Perpetrators of domestic violence would be immediately separated from their victims under new legislation that has received the support of all groups in Poland’s parliament apart from the far right.
Currently, in civil cases, police do not have legal powers to protect victims from perpetrators in this way, reports Polsat News. Instead, restraining orders must be obtained through the courts, which can take months, forcing victims to continue living with abusers or to seek refuge elsewhere.
Under the new law, police would be empowered to issue an order forbidding offenders who “endanger the life or health of household members” from entering the household or its immediate surroundings for 14 days. This period could be extended at the victim’s request under an expedited court procedure.
The order can be enforced with the use of coercive measures, even if the perpetrator claims to have nowhere else to live. In the latter case, police can direct the perpetrator towards facilities that provide accommodation, such as homeless shelters.
The police will also regularly check whether the subject is complying with the order. They can be arrested or fined if they refuse to meet requirements.
According to police statistics, nearly 250,000 people in Poland are affected by domestic violence every year. Between 400 and 500 women die annually as a result, MP Monika Rosa noted during the parliamentary debate.
The new law will “give hope” to women and children that they can remain safe in their own homes, said Rosa, quoted by Polsat.
“Better late than never”
The legislation received overwhelming cross-party support in the Sejm, the lower house of parliament, with 433 votes in favour of passing it to a second reading, six against and six abstentions.
Among those who did not support it, almost all (11) were from the far-right Confederation. The party had submitted a motion to reject the bill at the first reading, reports Radio Zet.
“Poland will join the group of countries in which victims of domestic violence receive the best protection,” said Marcin Romanowski, an undersecretary of state at the justice ministry, which authored the proposal.
However, opposition parties noted that it is only now, five years into its time in power, that the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party is introducing the measures. Such a law has long been demanded by NGOs, and is now being implemented as one of the provisions of the Istanbul Convention on domestic violence, which Poland ratified in 2015.
“We had to wait five years for the PiS government to be ready with this bill,” said Civic Platform (PO) MP Marzena Okła-Drewnowicz. “But better late than never.”
“Today we managed to get something done which should have been done a long, long time ago,” said Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska, the deputy speaker of the Sejm and PO’s presidential candidate. “[This] is the result of the work of many women for many years.”
Responding to the criticism, the justice minister, Zbigniew Ziobro, said that previous “liberal, left-wing governments have had years to deal with this issue” but failed to do so.
“Many speak about violence in Polish families, but it often gets no further than words,” said Ziobro, quoted by Polsat. “Contrary to critics’ allegations that we disregard the problem of violence against women, we were the ones who presented a specific solution.”
No “gender ideology”
Much of the criticism of PiS has focused on the fact that, when in opposition, it strongly opposed the introduction of the Istanbul Convention, arguing that it was an attempt to smuggle dangerous ideas into Poland, such as “gender ideology”, and to undermine the traditional idea of the family.
In 2014, Ziobro called the convention a “feminist invention that is meant to justify gay ideology”. “You don’t need to reach for a convention to [know that] you cannot beat a woman, you can just read the gospel,” he said at the time.
The current president, Andrzej Duda, when standing for election in 2015 said that he would not ratify the convention were he to become president. Measures to protect against domestic violence already existed in Polish law, he pointed out, arguing that the convention contained “concepts contrary to our tradition and culture.”
Presenting the new legislation, Romanowski, the deputy justice minister, reiterated that “the ideology of the Istanbul Convention must be rejected”. However, “the new regulations are devoid of the ideology that sometimes accompanies such laws in the West,” he continued. “Instead, they are pragmatic and effective solutions.”
The new law is “especially important during the epidemic, when violence also appears where it had not previously been present”, said PiS MP Grzegorz Lorek, quoted by Onet. Reports indicate that domestic violence has recently surged in Poland as people are confined to their homes during lockdown.
The Women’s Rights Centre (CPK), an NGO that supports victims, reported a 50% increase in calls to its domestic abuse helpline. The commissioner for human rights, Adam Bodnar, has appealed to the government for the urgent introduction of new measures to tackle the problem.
In the meantime, grassroots initiatives have been launched to provide support, including the creation of a fictitious cosmetics store by Polish high school student, Krysia Paszko. Under the pretence of placing an order, victims of domestic abuse can reach out for help through the store. If they leave a “delivery address”, Paszko and her team will inform the police.
A Polish high-school student has created a fake online cosmetics store that women suffering domestic violence can use to get help without the risk of alerting their partner.
If they place a fake order and give their address, the police are notified https://t.co/nBzUKrysly
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) April 16, 2020
Main image credit: Rusty Frank/Wikimedia Commons (under public domain)
Juliette Bretan is a freelance journalist covering Polish and Eastern European current affairs and culture. Her work has featured on the BBC World Service, and in CityMetric, The Independent, Ozy, New Eastern Europe and Culture.pl.
