Polish parliament calls on withdrawing from the Istanbul convention

The Polish government expressed its intention to withdraw from the Istanbul treaty last summer and earlier this week the parliament voted earlier this week to send a bill called “Yes to Family, No to Gender” to parliamentary committees for examination. The bill aims to solidify withdrawal from the treaty. Furthermore, government documents were leaked to the Balkan Investigative Report Network, that suggest that the authorities seek to replace the convention with a new treaty banning same-sex marriage and abortion. Human rights groups also report a spike in death threats against women’s rights defenders in Poland and activists say authorities do not do enough to ensure justice for activists and even contribute to the sense of insecurity by discrediting their work. This Wednesday the European Commission announced that it was referring Poland to the EU’s top court over the lack of respect for the rule of law. However activists say that more should be done, including considering article 7 against Poland over the failure to protect women’s rights. Article 7 suspends certain rights from a EU member state when there is  a certain risk of breaching fundamental values of the union.