Czech lawmakers reject international women’s rights treaty

PRAGUE (AP) — Czech lawmakers have voted against ratifying an international treaty on women’s rights. Only 34 of the 71 Senators present in the upper house of the Czech Parliament late Wednesday voted in favor of the treaty known as the Istanbul Convention. The result was two votes short of the majority needed to pass. After the vote, the lower house of Parliament will likely not deal with the treaty and the Czech Republic will be among those countries that have signed the document but not ratified it. The Council of Europe adopted the document in 2011 in a bid to deter violence against women throughout Europe.