Bisexual activists call on MPs not to support withdrawal from Istanbul Convention

RIGA - In a letter to the Saeima MPs, the bisexual activist association Neons calls on them not to support the draft law on Latvia's withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention, stressing that such a step would threaten human rights and public safety, the association informed LETA.

"Neons believes that since the Istanbul Convention was introduced, lives have been saved, violent criminals have been punished more severely, crisis apartments and electronic monitoring of the most dangerous offenders have been introduced, making progress in the field of human rights protection. It is the Convention that imposes an international obligation on the State to continue to move systematically towards a safer Latvia in every home," says the association, "to abandon it would be a betrayal of all those who suffer violence."

In its letter, the association calls on MPs to reject the draft law on withdrawal from the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence and to stop initiatives that undermine human rights or are based on prejudice.

Neons stresses that society is being mislead with myths and prejudices in regards to the Convention, such as "gender scare" and the demonization of transgender people, which do not correspond to reality and only increase the marginalization of vulnerable people, exposing them to even greater risks of violence. "Social gender" is not an ideology but a "social reality", says the organization, which believes that men are often not shown healthy ways to express their emotions, while women are taught to tolerate and normalize violence.

Latvia must remain part of the international community that condemns violence and takes concrete measures to prevent it, the association stresses, because this is the only way to preserve a free, safe and democratic country.

Neons is an LGBT+ community organization that advocates for the visibility, well-being and full inclusion of bisexual people in Latvian society.