International Women’s Day in Lithuania:
Valentine’s Day instead of
fighting for equality…

President Dalia Grybauskaitė

8th of March is International Women's Day, a day marked by women groups around the world. The day is rooted in the centuries-old struggle of women to participate in society on an equal footing with men. The idea of an International Women's Day first arose at the very beginning of the 1900s.

But in Lithuania the 8th of March is not at all characterized by women's struggle for emancipation and equality, or any sort of fighting against violence and abuse. Believe it or not, but here you will experience no single parade, no placates with demanding lines for equal rights, or any stirring speeches from women's rights activists.

The Soviet leaders were probably very anxious that the Women's Day could turn into a demonstration against the system and the many elderly, grey haired men at the top of the Kremlin. These men's smart move was to instead make the 8th of March a feast day, something in between Mother's Day and St. Valentine’s Day.

So, even today, two decades after the Soviet collapse, the 8th of March in Lithuania is the day when women receive presents, flowers, poems, text messages and lots of kind words and wishes from their men or lovers. While the 8th of March over the rest of the world makes the important point that this is a day for equality and justice between the genders, this is in Lithuania a day of romance and sweet music – a day when people celebrate more the difference than the equality between the genders.

In 2010 President Dalia Grybauskaite used her address to the United Nations to call for much greater coordinated efforts to achieve global gender equality.

Violence against women

63.3 % of Lithuanian women have been victims of male physical or sexual violence or threats
after their 16^th birthday. This represents today such a severe problem that, in my opinion,
President Grybauskaite should personally get involved and take the necessary measures
to turn around this devastating trend. Klaipeda municipality wants to be a pioneer-
municipality in terms of focus on domestic violence and abuse of women,
and I believe it could be a good idea for the President to support
these good efforts and make Klaipeda a positive show case for
constructive focus on domestic violence and
violence against women.  

About women’s situation in Lithuania

- The Law on Equal Opportunities was adopted in 1999, but the system of implementation of the legislation and the mechanism of protecting women’s human rights are not sufficient enough to achieve optimal results.
- A very important step forward for the implementation of gender equality in Lithuania was done by the Government in 2003 by adopting the “National programme for Equal Opportunities for Women and Men 2003-2004” and 2005-2009.
- An inter-Ministerial Commission on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men was established in year 2000 to coordinate the implementation of the gender mainstreaming policy.
- In May 2009 Dalia Grybauskaite was elected Lithuania's first female president.

Lithuania has made it to the top-twenty list of countries worldwide in terms of security of equal opportunities for men and women, outmatching its neighbours and some of the EU’s old-timers.
According to the World Economic Forum that estimates economic, legal and social gaps between the genders, in 2007 Lithuania placed 14th, advancing by 7 places from 21 in 2006 as the BNS reported. Lithuania has been given a 72.3 percent score, while 100 percent means absolute equality and 0 percent — total discrimination. Latvia (73.3 percent) has moved up by 6 positions over a year to the 13th place, Estonia (70.1 percent) placed 30, one step above its position as of last year.

Population and families

• The number of women in Lithuania exceeds the number of men. There are 114 women per 100 men.
• The average life expectancy 78 years for women and 66 years for men.
• Divorced, widowed and single women make up 48% of all women, men - 39%. The proportion of women without spouse is not diminishing.
• A Lithuanian woman gives birth to her first child at the average age of 25. The proportion of women without a spouse is not diminishing.
• After divorces, about 10 thousand children remained without one of their parents (mostly they are with their mothers).

Education

• The number of women students in higher schools exceeds that of men students. There are 60% of women students and 40% of men students in higher schools. But among scientists 37% are women and among doctors habillis just - 15%.
• Distribution of students by gender is very diverse in different modules of education. Women students make up 75% of those studying social services and services for individual persons, 79% of those studying pedagogic and 79% - health care. In transport and security services, though, men students make up 87%, engineering - 81%, computing - 76%.
• The majority (86%) of pedagogues of general schools are women.

Employment and labour market

• Economic activity of women is lower than that of men. The activity indicator of men is 74%, while that of women - 66%.
• Unemployment rate of men (15%) is higher than that of women (13%). Women have limited possibilities to combine family life with participation in economic activity. 86 thousand women or 14% of all working women have part-time work (men 10%).
• The number of men and women by economic activity is rather varied. The majority of those working in health care are women as well as in social work and education, while men predominate in construction, electricity, gas and water supply.
• Managing positions in all economic activities are mainly occupied by men. For example, women constitute 86% of secondary school pedagogues, though directors of these schools are primarily men (62%).
• Women’s earning as percentage of men’s is 81.2%, in public sector 74.9% and in private sector- 85%. women are still make lower salaries than men. Women’s average gross wages per hour was 19.3 % lower than men’s wages In 2007. Women made up for 31 % of businesspeople in Lithuania in 2007, as compared with 26 % in 2006. 
  

