Protesters gathered outside the legislative building this week
The Baltic nation's parliament members have voted to withdraw from an international accord designed to protect women from violence, including family violence, following extensive and heated debates in the legislature.
Several thousand of demonstrators assembled in Riga this past week to oppose the decision. The final authority now lies with President Edgars Rinkevics, who must decide whether to endorse or reject the proposed law.
Known as the Istanbul Convention, the 2011 agreement only became active in the Baltic state last year, mandating governments to develop legal frameworks and assistance programs to eliminate all forms of abuse.
The Baltic nation has become the initial EU country to begin the process of exiting from the treaty. The transcontinental nation withdrew in 2021, a decision that rights groups characterized as a major setback for women's rights.
The treaty was approved by the EU in last year, yet conservative groups have contended that its focus on equal rights undermines traditional families and advances what they term "gender ideology".
Following a lengthy debate in the Latvian parliament, MPs voted by a margin of 56-32 to withdraw from the convention, a move sponsored by opposition parties but supported by representatives from one of the three coalition parties.
The result represents a defeat for centre-right Prime Minister Evika Silina, who stood with protesters outside parliament earlier this seven-day period. "We will not surrender, we will continue fighting so that abuse does not triumph," she stated to the crowd.
One of the main political groups supporting the withdrawal is a nationalist party, whose leader has called on citizens to select from what he terms a "traditional family unit" and "gender ideology with multiple sexes".
Latvia's ombudswoman Karina Palkova urged the agreement not to be made political, while the group the rights organization stated it was "not a threat to national principles, it was an instrument to realize them".
The Thursday's decision has provoked widespread outcry both inside the country and abroad.
22,000 people have signed a national appeal calling for the treaty to be maintained. The women's rights organization Centrs Marta has called a demonstration for next Thursday, charging MPs of ignoring the will of the nation's citizens.
The leader of the Council of Europe's legislative body stated that Latvia had made a rash decision driven by misinformation. He described it as an "never-before-seen and deeply concerning step backward for women's rights and human rights in Europe".
He noted that since Turkey abandoned the treaty four years ago, instances of femicide and abuse targeting females had increased significantly.
Because the vote did not secure a two-thirds majority, the head of state could potentially return the bill for further consideration if he holds objections.
President Rinkevics announced on social media that he would assess the vote according to legal requirements, "taking into account state and legal factors, rather than belief-based perspectives".
Recently, another component of the ruling coalition, the Progressives, indicated it would not exclude petitioning to the supreme judicial body.
"This decision represents a concerning development for gender equality not only in our nation but throughout the continent," commented a human rights advocate.
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