Lenin's Shadow on the Istanbul Convention: The Legacy of Communism and Attitudes Toward Violence Against Women in Europe

The Istanbul Convention is an international treaty aimed at protecting women against violence. We employ survey datasets and investigate its effect on attitudes toward violence against women in Europe. Using difference-in-differences models we compare individuals in countries that signed and ratified the Convention with those in countries that signed but either never ratified or did so after the surveys were fielded. Entry into the Convention significantly reduced the likelihood that lower-educated individuals view violence against women as acceptable, but only in countries outside the former Eastern Bloc. In former Eastern Bloc countries, the Convention affected attitudes only among younger less-educated individuals who had limited exposure to communism—those who were no older than teenagers when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1990. We show that younger cohorts in these countries tend to hold more individualistic and less pro-government attitudes and express greater trust in the courts and the justice system than older individuals. Finally, we find no effect of the Convention on attitudes toward other forms of norm-violating behavior, such as tax evasion, bribery, fare evasion, or drug use. These results indicate that the Convention had a targeted impact, and that its influence on shaping preferences depends on the broader cultural context which is itself shaped by institutions.