WARSAW (POLAND) – A top Polish government official said on Saturday that the country should quit a treaty it entered into with the EU to combat physical abuse of women as it contains some elements that go against Poland’s constitutional values.
The country had ratified the Council of Europe’s Istanbul Convention to crack down on violence against women in 2015 during the tenure of the former centrist government.
The conservative nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party, which came to power five years ago, had vowed to defend traditional family values. It has indicated that Poland may quit the treaty, saying the nation’s laws were more than adequate to protect women.
Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro will address the media on the pact, which states that traditions, culture or religion cannot be used as a justification for acts of violence against women.
“The convention includes a dangerous ideological layer, which is contrary to Polish constitutional order,” said Janusz Kowalski, a deputy state assets minister and lawmaker from PiS junior coalition partner.
Kowalski said his party and the justice ministry believed that the convention must be denounced.
On Friday evening, thousands of people, mostly women, staged protests in Warsaw and other cities against the government’s plans.
“The aim is to legalise domestic violence,” Magdalena Lempart, one of the protest organisers said.
Some agitators were seen carrying banners that read “PiS is the women’s hell”, referring also to its earlier attempts to tighten the restrictive abortion rules.
(Photos syndicated via Reuters)
This story has been edited by BH staff and is published from a syndicated field