The picket held in front of the parliament on Thursday last week to denounce the convention attracted around 20 people. In recent days, the collection of signatures for Latvia's non-accession to the convention, which began in 2016, has also become relevant. It has attracted the support of a little over 33,000 people in less than a decade. Also on Monday, signatures were collected for another initiative, which asks Rinkēvičs to promulgate a law on withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention. This initiative has so far managed to collect a little over 2,000 signatures from residents.

Most experts and non-governmental organizations working on violence prevention issues oppose the plan to withdraw from the convention, expressing concerns that it will weaken the protection of victims against violence and negatively affect Latvia's international image in the eyes of Western allies.

Following the Saeima majority's decision, the international human rights organization Amnesty International also released a statement. The organization's senior specialist on women's rights, Monika Kosta Riba, assesses that"Latvia's withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention would be a devastating blow to the protection and rights of women and girls in the country, as well as all people facing domestic violence, which sends a dangerous message to abusers that they can exploit and kill women and girls with impunity."

Meanwhile, Theodor Roussopoulos, President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, announced on Friday that the decision of the Latvian Saeima to withdraw from the Istanbul Convention is a dangerous signal.

In Latvia, the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, or the so-called Istanbul Convention, entered into force on 1 May last year. It is an international treaty that requires its member states to develop a coordinated policy to better protect women from all forms of violence, as well as women and men from domestic violence. Among other things, member states must provide victims with comprehensive assistance and protection, crisis centres, a 24-hour crisis hotline, specialised support centres for victims of sexual violence, and protect and support children who are witnesses of violence.