German populist MEP Guido Reil slammed the European Union for pushing gender ideology, claiming the bloc was more interested in ideology than protecting women from violence.
Reil, a member of the Alternative for Germany (AfD), made his comments as the European Parliament debated a motion on the Istanbul Convention, a conference against violence against women and domestic violence that took place in 2011.
“The Istanbul Convention purports to address violence against women. That is false because under the guise of protecting women, she propagates radical gender ideology. The Istanbul Convention absurdly assumes that [gender and sex] are separate realities. Gender is defined in the convention as a social construct. At the same time, however, misogyny is lamented and gender equality is demanded,” Reil said.
“In many states that have adopted the convention, forced marriages, child marriages, honour killings and genital mutilation are increasing due to failed policies. Also in Germany and many other western EU member states,” he said.
Many European Union countries continue to deal with issues such as female genital mutilation (FGM), including Belgium where it was reported last year that as many as 35,000 girls have either been victims of the practice or are at risk of becoming victims.
Thousands more girls in Ireland are believed to have also been subjected to FGM, while some estimate that over 70,000 have been victims of FGM in Germany.
Honour culture and honour violence also remain issues in countries with high migrant populations, such as Sweden, where a 2017 report claimed that as many as 240,000 young people were living under oppressive honour culture.
In some instances, honour culture has led to honour-motivated killings, as was the case in Germany in 2021 when two Afghan migrants slit their own sister’s throat because they wanted to punish her for living her life in a Western manner.
The two brothers allegedly took the 34-year-old’s body in a suitcase to Bavaria where they then buried her.
“If protecting women from violence were a real concern for the EU, it would have to stop migration from misogynist cultures rather than wanting to ratify the ideologically problematic Istanbul Convention,” MEP Reil said.
While so far only turkey has withdrawn from the Istanbul Convention, the agreement has been criticised by conservative governments who have claimed it promotes LGBT ideologies and slammed the fact it labels gender as being “socially constructed.”
Follow Chris Tomlinson on Twitter at @TomlinsonCJ or email at ctomlinson(at)breitbart.com.