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She spoke about this in the debate on “Violence against women: causes, forms and solutions” on February 14 on the occasion of the day of non-tolerance to violence against women.
The experts discussed public awareness of gender equality, the fight against violence against women and the root causes, problems and measures to improve the situation.
Photo by Žygimantas Gedvila / 15min / Discussion “Violence against women: causes, forms and solutions”
The victims of violence are women
Last year 55.8 thousand people were registered for domestic violence. police calls, after which more than 7 thousand. pre-trial investigations.
Most of them, 8 out of 10 victims in the immediate environment, are women. And almost 80 percent. suffered from an intimate partner.
Seimas spokesperson V.Čmilytė-Nielsen noted that one in three women experiences violence at some point in her life, and the most unsafe environment for them is the home environment.
He also highlighted that sexual violence, which affects a large proportion of women, is a growing problem, “but we do not know the true magnitude of the problem and an effective aid mechanism has not yet been established,” he said.
The coronavirus pandemic only compounded the situation: The stay-at-home requirement made it more difficult to escape an abusive partner, a large proportion of women lost their jobs and income, and became more dependent on abusive partners.
The Seimas Spokesperson presented the data from the national survey conducted in 2019, which found that 41 percent. of those surveyed agreed with the statement that making love to men is the duty of the wife, nearly 60 percent. He thought that it was up to a woman to take care of a man’s house.
Across the regions, survey data showed an increase in the number of those who accuse victims, and more than half of those surveyed believe that women themselves are responsible for the violence.
According to her, such data shows that it is necessary to speak of stereotypes that are promoted both in advertising and in public speeches.
Promises to ratify the Istanbul Convention
“The state is responsible for making the laws of the country more effective in preventing gender-based violence,” he said.
According to V.Čmilytė-Nielsen, she is ready to represent politicians in this matter and has listed the Seimas work that will take place during this period.
We have the ratification of Istanbul, a clear and science-based regulation of reproductive rights, and important work must include the adjustment of the law on equal opportunities, a new draft law on domestic violence, an adequate mechanism based on science for sex education in schools. “he said. And there are many problems in this area.
Photo by Sigismund Gedvila / 15min / Victoria Čmilytė-Nielsen
When asked specifically about the ratification of the Istanbul Convention, he pointed out that this issue is on the coalition’s agenda and is also being discussed with opposition parties.
He has no doubts that this project will sooner or later be resolved during this Seimas term and a broad consensus will be sought to ratify the Convention.
A woman is considered inferior
Sociologist prof. Dr. Artūras Tereškinas pointed out that the problem is global. About 30 percent. women suffer sexual and physical violence worldwide.
However, in Lithuania this problem is one of the most sensitive and shows the vulnerability of the entire population.
“When it comes to stereotypes, I would like to talk more about gender norms and order in a society that encourages such violence. <...> “Some social groups, including women, are considered less valuable, secondary, and that discourse of dehumanization or secondaryism is very pronounced in our ultra-conservative discourse,” he said.
Photo by Sigismund Gedvila / 15min / Artūras Tereškinas
According to A. Tereshkin, such internal attitudes unconditionally affect people’s daily actions.
According to polls asked why men are violent, he said, “it is a relentless desire to preserve a binary system where woman and man are like two opposites.”
Violent men, according to the sociologist, are trying to rebuild the world instead of rethinking gender norms.
“It breaks my heart and I am very surprised that there is this ultra-conservative discourse that contributes to the promotion of violence by explaining that women and men are different beings and that a woman is complementary to man.
It is one of the most damaging discourses that makes violence against women possible, ”she said.
And he highlighted that various organizations, under the guise of traditional family defense, only promote violence against women.
I am very surprised that there is this ultra-conservative discourse that contributes to the promotion of violence.
He also pointed out that there is a harmful perception in Lithuania that a woman has no right to her body.
“This is a global problem and when looking at gender violence, we must not forget other social groups that are related to gender, which suffer a lot of violence.
This includes transgender, transsexual, homosexual or non-binary people who do not identify with women and men, who also experience such violence on a large scale, ”said A. Tereshkin.
Photo by Žygimantas Gedvila / 15min / Discussion “Violence against women: causes, forms and solutions”
He summarized that we live in a world where violence can only be caused by available gender norms. Therefore, according to him, there is a constant need to rethink gender norms.
Do the institutions still close their eyes?
Daiva Baranauskė, head of the Frida Foundation, said that gender inequality was the main reason for violence, although some institutions and citizens did not recognize it.
“The worst thing is that those who ask for help do not understand it,” he lamented.
For example, in a discussion, as the specialist pointed out, the police representatives said that the problem of violence is alcohol. However, in the opinion of D. Baranauskė, this is not true. Alcohol, he said, is just a correlation phenomenon.
Photo by Sigismund Gedvila / 15min / Daiva Baranauskė
Of course, the police often receive calls about alcohol, you can also receive calls from neighbors, but not even many cases of violence where alcohol is not consumed are known.
Violence in the higher social strata, for example, is different, he said. There is still stigma, the police are not called, but women suffer violence.
“However, the biggest problem is changing public attitudes. We have victims, perpetrators, but we also have a gray area, people who do not appear to be violent, but either close their eyes to what is happening or even directly blame the victim. “, He said.
According to her, the number of such people in Lithuania is one of the largest in the European Union.
New generation, but close to the old
In addition, the specialist points out, the women themselves are blamed for the violence, allegedly doing something wrong. And if the relationship is not broken, they are again accused of not doing so. As if breaking them was very easy.
When it comes to sexual abuse, there is still a widespread view that women themselves seduce men, she noted.
We also have a gray area, people who do not appear to be violent, but close their eyes to what is happening or even directly blame the victim.
“Even the policemen allow themselves phrases such as the famous case in which a girl was raped in a club and the policeman commented” there was no need to wait and cuddle “, gave an example D. Baranauskė.
In her opinion, the most important thing is to find a way to change attitudes, but the posters will not help, a new form of prevention is needed, which would imply changing gender norms, different communication between the sexes, not separation of gender worlds. .
Photo by Žygimantas Gedvila / 15min / Discussion “Violence against women: causes, forms and solutions”
“We need to focus on the very young, adolescents, students, we need to think about prevention programs for this age group, because there is another generation that is thinking about women and men alike,” he said.
Until now, this has not been done and the younger generation, as is often thought, will not change on its own, he said.
Lithuania needs a preventive policy and the funds allocated to it, which currently go mostly to “fight fires”, but in the long run do not solve the problem.
Another generation is growing up that thinks of women and men alike.
“But if there will be as much money as there is, or will someone have to be brutally brave, redistribute and take away the victims, and then get into their heads, and then everyone will scream and have a very unpopular person to be, or somehow demand more. (money – 15 minutes) and strategic thinking is already needed here, that if we do not invest in the future, prevention, which will give results only in the relatively distant future, we will put out fires in the present year after year, because the costs of violence are brutally high ”, said D. Baranauskė.
Photo by Sigismund Gedvila / 15min / Daiva Baranauskė, Artūras Tereškinas
The Istanbul Convention has not yet been ratified
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the drafting of the Istanbul Convention, which Lithuania has yet to sign. The purpose of this convention is to combat violence against women and domestic violence.
However, for some Lithuanian politicians, this convention is unacceptable due to provisions that have nothing to do with violence against women. Ratification of the convention is said to secretly change or abolish the concept of gender.
The Seimas has repeatedly tried to return to this issue, but so far no consensus has been reached.
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