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Poland to exit European treaty on domestic violence: justice minister

27.07.2020 07:00
Poland is poised to take steps to leave a European treaty on violence against women, the country’s justice minister has announced.
Polands Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro. Photo: PAPRafał Guz
Poland's Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro. Photo: PAP/Rafał GuzPhoto: PAP/Rafał Guz

Zbigniew Ziobro told a news conference at the weekend that his ministry would formally recommend that the government initiate the process of withdrawing from the domestic violence treaty.

He told reporters on Saturday that the international document, known as the Istanbul Convention, contained "ideological provisions” that Poland’s ruling conservatives “do not accept and consider harmful."

He argued that the treaty undermined parental rights by forcing schools to educate children on gender identity.

Ziobro added that Poland’s own legal system, reshaped by the country’s ruling conservatives in recent years, provided sufficient protection for women.

Ziobro told the news conference his ministry would on Monday submit a formal request to the country’s family, labour and social policy ministry to start the procedure of leaving the European treaty.

Meanwhile, thousands of women in Warsaw and other Polish cities took to the streets at the end of last week to protest against proposals to quit the domestic violence treaty, state news agency PAP reported.

Poland signed the Council of Europe's Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women in 2012. It ratified the document in 2015.

(gs)

Source: PAP