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LADIES AND GENTLEMEN,

The European Union plan to adopt the ideologically biased Istanbul Convention is very concerning. Despite its name, this controversial document not only does not contain effective tools to fight violence, but also introduces numerous dangerous regulations which all Member States will be forced to abide by once the Convention has been adopted by the European Union.

The Convention undermines family and marriage, considering differences between men and women to be the basic source of violence. At the same time, it completely ignores the objective causes of this phenomenon, such as alcohol and drug addiction. The ideological framework of combating ‘gender-based violence’ proposed in the Convention is totally misguided and ineffective. In fact, ironically in the countries that have been implementing it for years, the EU Fundamental Rights Agency has recorded the highest rates of domestic violence in Europe. In fact, it is the family that protects its members from violence – it is not a hotbed of dysfunctional phenomena as alleged in the Istanbul Convention.

In addition, the Convention imposes gender ideology on the Member States by abolishing the objective biological notion of sex and replacing it with the concept of gender, understood as a socio-cultural construct, effectively making the use of this ideological concept mandatory at all levels of state policy. The document includes references to ‘gender identity’ which, in the language of radical activists, means the possibility of subjectively assigning gender based on one’s feelings.

Under the guise of combating violence, the Convention also aims to impose ideological content on children. It calls for the introduction of compulsory courses on the ‘non-stereotypical gender roles’ into curricula at all levels of education. This means that schools will be forced to try to convince children that there are ‘different genders’ and that they can choose their ‘gender identity’ – completely without their parents’ consent. Thus, the Convention undermines the fundamental rights of parents to raise children in accordance with their own beliefs.

Even though the ratification of the Convention would constitute a violation of the EU’s competences, there are many indications that the European Commission will push for it anyway. Statements by the newly elected EC members, including Commissioner Helena Dalli, indicate that this is indeed their priority.

Such a decision will have very serious consequences, as even countries which have not yet ratified the Convention will be forced to comply with it and objecting to it will be virtually impossible.

Therefore, we encourage everyone to sign the petition to President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and the entire European Commission to abandon the controversial plan to adopt this convention. Please encourage as many of your friends as possible to sign it as well!

The EU commissioners must receive a clear signal that introducing extremely ideological solutions aimed at undermining family and marriage under the guise of combating violence is completely unacceptable! Only through the decisive voice of dissent expressed by all European nations will we be able to put an end to the plans of radical groups seeking to destroy our basic social structures!

COALITION INTERNATIONALE POUR LA DEFENSE DE LA FAMILLE

Freedom for All
Ordo Iuris Croatia
Association Society and Values

NO TO IDEOLOGICAL CONVENTION

To President Ursula von der Leyen

Dear Madam President,

The news about plans to adopt the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence by the European Union is a cause of great concern for us.

Although we have no doubts that the European Union should make every effort to combat domestic violence, we are convinced that this controversial document not only does not contain effective solutions in this regard, but it simultaneously introduces numerous risky regulations which have a direct, negative impact on the good of the family and its members.

The Convention itself is extremely ideological as well. It further antagonises our society by introducing gender struggle elements, which are bound to lead to the deconstruction of both the family and social norms based on the acceptance of differences between men and women. The document’s creators completely misidentify the problem of violence, believing that its sources are the societal structure based on a marriage and family, the parents’ rights to raise children in accordance with their own beliefs, as well as the complementary roles of men and women. In addition, the creators of the Convention completely ignore the issue of physical and psychological violence against men who, according to some studies, are victims of violence to the same degree as women, but rarely admit it due to fear of social ostracism.

All available research clearly shows that the most common causes of violence are family breakdown situations as well as addiction (alcohol, drug, gambling, pornography and sex addiction). Furthermore – as evidenced by the research by the EU Fundamental Rights Agency – violence remains at a very high level even in countries actively implementing gender ideology.

Regardless, the Convention completely ignores all these objective factors – a fact which clearly demonstrates its extremely ideological nature. Under the guise of combating violence against women, the Convention calls for the introduction of obligatory education on ‘non-stereotypical gender roles’ for children, which is to begin at an early age, and greatly interferes with family autonomy. Thus, it violates several basic human rights laid out in international treaties and constitutions of individual Member States. The fundamental rights of parents are clearly defined in art. 26 section 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, art. 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, art. 8 and 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights and art. 2 of Additional Protocol No. 1 to the European Convention on Human Rights.

 

For this reason, the announcements of the new Commissioner for Equality, Helena Dalli, regarding the adoption of the Istanbul Convention by the European Union are indeed very worrying. The real purpose of this document is not to help women and families struggling with domestic violence, but rather to impose an ideological dictate on all EU member states – one based on gender ideology and its definition of the very concept of ‘gender’.

Since this document is counterproductive in nature, there is no reason whatsoever for the European Union to become a party to it.

Moreover, the decision of whether to adopt the Convention should be made at the sole discretion of each Member State. The regulations clearly indicate the EU’s scope of competencies, and as such, due to formal reasons alone (Article 82 (2) TFEU and Article 84 TFEU), the EU should not be a party to this treaty. For the most part, the Convention regulates substantive criminal law, which lies outside of EU’s competencies.

The effects of adopting the Convention will be very serious. Should this process happen to be a success, the Convention’s provisions will become part of the EU acquis and will have primacy over national laws. The process of implementing these provisions will also be subject to control by various EU institutions, including the Court of Justice of the European Union.

Countries which have not ratified the Convention, such as Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia and Slovakia, will be put under even greater pressure to adopt it and will effectively be forced to comply with its provisions. It will also no longer be possible to apply its provisions to a limited extent, as is the case in Poland today.

I strongly urge you and the entire European Commission to withdraw from the controversial plans announced by Helena Dalli. Combating violence against women must not be used as an excuse to spread gender ideology, along with its negative impact on our society.

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