Saeima will next week consider public petition for Latvia's staying in Istanbul Convention

RIGA - Saeima will on November 27 consider a public petition for Latvia's staying in the Istanbul Convention.

The petition's author, Megija Jaunsleine, told LETA earlier that on October 10, the public initiative for Latvia's continued membership in the Istanbul Convention was submitted to the Saeima along with the 11,409 signatures collected on the Manabalss.lv public initiatives website.

However, despite the broad public involvement and urgency of the matter, the responsible Saeima committee decided to review the petition only on November 12, Jaunsleine said at the time. She noted that such a decision is not adequate given the seriousness of the situation, as the Istanbul Convention is essential for the safety of women and children in Latvia.

To date, the petition has already collected over 35,000 signatures.

As reported, the first mass protest in Riga against the proposed denunciation of the Istanbul Convention gathered about 5,000 people, becoming one of the largest demonstrations in recent years. It was followed by another rally in support of the Convention, which gathered at least 10,000 people.

The protests were staged after opposition parties and the coalition partner Union of Greens and Farmers decided to withdraw Latvia from the Istanbul Convention, claiming that it promoted an unacceptable "gender ideology".

Later, however, at President Edgars Rinkevics' urging, the parliament decided to postpone the final decision on the possible withdrawal from the Convention for the duration of the current parliamentary term.

In Latvia, the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, also known as the Istanbul Convention, entered into force on May 1 last year. The Convention is an international treaty that requires its member states to develop coherent policies to better protect women from all forms of violence, as well as women and men from domestic violence. These include providing comprehensive assistance and protection for victims, crisis centers, a 24-hour crisis hotline, specialized support centers for victims of sexual violence, and protection and support for child witnesses of violence.