Published: Less than 10 min ago
The EU Parliament voted through a new convention to combat violence against women.
The Sweden Democrats were the only Swedish party that voted against.
– Completely incomprehensible, says Arba Kokalari (M).
With a clear majority, the European Parliament voted on Wednesday to join the Istanbul Convention to combat violence against women, something also The European portal reported on.
All Swedish parties voted for the proposal – except the Sweden Democrats.
The moderates’ Arba Kokalari, who pushed the issue, is puzzled as Sweden signed the convention back in 2014.
“It is a big day today when we gathered broad support for the EU to adopt the Istanbul Convention on stopping violence against women. Completely incomprehensible how SD, as the only Swedish party, did not vote for the historic decision. Sweden has already adopted the convention!”, she writes in a text message.
“Women are murdered every day by men in close relationships. And the issue is urgent throughout Europe. To try to lay the hook for women’s human rights is to stand on the wrong side of history”.
The Sweden Democrats have not yet answered any questions from the media, but write in a comment to the European Parliament that an EU decision on the convention “would increase the Union’s powers via the back door without changing the treaties and in the future possibly result in the convention’s writings on, for example, education and migration imposed on all EU countries’.
Aftonbladet is looking for the Sweden Democrats.
Facts
Istanbul Convention
The Council of Europe’s Istanbul Convention is a comprehensive agreement with the aim of preventing and combating violence against women and girls as well as domestic violence. The convention was presented in 2011 and entered into force in 2014.
It is the first legally binding convention on violence against women in Europe and was opened for signature at a ministerial meeting in Istanbul, Turkey.
The Istanbul Convention states that violence against women is a violation of human rights. It condemns all forms of violence against women and describes the violence as an expression of historically unequal power relations between women and men.
States that ratify the document undertake to maintain a certain legal standard regarding, for example, rape, sexual abuse, genital mutilation, honor-related violence and forced marriage.
The convention has been signed by 45 states and the EU. 38 countries have also finally ratified, the latest being Ukraine and the UK in November 2022.
Turkey was the first to ratify the convention – but also the only country that later left the convention. Poland has also flagged that it is considering withdrawing.
(TT)
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