Domestic danger

This past weekend the Polish head of state signed a bill on the ratification of the European Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, thus bringing Poland one step closer to adopting the document, after years of debate and harsh criticism voiced by the country’s conservative circles and Church officials.

Meanwhile, women’s and human rights organisations argue that the convention fills gaps in Polish law to better protect the freedoms of women in Poland.

“For example, we still don’t have the power given to the police to expel the perpetrator from the house, which is the standard in most European countries,” says Urszula Nowakowska, head of the Center for Women’s Rights in Warsaw, told reporter Alicja Baczyńska.

Each year, domestic abuse claims the lives of 150 women in the country. Eight hundred thousand fall victim to physical violence.