The EU can ratify the Istanbul Convention even without Hungary
The Swedish presidency, the European Commission and the European Parliament support it, and the European Court of Justice considers it legally feasible for the EU to ratify the Istanbul Convention, even if several people, including Hungary, oppose it. The International Convention against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence provides an institutional framework for the protection and prevention of victims.
The Istanbul Convention it was adopted within the framework of the Council of Europe (CoE) in 2011. ET is not an institution of the European Union, but an independent, significantly looser pan-European association. All European countries are members, except Belarus, where the death penalty still exists, and this excludes membership, and Russia is no longer a member. The Moscow leadership left the organization after the attack on Ukraine, preventing it from being expelled. The European Court of Human Rights operates within the European Council, the purpose of which is to enforce the provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights.
The Istanbul Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence is one of the tools to combat violence against women and girls, and is the first tool in Europe that defines legally binding standards for the prevention of gender-based violence and such violence. to protect its victims and punish its perpetrators.
Every third woman in the EU, 62 million, has experienced physical and/or sexual violence, more than half of women (55 percent) have suffered sexual harassment at least once since the age of 15. All member states and the EU have already signed the Istanbul Convention, but Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania and Slovakia and the EU have not yet ratified it. In the EU, there is very serious pressure for the union as an institution to fully join the convention. There is a legal possibility for this, and the European Parliament wants to enforce everything on a political level. The human rights and women’s rights committees of the parliament are joint in a resolution he argued to be accepted, certainly soon in the plenary session – and there he will most likely avoid the most developed text.
related to this: 62 million women are affected by violence against women in the EU
Parliamentary pressure
It was a kind of turning point in the case when, following a petition by the European Parliament, the European Court of Justice ruled in 2021 that it could ratify the Istanbul Convention even without the joint agreement of these councils. The judges also state that a unanimous decision is not necessary, a qualified majority is sufficient. Since it is possible to achieve this voting share even without the six governments mentioned above, the MEPs are increasing the pressure. The text, now adopted by a large majority, highlights that the Istanbul Convention remains a point of alignment and a key tool in the eradication of gender-based violence, which includes domestic violence as well. The MEPs strongly condemn that some are trying to undo the treatment already taken in the application of the Istanbul Convention and call on them to fully implement it.
Condemning gender equality, women’s rights and anti-Istanbul Convention sentiment in some member states, including Poland, MEPs call on national authorities to combat disinformation and dispel the Convention and its benefits for society as a whole about everything. doubt.
Following the vote, the Polish Social Democratic representative Łukasz Kohut, speaker of the Civil Rights, Internal Affairs and Justice Committee, stated: “In many homes where violence tcoversings, the valmust change soon! The agreementény concret kquintupledehget imposes on the signatories violence against women and within the familyli in the fight against violence. Meansand we have a strong signaland which supports the svand firstoxheaven is striving for itand for the EU to join the Istanbul Conventionto self, but the presentand non-governmental organizations dealing with women’s rights pehsecuring its medical resourceshe calls her nowand it is. Women’s rights must be excluded from political conflictsShel.”
Benefit of the convention
The convention was brought under the roof of the Council of Europe in order to have an institutional framework to monitor violence against women and girls, to reveal gaps in legislation and to find best practices. Unlike other international treaties to combat gender-based violence, the Istanbul Convention requires the implementation of comprehensive and coordinated policies among national and governmental agencies involved in prevention, prosecution and protection activities.
The Convention defines and criminalizes various forms of violence against women (including physical, sexual and psychological violence, stalking, sexual harassment, female genital mutilation, forced marriage, forced abortion and forced sterilization). It also addresses violence by requiring parties to invest in education, training of experts and treatment programs for offenders. It protects victims by obliging states to establish adequate support (a free national hotline; shelters; medical, psychological and legal counselling). It imposes an obligation on parties to collect data on gender-related contracts.
MEPs also pointed out that the Istanbul Convention was crucial during the Covid-19 pandemic to help EU countries deal with the alarming increase in gender-based violence. Recognizing the crucial role of women’s and other human organizations, including those working for the rights of minority groups, in curbing and combating gender-based violence, and the legal punishment for providing assistance to victims, Members call on them and the Committee to support this cause. organizations by providing adequate, reliable, sustainable and long-term financial resources.
Special passengers
However, there are serious cracks in the ship of the agreement. Turkey was the first to ratify the 2011 document – and the first to leave it a year and a half ago. In the EU, one of its members that has yet to ratify, namely Poland, has announced that it wants to leave, but this has not yet formally happened. The KDNP has a say in the formation of the Hungarian position, in May 2020 the representatives of the smaller government party submitted the draft of the political statement, which called on the government to speak out against EU accession in the EU institutions. This document was accepted by the parliament, and at the same time it was declared that Hungary does not want to ratify the convention. The KDNP’s objection is that certain provisions of the Istanbul Convention are contrary to the migration policy of the Hungarian government, and they would not consider it good if the convention made the concept of social gender, “gender ideology” part of Hungarian law.
On the one hand, the Christian Democrats complain that the convention recognizes that a woman’s situation as a refugee or asylum seeker may be particularly vulnerable if her status depends on an abusive husband, so they undertake to provide special protection to these women in this situation. The other concern is related to the fact that the convention introduces the definition of gender in order to recognize specific forms of violence against women that are rooted in power inequalities. This applies to boys and men as well as girls and women as potential victims, especially victims of domestic violence and forced marriage.
Is there a way out?
It is easy to imagine that there will be a breakthrough in the next period, and the EU will fully join the convention. This is not only due to the legal possibility and the political will of the parliament, but also the intention of the executive power. The Von der Leyen committee included the matter as a priority in the EU’s 2020-2025 gender equality strategy. It’s their turn. Just if the EU ratifies the convention, it does not mean that it will act in place of those who have failed to ratify so far. The European Court of Justice also stated that such a decision does not replace the lack of individual steps.