Latvia 'will have to respect' rules protecting women even if it quits Istanbul Convention
Latvia will have to uphold protection rules for women even if it quits the Istanbul Convention in a divisive move seen as backtracking on fundamental rights.
READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2025/10/31/latvia-will-have-to-respect-rules-protecting-women-even-if-it-quits-istanbul-convention
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00:00The Latvian Parliament voted on Thursday to withdraw from the Istanbul Convention, a treaty that opposes domestic violence and violence against women.
00:11Nevertheless, the country would still be obliged to apply parts of the treaty, even if its exit is finalized, the European Commission has said.
00:20This text on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence is signed and ratified by 39 European and Central Asian countries.
00:28As the EU joined as a whole, the treaty is legally binding for all EU member states, the Commission said on Friday.
00:36For a Latvian NGO, the Istanbul Convention led to major improvements.
00:41For the first time, we have created the National Action Plan on Alleviating Violence, which is a five-year plan.
00:47For the first time, we have introduced the definition of sexual harassment in our law, which did not exist until November last year.
00:53We have improved our criminal law.
00:56We have included emotional abuse into our criminal law.
01:01The European Commission has yet to comment directly on the vote.
01:04It says, however, that it wants to wait until the national process in Latvia has been completed before doing so.
01:10Latvia's exit from the treaty is currently pending approval from the country's president.
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