Marlena Maląg, Polish Minister for Family, Labor and Social Policy, said in a television interview that Poland could withdraw from the Council of Europe Istanbul Convention.
The Istanbul Convention, also known as the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, is, in fact, trying to make gender ideology and the ideology of radical feminism a binding norm of international law.
The Convention was ratified by Poland in 2015 with a number of reservations and declarations. In particular, Poland stated that the convention would only be applied in accordance with the Polish Constitution. This position of Poland seems obvious and justified – in the end, no government has the right to ratify an international treaty contrary to the constitution of its country. But the reaction was very sharp – Austria, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland stated (using always the same words) that they objected to this position of Poland.
Apparently, reservations are not enough. Supporters of dangerous ideologies that destroy the natural family and the traditional vision of men and women associated with biological sex are actively using the Istanbul Convention as an instrument of radical restructuring of the whole society.
In an interview on TV Trwam, Ms. Maląg first mentioned the reservations to the Convention, evasively saying that her ministry would work on the necessary legislative changes together with the Ministry of Justice.
However, in response to the direct question of whether Poland would denounce the Istanbul Convention (that is, withdraw from it), she replied: “First of all, Poland is preparing for changes, because we have already protested, expressed our position and are preparing for denunciation, when we will complete the joint consultations with the Ministry of Justice.” She added: “Today we have already discussed this in the ministry. We are waiting for proposals prepared by the ministries, and this direction will be submitted to the government, and then the law will be submitted to parliament.“
A few days before, the Polish non-governmental organizations Christian Social Congress and Ordo Juris launched a public campaign called “Yes to the family, no to the gender.” The denunciation of the Istanbul Convention is one of the main objectives of this campaign.
Earlier, in May of this year, the Polish Deputy Minister of Justice, Martin Romanowski, had already called for the denunciation of the Istanbul Convention. On Twitter, he wrote that “the way to fight violence is not to teach young boys that they can wear dresses and play with dolls,” and added that Istanbul Convention, ratified by the previous Polish government, was “neo-Marxist propaganda that turns our value system upside-down.”
In another tweet, he added: “The Istanbul Convention refers to religion as a cause of violence against women. We want to denounce this ‘gender gibberish’ […]. We are not interested in foreign opinions. For us, the foundation is the sovereign nation-state.”
It’s worth calling to mind that the Istanbul Convention received its name in connection with the fact that it was open for signing by states in 2011 in Istanbul. Since its inception, it has been sharply criticized by organizations protecting the natural family and family values, as well as by traditional religious communities from different countries of Europe. All those who defend genuine human rights that are traditionally recognized by all states (for example, the right to protection from interference in family life and raising children) disagree with it.
Criticism is related to the fact that the Istanbul Convention very openly and unequivocally imposes the radical ideology of feminism. For example, the preamble of this document states that “violence against women is a manifestation of historically unequal power relations between women and men, which have led to domination over, and discrimination against, women by men.”
In addition, the convention defines “gender” as “socially constructed roles.” This means that the participating countries, in fact, will be obliged to consider gender ideology as the “law” – that same ideology, according to which each person can choose his own “gender identity,” considering himself a “man” or “woman” regardless of his biological sex. The Convention requires member states to eradicate all “prejudices, customs and traditions” that are based on “stereotyped roles for women and men.” Such stereotypes may include, for example, traditional ideas about the role of father and mother, or about a man’s duty to protect his homeland.
The Convention does not stop there. It also requires appropriate training for children, including telling them about “non‐stereotyped gender roles.” And, strictly speaking, the refusal of parents to allow to indoctrinate their daughters with the gender ideology in itself can, according to this document, be qualified as “violence.”
One can only welcome Poland’s intention to abandon such a document, the purpose of which is not to protect real human rights, but to radically reorganize society and destroy its traditional foundations, especially the natural family and the rights of parents.