Latvia - October 2025

On 29 October, an estimated 5,000 people gathered outside the Parliament building to protest legislation enabling Latvia’s withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention, a Council of Europe treaty aimed at preventing violence against women and domestic violence. The demonstration, mobilised by local civil society organisations, was accompanied by several public initiatives gathering signatures to remain in the Convention. The law was proposed by opposition parties, who have linked the treaty’s use of the term ‘social gender’ with ideological debates around gender identity. After Parliament approved the law on 30 October, President Edgars Rinkēvičs declined to promulgate it and instead called for another reading. On 5 November, the draft was returned to the parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee for reconsideration, with November 2026 set as the deadline for submitting proposals, after the October 2026 parliamentary elections. The Istanbul Convention entered into force in Latvia in May 2024. 

Sources: International IDEA, LSM, LRT, Baltic Network News,  ICJ, Saeima (1), Saeima (2)