The Istanbul Convention is “meant to bring about real social change,” and aims to “improve the position of women and girls, in a more equal society,” our Research Fellow Andrea Krizsan said to Dutch daily NRC Handelsblad.

The article covers the debates around the Convention. Andrea Krizsan also talked about how “opponents frame the treaty as a foreign interference that wants to bring about transformation of society,” adding that it “nonsense” about LGBTI rights, but it aims to combat prejudices and traditions that keep women inferior, and this is what opponents are really afraid of, according to her. “The conservative rulers do not want to change the stereotypical roles of women. You can see this in the strong emphasis on the nationalist role of women as a mother and subsidies for large families,” she added.

Read the full article (in Dutch) here.