender equality and gender stereotypes, which, she says, is important in terms of social gender roles and the social norms attributed to men and women.
“Violence is fundamentally rooted in gender inequality, which is a core approach that we need to introduce in prevention programmes. The Istanbul Convention recommends this, but it is not being done,” Pilinkaitė-Sotirovič said.
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