How many teens think that girls “no” sometimes means “yes”?

These figures were mentioned by an expert from the Center for the Development of Equal Opportunities in a press conference last week, where parallel report on the situation of human rights in Lithuania.

It is prepared in the run-up to the United Nations Universal Periodic Review.

V.Pilinkaitė-Sotirovič spoke about the need to ratify the Council of Europe Convention to prevent and combat violence against women and domestic violence, better known to the public as Istanbul Convention.

He based his knowledge on deteriorating statistics on domestic violence and the aforementioned survey of teens.

Diapers are a mother’s affair

This survey was conducted in January last year in nine schools (three in three Lithuanian municipalities).

A total of 457 students were interviewed (245 girls and 206 boys, five indicated “opposite sex”, one did not indicate anything).

The survey participants were between 15 and 17 years old, mostly 16 years old.

Although the survey was not representative, it revealed adolescents’ attitudes, understanding of gender relations, and perceptions of social gender roles.

According to V.Pilinkaitė-Sotirovič, there are still strong social norms that support traditional gender roles in the family.

Up to a third of the students agreed, in whole or in part, that feeding a child, changing diapers and other childcare tasks is the mother’s responsibility, and that it is the father’s responsibility to support and support the family financially.

Significantly more boys (45%) than girls (24%) thought so.

It is true that more (2 out of 5) students (up to 54 percent of the girls and almost a quarter of the boys) disagreed with this statement totally or partially.

According to the expert, with the incorporation of ignorant or undecided boys, more than half of them do not object to the prevailing approach to gender roles.

But opinions on the role of the father and mother in the family were slightly different overall: less than a fifth of the respondents (a third of boys and only a tenth of girls) were totally or partially convinced of it. that a father should have more authority in the family sphere. family than a mother.

46 percent thought otherwise. (almost two-thirds of the girls and just over a quarter of the boys).

Moving a skirt, does it mean getting attention?

On the other hand, students’ attitudes towards children of different genders and their own romantic relationships often revealed attitudes based on stereotypes.

43 percent. Teenagers (a third of the girls and more than half of the boys) seemed to have the boy’s behavior when he became a girl behind bars, put on a skirt, etc., just a show of attention.

Only 31 percent. he was convinced otherwise.

In the words of V.Pilinkaitė-Sotirovič, he shows a weak recognition of harassment and violent behavior.

For the teachers, such actions were less like showing attention, but about a third of them still believe it.

Attitudes toward more serious bisexual relationships have also been influenced by stereotypes.

Almost half of the respondents agreed with the statement “if I envy my girlfriend / boyfriend, it means he cares a lot”.

There was no big difference between girls and boys here. Significantly fewer boys (14%) than girls (26%) disagreed with this statement.

Such responses led to the conclusion that both girls and boys tend to perceive jealousy as an expression of a romantic relationship and do not associate it with the control and / or persecution of another person.

“This calls for alarms, since about half believe that jealousy is an expression of attention, of relationships,” emphasized the rapporteur. – In both academic and expert literature, jealousy is treated as one of the mechanisms of power and control in the couple relationship.

In essence, jealousy is not the basis of mutual communication, association, it is a show of power, it leads very directly to domestic violence. These attitudes show that students do not even reflect these power mechanisms in their emotions ”.

Almost the same number of students of both sexes (43% in total) agreed that “sometimes the girls themselves provoke harassment because of their appearance and / or behavior.”

However, far fewer boys (one in four) than girls (one in three) disagreed with this statement in whole or in part.

In other words, “neither girls nor boys are aware of behaviors that show signs of sexual harassment.”

Teens were also asked to rate whether a girl’s “no” to sex could mean “maybe” or “yes.”

12% agreed in whole or in part. not just 21% of those surveyed. guys, but also 5 percent. girls.

70 percent thought otherwise. students (85% girls and 51% boys).

“The current generation basically adopts the same stereotypes that we have been trying to fight for years, the same understanding of social roles, about gender norms,” ​​said V.Pilinkaitė-Sotirovič. – I would say a pessimistic perspective, because while such attitudes are lived, we will have to continue fighting against the consequences of domestic violence, to lose lives, health, resources. Because the problem will not solve itself. “

Domestic violence is on the rise

According to V.Pilinkaitė-Sotirovič, the results of this survey are a sign that the Istanbul Convention, which Lithuania signed 8 years ago, must be ratified as soon as possible.

The expert recalled that the Convention defines the pillars of the States that are committed to combating violence and not only its consequences but also its causes.

The document provides guidelines for the formulation of policies, the comprehensive prevention of violence, and the comprehensive and specialized protection of victims.

This requires legal and social instruments, the effective application of the perpetrator’s responsibility for the crime committed, “so that at any moment the perpetrator feels that the State is simply pressing him from behind and he will not escape punishment.”

According to the rapporteur, the Convention itself affirms that violence against women is a historical expression of unequal power relations between the sexes.

“The State must formulate a policy such that it changes the sociocultural patterns of behavior of women and men so that they are not hierarchical and patriarchal, but rather go towards the development of a model of egalitarian behavior,” he explained.

Domestic violence is on the rise.

In 5 years, the number of notifications increased by 20 thousand. or more than one and a half times (from 38,000 in 2015 to 58,533 last year).

One in six recorded crimes is due to domestic violence.

In 2011, when he was adopted Protection Against Domestic Violence Act, these crimes accounted for one tenth.

Only the dynamics of crime do not change, about 80 percent. the victims are women, up to 90%. perpetrators – men.

Last year, there was an increase in the number of murders of women (16 women were murdered) and serious injuries from domestic violence.

“This is an alarm that shows that more effective measures must be taken to overcome the complex consequences of violence.

We do not see a systematic prevention, it is not enough to carry out a campaign of 16 days a year, it has to be systematic. There are no legal instruments that establish a protection order, there are no laws on persecution, rape and sexual abuse in intimate relationships, there is no family ”.

V.Pilinkaitė-Sotirovič summarized that “we continue to fight against the consequences of domestic violence, progress is very doubtful.”

According to her, the last 8 years have been delayed, we are digging a well where we risk falling, we can doubt the progress of Lithuania.

According to the expert, the longer the delay in the ratification of the Istanbul Convention and the adoption of measures to change the unequal socially and culturally established relations between men and women, the stronger the stereotypes and the greater the loss of members of society. .

He promised to ratify without objection.

Jūratė Juškaitė, Head of Communication of the Center for Human Rights, who participated in the press conference, recalled that during the previous Universal Periodic Review, our country was recommended to ratify the Istanbul Convention.

Lithuania has adopted it, and the Ministries of Social Security and Labor, Justice and Foreign Affairs are responsible for implementing the recommendation.

“The Convention has not yet been ratified. Apparently, this will be one of the most pressing issues when reviewing Lithuania’s progress in the field of human rights at the United Nations.

Because the recommendation was accepted, not rejected, it was not said that ‘it does not seem like that, it does not suit us so much, we think that the convention is irrelevant’. However, Lithuania has not fulfilled its international obligations here. “