Just shy of 2 weeks after International Women’s Day 2021, Turkey has announced its withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention: the fundamental European instrument for combating violence against women.

Astrid Thors, LI Human Rights Committee Chair: “We are devastated to learn that Turkey has left the Istanbul Convention. Through our work in Liberal International, we have learnt the importance of this Convention on providing support to women, including in Turkey where hundreds of women suffer from violence.

“We demand that Turkey stays as a signatory if it truly wishes to build equal societies, otherwise, the Convention must be renamed and persons who worked for the withdrawal must be sanctioned.”