Extensive protests in Turkey following withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention / Article

Hundreds of women took part in a protest march in the Turkish city of Istanbul, criticizing the country’s withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention, which aims to protect women from violence.

Colorful flags were displayed in the hands of the protesters, symbolizing equality and diversity, the demonstrators played music, whistled and dispelled various slogans. Police restricted the marchers with barricades.

Istanbul, this evening. Women don’t give up on the Istanbul Convention: “We won’t be quite, we won’t be afraid, we won’t obey”. Today, as of July 1st 2021, Turkey, which had ratified the convention in its parliament, has officially withdrawn from it by a presidential decree. pic.twitter.com/jJ2VvkT7SP

— Banu Guven (@banuguven) July 1, 2021

Turkish President Regepi Taipa Erdogan says that withdrawing from the international agreement known as the Istanbul Convention will not be a step backwards in the field of women’s rights.

Erdogan this week announced an alternative action plan to combat violence against women, which includes reviewing trials, improving protection measures and collecting data on violence.

However, the participants in the large-scale demonstration do not agree with the President’s actions and insist that Turkey accede to the Istanbul Convention. Similar protests took place in other Turkish cities.

Violence against women remains a serious problem in Turkey. In 2020 alone, at least 300 women were killed.

According to the World Health Organization, 38% of women in Turkey experience partner violence during their lifetime, compared with 25% in Europe.

Turkish conservative politicians believe that the Istanbul Convention is detrimental to family unity, encourages divorce, and that the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community uses various references in the convention to gain wider community recognition.

The Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and the Family was signed in 2011 in Istanbul. On the Turkish side, it was personally signed by Erdogan at the time, while he was still prime minister. Turkey later ratified the Convention.

CONTEXT:

The Istanbul Convention aims to protect women from all forms of violence; to promote de facto equality between women and men by ensuring the empowerment of women. It aims to develop a comprehensive framework to protect and assist victims of domestic violence, as well as to promote international cooperation in combating such violence, and to support non-governmental organizations and law enforcement agencies in combating this type of violence.

Latvia is one of the six member states of the European Union that still have not ratified Istanbul Convention (the other five are Lithuania, Hungary, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia). Constitutional Court concluded in early Junethat the norm of the Istanbul Convention on the Implementation of Special Measures for the Protection of Women from Violence complies with the Satversme.

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