Gender-based plans of the European Commission. Another controversial document announced by the EC

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The European Commission does not cease in its attempts at incorporating gender ideology into Union law. In case the plan of concluding the controversial Istanbul Convention fails, it has announced actions aimed at adopting a new binding law based on the same gender premises as the Convention. The introduction of such a document by the European Union would be a violation of the competences of sovereign states. It would also mean the adoption of a gender-based model of combatting violence, which – as research show – is ineffective. The Ordo Iuris Institute took part in a public consultation on the proposal.

Although the Istanbul Convention has been operating in the international space for over five years, it still arouses controversy. In fact, there are more and more objections to the ideological and faulty document. In recent months, its adoption was strongly opposed by the Hungarian and Slovak parliaments. Already in 2018, the Constitutional Court of Bulgaria declared it unconstitutional. In Poland, there is a heated debate on the withdrawal from the Convention. Due to doubts concerning its compliance with the constitution, it was submitted by the Polish government to the Constitutional Court. Meanwhile, despite the difficult pandemic-related situation, 150,000 Polish citizens signed the citizens’ legislative initiative aimed at the withdrawal from the Convention and the introduction of a good alternative instead.

Nonetheless, the European Commission has just announced an initiative aimed at the conclusion of the Istanbul Convention by the entire Union or – if unsuccessful – to adopt another legally binding document based on exactly the same controversial premises as the Convention. In the opinion submitted during the public consultation, the Ordo Iuris Institute showed that the adoption of such a legally binding document based on gender ideology is illegal for many reasons. First of all, it would violate the treaties that are the foundation of the European Union, in particular the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality and the division of competences between the EU and its Member States. Secondly, it would mean ignoring the voice of the civic society and Member States that reject the ideological gender perspective rooted in extreme relativism and Marxism.

Furthermore, such an action would be ineffective because – as numerous studies show, e.g. of the Fundamental Rights Agency and OECD – a gender-based perspective in combatting violence does not work. In the countries where such anti-violence policy has been in place for years (mainly in Scandinavia), the rate of violence against women is the highest with very low police reporting rates. Therefore, the conclusion of the Istanbul Convention by the European Union or the introduction of a binding law based on the same premises as the Convention would be inappropriate.

“The European Commission's initiative to ratify the Istanbul Convention or adopt binding law based on the same principles as the Convention highlights a very dangerous trend. As it turns out, the institution – for the sake of ideology – intends to completely undermine the principles of division of competence provided for in the treaties, ignore the explicit rejection of gender ideology by Member States, and invalidate the results of surveys clearly pointing to the fact that the gender perspective in combatting violence is ineffective. One way to stop the illegal attempts of the Commission can be a loud and widespread opposition of civic society to such plans. Therefore, we would like once again to encourage you to sign the international petition to this end”, emphasised Karolina Pawłowska, Director of the Ordo Iuris Centre of the International Law.

You can sign the petition at stopgenderconvention.org.