Slovak lawmakers reject international women's rights treaty

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia – Slovakia's lawmakers have approved a resolution to reject an international treaty on women's rights.

In the 150-seat Parliament, 101 lawmakers voted Friday to ask the government to stop the process of ratification of the treaty known as the Istanbul Convention and inform the Council of Europe that Slovakia will stay out of it.

The document was adopted by the Council of Europe in 2011 in a bid to fight violence against women throughout Europe.

The resolution was drafted by the ultra-nationalist Slovak National Party, a member of the ruling coalition. Opponents of the convention in Slovakia, a Roman Catholic stronghold, charge that some provisions would violate the Slovak constitution — for example because the constitution defines marriage as a union of a man and a woman.