The Council of Europe (CoE) has praised “important measures” taken to combat violence against women in Poland, including a new law allowing perpetrators to be immediately removed from the home. But it has also outlined further steps that the country should take, including changing the legal definition of rape.
CoE experts today issued their first report assessing Poland’s progress in implementing the provisions of council’s convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, better known as the Istanbul Convention.
The treaty was signed by Poland in 2012 and entered into force there in 2015. However, the current national-conservative ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party, which came to power after that, has long criticised the convention, arguing that it promotes “gender ideology” under the guise of human rights.
The CoE’s Group of Experts on Action against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (GREVIO) notes that Poland has undertaken “important new measures… with the aim of achieving greater protection for victims of domestic violence and the prevention of secondary victimisation of victims of sexual violence”.
As an example, they point to regulations introduced last year allowing law-enforcement agencies to temporarily evict a suspected domestic abuser from the family residence and its immediate surroundings for 14 days. This period can be extended at the victim’s request under an expedited court procedure.
The measures received support from all groups in Poland’s parliament apart from the far right, and GREVIO recognised them as “demonstrating the authorities’ efforts to implement a system of emergency and protection orders – a fundamental cornerstone of effective protection from domestic violence as set out by the convention”.
The CoE’s experts likewise praised the Law on Combating Family Violence and its corresponding National Programme (2014-2020) as “an example of multi-agency and multisectoral co-operation in the provision of assistance to victims of domestic violence – another fundamental requirement of the convention”.
They also note the introduction of ex officio prosecution in cases of rape, as required by the convention, and efforts taken to reduce the number of court hearings for rape victims, aiming for a single hearing.
In addition, however, the report suggested a number of areas in which “urgent action by the authorities” is needed to reach better compliance with the Istanbul Convention. Among other issues, GREVIO points out that domestic violence is too narrowly defined as a “family issue”.
This, it notes, fails to properly recognise the fact that women are disproportionally affected in a number of situations. They point to a lack of provisions addressing “several forms of intimate partner violence” and “dating violence”.
The experts also advise “moving away from a force-based definition of rape and sexual violence to a definition that covers all non-consensual sexual acts”. Under current Polish law, rape is defined as “subject[ing] another person to sexual intercourse by force, illegal threat or deceit”.
That places the burden of proof on victims, requiring them to demonstrate that they showed “sufficient resistance” during the incident. That makes convictions harder to secure, and also often results in light or suspended sentences.
Polish women’s rights groups have regularly called for the legal definition of rape to be updated. Last year, The Left (Lewica), the second largest opposition group in parliament, launched an effort to do so.
GREVIO also noted “the urgent need to increase the number of specialist support services for the different forms of violence against women tailored to women’s immediate, medium- and long-term needs throughout the country”.
In order to achieve this goal, the experts suggested creating opportunities for sustainable funding for independent women’s rights organisations active in preventing and combating violence against women. It warned of “the risk of downscaling or closing of vital services” currently operating due to lack of stable state support.
The report also called for addressing “the multiple forms of discrimination faced by some groups of women victims of violence: women with disabilities, migrant women, Roma women, older women, LBTI women and women in prostitution“.
It called on Poland to implement programmes at all levels of education that would “promote the principles of equality between women and men”, “non-stereotyped gender roles”, as well as “non-violent conflict resolution in interpersonal relationships”.
A recent study commissioned by the government found a “concerning” acceptance of violence among a significant minority of the Polish public. This includes over 10% of men who believe there is no such thing as rape within marriage.
Main image credit: Rafal Pozorski / Agencja Gazeta
Agnieszka Wądołowska is deputy editor of Notes from Poland. She has previously worked for Gazeta.pl and Tokfm.pl and contributed to Gazeta Wyborcza, Wysokie Obcasy, Duży Format, Midrasz and Kultura Liberalna
