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According to Seimas member Dovilė Šakalienė, although one in three women in Lithuania has suffered violence and the costs of violence against women exceed 500 million euros per year, the government program mentions this problem in a single sentence.
“It seems that the time has not yet come to overcome gender violence. There is a phrase in the government program on violence against women, which announces that the government will initiate educational programs and job assistance services that would help women who have suffered violence to become financially independent, “says D. Šakalienė.
According to the Social Democrat, it seems that the future government of I. Šimonytė is unable to assess the extent of violence against women in Lithuania and its cost to the state.
“Domestic violence is one of the most common crimes and 8 out of 10 victims of domestic violence are women. EIGE’s research shows that violence against women costs Lithuania 650 million euros a year. Unfortunately, we continue to put out fires: neither the development of a policy for the prevention of gender-based violence nor the overcoming of the epidemic of violence against women is on the government’s list of priorities. By the way, gender-based violence is not even mentioned in the government’s program ”Says D. Šakalienė.
Seimas member Orinta Leiputė recalls that the LSDP wrote to Prime Minister-designate I. Šimonytė some time ago and proposed specific measures to combat gender-based violence and reduce gender inequality.
Proposals include Lithuania to ratify the Council of Europe (Istanbul) Convention on the Prevention of Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, to harmonize the provisions of the Penal Code with the provisions of the Law on Protection against Domestic Violence , not to apply the Mediation Law.
“During the quarantine, the level of violence against women and domestic violence has increased (the number of murders has doubled), tens of thousands of women are injured each year. It is disappointing that the Government’s program is limited to general promises to achieve equal opportunities or combat violence, although global practice shows that overcoming violence against women requires specialized attention and complex measures focused on gender-based violence. ” says O Leiputė.
The MP adds that the Lithuanian Association for the Empowerment of Women also addressed the Seimas factions on Tuesday with undeservedly low attention to the problem of violence in the government program.
According to O. Leiputė, it is requested that the program be complemented with specific measures, since domestic violence represents more than 16%. of all crimes.
The final vote on the program of the Government of I. Šimonytė in the Seimas is scheduled for Friday.
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