The Minister announces an "important initiative for women": The aim is to tighten penalties on sexual offences, in particular rape

We intend to tighten the penalties on sexual crimes, especially on violent rapes

— announced the Minister of Justice and General Prosecutor Zbigniew Ziobro at a press conference on Saturday.

Ziobro informed earlier that on Monday a motion will be submitted to the Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy to undertake formal works to terminate the so-called Istanbul Convention

When asked what will be the practical consequences of the termination of the Convention, the Minister replied that Poland meets the highest requirements of the Istanbul Convention for the protection of women against violence and „Polish standards are higher in some areas”.

He assured that after Poland’s termination of the Convention, nothing will change in this respect.

At the same time, he announced that penalties for sexual offences will be tightened:

We are going to carry out one more initiative important for women, which is to make the penalties for sexual offences more severe, especially for rape, brutal rapes.

He said that „Poland is a country where there is „an embarrassingly low criminal penalty for this type of hideous crime, especially in cases of violence involving particular cruelty”.

These are crimes that leave trauma to women’s souls for life

— said the minister.

As he stressed, in this respect, „the rulings of Polish courts are among the most lenient in Europe”. He assured that he would take action so that „thugs, rapists who commit such a crime would be put in prison for years and in some situations maybe for life”.

Tłum. K.J.