Participation in administration and decision-taking

• The number of women in the Seimas (Parliament) (11%) is markedly lower than that of men, in the Government (ministers vice-ministers and minister‘s advisers) - 28%, and in Municipality Councils - 21%.
• More men than women have their own business. About 40% of women have their own small or medium size enterprises.
• Women make up 37 % of all leaders in the Lithuanian ruling elite such as the parliamentarians, senior state officials and executives of companies and establishments

women trafficking

Lithuania has become in recent years a country of women export and transit between Eastern, Central and Western European countries.  Poverty and unemployment force many women into prostitution. Different sources suggest that women from different social-demographical levels are involved in the sex-industry, mainly by young girls and women (average age – 24.5 years old) from so called risk groups. Experts claim that the geography in trafficking women from Lithuania is changing: if earlier it was Israel, Greece, United Arab Emirates, and Turkey, now main flows extend to Germany, Holland, Great Britain, France, Sweden, and Spain.

One of the problems in dealing with trafficking issues in Lithuania is lack of statistics and reintegration of victims into the society. As a public opinion survey done in 2002 by request of International Organization for Migration (IOM) suggests, up to 53.4% of Lithuanian people think “many” or “very many” girls are trafficked abroad to work as prostitutes by deceit, and 6.7% of people face this phenomenon in their close social environment, i.e. there were attempts made to traffic their close friend, relative, colleague, acquaintance. (“Trafficking in women: problems and decisions“ IOM, Institute for Social Research, 2004).

violence against women

Violence constitutes one of the most actual problems in Lithuania. Most people of Lithuania have suffered from violence at least once in their life.   Males usually experience violence in public places, boys in parents’ families. Women are usually victims of sexual violence or violence in their own family…

Domestic violence
Violence, especially domestic violence, is one of the main problems women are facing in nowadays Lithuania.
Violence based on gender conflict, such as battering or any other domestic violence, sexual depravation and abuse, trafficking of women and children, forced prostitution and sexual harassment are incompatible with honour and dignity of a person.

There is lack of high-skilled officials, capable to assess situations of domestic conflicts, to find out sources for such behaviour and to assist victims or counsel the population in this field; insufficient training for judges, police officials, social teachers and social workers and doctors capable of dealing with violent men. Police and courts are avoiding the cases of domestic violence unless the victim is severely beaten or killed. All possible police measures against the perpetrator are very restricted and underused to protect the victim of violence.

The network of crisis centres providing support to victims of violence is insufficient. Many crisis centres were established and are operating on the initiative of non-governmental organisations. According to the data gathered by the Women’s Issues Information Centre, there now are 15 Crisis Centres and 6 Shelters for battered women, but they do not cover the whole territory of the country and only 2 of them are supported by Municipalities.

Crisis centres providing support to the victims of violence and working with perpetrators should be established following the territorial principle with active participation of municipalities.

A multiplex approach towards violence, covering support to violence victims, application of sanctions on perpetrators, awareness raising of the public, specialists and violence victims, education and training, law enforcement systems, strengthening the role of legal institutions and, health care, is still rather limited. Therefore, it is obvious that there is lack of appropriate complex programmes addressing the issues and covering the respective areas including coordination of actions of various public and non-governmental institutions.

Victim survey report – the sad reading 

* 63.3 % of Lithuanian women have been victims of male physical or sexual violence or threats after their 16^th birthday.

* 42.4 % of all married and cohabiting women have been victims of physical or sexual violence or threats of violence by their present partner.

* 53% of all women who had lived in relationships which had already terminated experienced violence or threats by their ex-partners.

* 11 % of Lithuanian women had at least once, after their 16^th birthday, been victims of male physical or sexual violence or threats, perpetrated by a stranger, 8.2 % - by a friend, and 14.4 % by an acquaintance or relative.

* 71.4 % of Lithuanian women after their 16^th birthday have been victims of sexual harassment or sexually offensive behaviour by a stranger, and 43.8% by a known man.

* 26.5 % of Lithuanian women after their 16^th birthday had experienced sexual abuse by a stranger; 18.2 % by a known man; 17 % were attempted to be coerced into sexual intercourse by their date.

* 3.4 % of all victimised women reported that the experienced violence did not affect them, the absolute majority reported that this had caused hatred, helplessness, sorrow or other negative emotions.

            * 10.6 % of the victims reported the most serious incident to the police.

* Women who were victimised in their parental families more often were victimised in their marital families; women whose mother was abused by the spouse, more often experienced violence by their spouses; men whose father had been violent against the mother, had been more often violent against their own partner.

            * 75.3 % of adult Lithuanian women do not feel safe from risk of assault.

* 79 % of Lithuanian women believe that the home is the safest place for women and children.

Source: http://www.lygus.lt/ITC/files_smurtas/giedre1.doc

Dr. Giedrė Purvaneckienė

Aggression only moves in one direction – it creates more aggression

Margaret J. Wheatley