Latvia: Government approves Istanbul Convention for ratification

The Latvian government has approved a draft law on ratifying the Council of Europe’s Istanbul Convention on violence against women and domestic violence, LSM reports. An accompanying declaration states that Latvia will apply the convention in line with the Constitution, “in particular with regard to the protection of human rights, equality between women and men, and the protection and support of marriage, family, parents, and children’s rights.” Welfare Minister Uldis Augulis stressed that the convention’s term, “social gender,” only refers to the role of individuals in society and does not introduce any other gender into Latvian society.