Latvian parliament votes to withdraw from Istanbul Convention opposing violence against women

Following a day-long heated debate, the Latvian Parliament decided Thursday to withdraw from the Istanbul Convention, a human rights treaty opposing violence against women and domestic violence.

Thursday's vote saw some 32 Latvian lawmakers vote to stay in the treaty, while 56 voted to leave it. Two MPs abstained.

If ratified by President Edgars Rinkēvičs, Latvia would become the first EU member state to withdraw from the convention, which the same parliament ratified in November 2024.

Signed by 45 countries and the European Union as of 2019, the Council of Europe treaty is meant to standardise support for women who are victims of violence, including domestic abuse.

However, ultra-conservative groups and political parties across Europe have criticised the treaty, arguing that it promotes “gender ideology,” encourages sexual experimentation and harms children.

Opposition MPs in Latvia started the process of possibly withdrawing from the treaty in September. The Union of Greens and Farmers, an agrarian alliance member of the tripartite ruling coalition led by Prime Minister Evika Siliņa's centre-right Unity party joined them.

Siliņa, whose coalition government came to power in 2023 with a promise to ratify the convention, has criticised the efforts to withdraw from the treaty.

“Those who have been brave enough to seek help are now witnessing their experiences being used for political battles,” Siliņa wrote on social platform X in October. “It is cruel.”

The alliance between opposition and governing lawmakers in support of withdrawal highlights cracks in the governing coalition ahead of the next parliamentary elections, scheduled for the autumn of 2026.

“This decision not only endangers women and girls in Latvia, it emboldens anti-human rights movements across Europe and Central Asia and supports authoritarian tendencies of governments moving away from the rule of law, international justice, and democratic values,” Tamar Dekanosidze from international women’s rights organisation Equality Now said in response to the vote.

Although he has expressed his opposition, President Rinkēvičs has suggested that he might not circumvent the parliamentary vote.

According to the local media, over 5,000 people demonstrated against withdrawal from the treaty outside the Parliament in Riga on Wednesday evening. On Thursday, about 20 people demonstrated in support of withdrawal.