[ad_1]
In response to continued protests by women in Polish cities over violations of women’s human rights and the ban on abortion, the Lithuanian Citizens’ Public Initiative for Women’s Rights in Lithuania expresses its solidarity with Polish women and reiterates its call to the Lithuanian rulers to support human rights defenders in the neighboring country. a cycle of actions that will take place both live and in cyberspace during A. Duda’s visit, “said a press release issued on Monday.
According to the initiators of the organized protest, one of the protest sites, as a symbol of the Lithuanian-Polish contact, was chosen as a monument to the poet Adam Mickiewicz in Vilnius, recalling the famous poem Gražina by the author, who died in battle.
At the Mickiewicz monument on Tuesday, without exceeding quarantine requirements, five representatives of the women’s rights movement will march towards the embassy of the Republic of Poland. During the march, the activists will carry the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other documents of international law, which enshrine universal human and women’s rights and democratic values, whose violations are criticized in Poland.
“The wire hanger is an international symbol in the fight against illegal abortions at home. He remembers that women themselves, and not someone else, have to make decisions about their body and destiny, no matter what that decision is. Therefore, in countries where, as is currently the case in Poland, the possibilities of a legal abortion are severely limited, the number of abortions does not decrease, but women are forced to seek alternative ways to perform it and are in danger. Women from socially vulnerable groups suffer the most. The symbol of the hanger, as a sign of respect and remembrance, will remember women who have suffered or even died because they did not have the opportunity to terminate their pregnancy safely, ”says Karina Klinkevičiūtė, one of the members of the movement.
“It is possible that the Polish rulers have simply forgotten about the existence of international legal acts that protect human and women’s rights and democratic values and do not comply with them, so we kindly printed them,” says Rūta Latinytė, member of the movement.
The protest was joined by the Performing Design Association’s Trust Point initiative, which recalls the importance of trust in our societies by announcing “Allowing Polish women to make their own decisions”, which no one has the right to deprive.
Due to the pandemic conditions with limited meeting facilities in other cities, the Women’s Rights Movement invites you to show your support for individual Polish women. During the protest cycle, videos on the subject, stories of personal experiences and red lightning symbols are shared on social media.
The initiator was outraged by G. Nausėda’s congratulations to Poland
Protest initiators say they did not understand why Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda emphasized the protection of democratic rights during large-scale protests in Poland, welcoming the latter on the occasion of Independence Day. The initiators emphasize that even with regard to the processes taking place in Belarus, this message is incorrect and ignores the disregard for human rights and the fundamental democratic rule of law in Poland.
“The Lithuanian President’s gratitude came at a time when Poland is experiencing the largest protests and civil society uprising against anti-democratic principles of governance since the days of Solidarity, when Polish women, supported by a large, if not broad, society, dealt with by Constitutional Court ruling, which was established and operates at the discretion and arbitrariness of the ruling PiS party, and which was announced during the pandemic, when people cannot combine and protest. I will remind you that since PiS arrived to power in 2015, Following the systemic violation of the independence of the judiciary and the unbalanced separation of powers, the European Commission has initiated procedures under Article 7 (1) of the EU Treaty to enforce the rule of law in Poland. This means that there is a potential danger that Poland will seriously violate the values on which the European Union is based. The concern on the part of the Polish rulers of the principles of the democratic rule of law and the rights of his people raises the question whether it is appropriate to praise him for “defending” those values and recalls the fear or unwillingness of the Lithuanian president to criticize Poland so it is most important to democracies. Ugnė Litvinaitė, equal opportunity researcher who signed the public speech of ten activists.
Lithuanian institutions run
Eighty representatives of society, culture and science, human rights activists and twenty-six non-governmental organizations last week sent a public appeal on “Violations of women’s human rights and restrictions on reproductive rights in Poland” to the main Lithuanian authorities.
On Monday, the speech was addressed again to the members of the new Seimas, and the position of the parliamentarians who were sworn in on Friday is still awaited.
The initiators of the appeal to the Lithuanian authorities also call for attention to be paid to outstanding issues related to women’s reproductive rights and sexual and reproductive health in Lithuania. These include the Reproductive Health Act, which has not yet been passed, the lack of contraceptive benefits, the poor implementation of the sex education program in schools, and the unresolved possibilities of medical abortion.
The organizers of the protests and the authors of the appeal to the Lithuanian authorities, as well as like-minded individuals, demanded an end to institutional silence and a clear Lithuanian position based on international law and Lithuania’s international obligations to respect the human rights of women, including reproductive rights. You are asked to express your position on the ruling of the Constitutional Court of Poland and the condemnation of the restriction of reproductive rights of women in Poland, as well as on the guarantee of reproductive rights of women in Lithuania and the resolution as soon as possible possible of outstanding issues related to women’s reproductive rights and sexual and reproductive health.
No part of this publication may be reproduced without the written permission of ELTA.
[ad_2]
