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L. Linkevičius, who has stood up to defend the Istanbul Convention: will we go to the side of the Russian Federation?
According to Linas Linkevičius, a long-time former Foreign Minister and a signatory to the Istanbul Convention, this convention is the most authoritative international act, systematizing the approach to domestic violence, with special emphasis on violence against women and girls. The Convention in no way contradicts the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania.
Two articles in the document, which are of particular concern to Lithuanians, speak of social gender. Opponents of this convention say that the entry into force of such a term opens the way for same-sex marriages, the possibility for homosexual couples to adopt, etc. According to L. Linkevičius, the wrong translation of the text served first, and the convention itself is not about that.
Linas Linkevičius
According to the politician, the sad statistics of Lithuania force the country to look at the convention differently: “One in three women in Lithuania experiences domestic violence, and 40 percent believe that the victims themselves are to blame. A country in such a situation should be much more sensitive to these issues and join international initiatives that systematize good practices and reflect the position of the State ”.
In addition, says L. Linkevičius, Lithuania has the opportunity to show which countries it wants to align with: in this way, we defend the values without realizing that the convention is about domestic violence ”.
Political scientist A. Švarplys: speeches about the wrong translation of the convention are a cynical lie
The understanding of gender in the Istanbul Convention, says Andrius Švarplys, a political scientist at Vytautas Magnus University, is transferred from the social nature to social roles, which is a big change in the general perception: “By looking at trends in the West , the genus is separated from the biological basis. According to this political imagination, a person can imagine, feel and change gender ”.
Gender, according to the political scientist, is becoming a means of self-expression and it is not a problem of translating the text: “This is a cynical lie, because processes around the world clearly attest:
This is demonstrated by the letter from the United States Episcopal Conference: “They express exactly the same concerns that we hear in Lithuania from a conservative position. Therefore, it is not possible to accuse the tendency to oriental values ”, says a political scientist from the Vytautas Magnus University.
Did the priest delete his record out of fear? The issue of freedom of expression
The resulting confrontation in the public space, says the political scientist, is a continuation of an old doctrine called political correctness. Gradually, according to A. Švarplis, such a trend will lead to a society of “one truth”, when opponents are accused of ignorance, insufficient interest:
“Do we really want a society and a public space where even a Catholic priest renounces his faith, views, or values and clears the record for fear of representing his opinion?”
A. Švarplys says that opposition to the Istanbul Convention perfectly illustrates that we live in a time when we are no longer fighting for capital or higher wages, but for cultural values: the concept of family, the definition of gender, the protection of life. :
“Even the sexual revolution of the 1960s cannot match current trends: gender, transgender. When it comes to same-sex marriages, I find it a bit old-fashioned, because in the West we are already talking about transgender as an even newer active political front. “
Human rights activist: Disagree with Toliato’s post, but sees too much rudeness for opinion
Jūratė Juškaitė, a human rights activist, considers the recording of the priest Algirdas Toliatas to be incorrect, but this, according to the interlocutor, is part of the citizen’s freedom of expression: that there were rude and very disrespectful statements in the public space about the priest , in this case the person ”.
Jūratė Juškaitė
What will happen if Lithuania still does not ratify such controversial conventions? J. Juškaitė says that this is a position of principle: by ratifying the Istanbul Convention or assuming another international obligation, Lithuania will first show attention to solving the problem of violence:
“I really would not agree with those people who say that we are doing very well and that the convention will not bring any innovation and that is basically an empty question. There are many problems and they are related to the lack of legal norms: in Lithuania, persecution has not been criminalized, there is no assistance to victims of sexual violence and there is no system. The Istanbul Convention makes it clear, in a sense, that it directs states to establish such a system. “
One convention term caused more storms than the rest of the document’s text.
Imagine a scenario: a person who is biologically male but identifies as female is locked up in a women’s prison and begins to sexually exploit the women imprisoned there. Similar and similar images come to the minds of those who oppose the Istanbul Convention, when they see the term gender. J. Juškaitė assures that this is a misunderstanding that has nothing to do with reality, derived from the term “gender” used in the Convention:
“Gender or social gender is understood as a matter of guaranteeing the rights of transgender people. Social gender says that our gender, gender-related behavior is also determined by the cultural, social and economic things around us. In other words, if there is an abusive man, he was not born an abuser, he became one, because there are norms in society that justify violence against a woman. Those norms, those social behaviors, must be changed. “
The gender norm, says J. Juškaitė, is not identical to gender identity: “Two concepts are confused. It is said that we have to change gender norms, expand them: generally to allow boys to cry and girls to be mathematics and vice versa. That’s all the convention says about gender reassignment, ”said the interlocutor, denying any link with the Istanbul Convention on the regulation of same-sex relationships or adoption.
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