Four out of ten Lithuanians believe that the Seimas should ratify the Istanbul Convention following the Constitutional Court’s interpretation, according to a survey by Baltijos Tyrimai commissioned by LRT.
Of those surveyed, 40 percent agreed that following the interpretation of the Constitutional Court, the parliament should ratify the Istanbul Convention, 32 percent disagreed, and 28 percent did not know the answer or did not answer the question altogether.
Young people aged 15–29 and those aged 30–49 were more likely to agree that the Seimas should ratify the Istanbul Convention.
Adopted in 2011, the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence, also known as the Istanbul Convention, was signed by Lithuania on June 7, 2013, but has not been ratified yet.
Experts from the Council of Europe say Lithuania could benefit from recommendations on curbing domestic violence.
The Catholic Church and some politicians, however, argue that the convention may require Lithuania to change its concept of gender and introduce unacceptable attitudes towards homosexuality.
In mid-March, the Constitutional Court ruled that the Istanbul Convention is compatible with Lithuania’s constitution.
The poll was conducted by the market and public opinion research company Baltijos Tyrimai for LRT on May 16–25 and involved 1,027 respondents aged 15–74. The margin of error of the results does not exceed 3.1 percent.
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