last updated June 14, 2007
Contributed, in part, by Vilana Pilinkaite-Sotirovic, National VAW Monitor for Lithuania
Human Rights in Lithuania 2006: Overview
Human Rights Monitoring Institute released its fourth annual human rights overview on May 15th. Human rights in Lithuania 2006 presents the actual situation of the state commitments on implementation of political and civil rights and freedoms in Lithuania in 2006. The study addresses the right to privacy, freedom of expression, the right to a fair trial, discrimination, racism and other forms of intolerance, as well as human rights in police activities. The publication offers a separate overview of vulnerable groups such as women, children, crime victims, convicts, and the mentally disabled. HRMI critically evaluates the formal commitments of the state to protect human rights and identifies the gaps and inconsistencies in their implementation. In the field of women’s rights, the experts reveal the existing inequalities in the labor market in access to jobs, equal pay and career possibilities. Experts address the discriminatory aspects on fatherhood in Lithuania’s law, which provides the opportunity to take a one-month child care leave only for those fathers who are married to the child’s mother. However, the actual situation is that almost 30% of children in Lithuania are born out of wedlock and by law the state excludes these children rights to fathers’ care. The government of Lithuania adopted the Strategy for Reduction of Violence against Women for 2007-2009 which stipulates the introduction of amendments to the legal basis to protect women. The overview on women’s rights concludes that patriarchal attitudes on women’s roles and gender-based stereotypes persist in Lithuanian society, and women continue to suffer due to sexual harassment in the workplace, trafficking and prostitution. For further information, see link to Report on Human Rights in Lithuania 2006 below.
See full text of the Overview (in Lithuanian): http://www.hrmi.lt/project.php?strid=1191&id=4566
Annual Human Rights Overview, Human Rights Monitoring Institute, 2005 (PDF, 64 pages). The overview shows flagrant violations of international human rights standards since Lithuania has joined the European Union in May 2004. Most of the violations involve the right to respect for private life, right to political participation, right to fair trial, rights of vulnerable groups, and cross-cutting violations concerning discrimination, particularly among Roma. Concerning the rights of socially vulnerable groups, the Report highlights the continuous problems that need resolution. Levels of domestic violence against women remains disturbingly high. Children suffer abuse at home and at school. Due to the lack of social services, problems in families are usually solved by placing children under the state custody, instead of offering consultations and other services. Although the government of Lithuania seriously has undertaken to control and prevent trafficking against human beings, the system of reintegration of victims of trafficking and computerized system of searching for missing people is hardly implemented.
Legislation in the Member States of the Council of Europe in the Field of Violence Against Women, prepared in part by Jill Radford, United Kingdom, for the Council of Europe's Steering Committee for Equality Between Men and Women, March 2004 (Doc. EG 2004 2). This report details national legislation dealing with violence against women in 38 of the 45 Council of Europe member states. In 1995, the Council requested member states to complete a questionnaire on relevant legislation, and subsequent research completed by the Council allowed for a survey of the varying legislation of member states. The report consists of two volumes, ending with a list of good practices and effective legislation prohibiting violence against women. Pages 23-35 of Volume II contain information on Lithuania.
2005 Report to UN Division for the Advancement of Women, Vilana Pilinkaite-Sotirovic, Center for Equality Advancement, 2005. NGO Report on Violence Against Women in Lithuania.
Center for Equality Advancement published a manual “Legal and practical advices for women-victims of domestic violence”.The authors of the book discuss the concept of violence and practical advice for victims of domestic violence what legal measures exist to resolve the conflict in the court, state guarantees for legal support of victims, compensation for damages experienced by victim, list of organizations for shelter and direct help, and examples of important legal documents. The book is distributed free of charge to social workers of municipalities and smaller administrative units, police and NGOs that work with victims of violence.
2004 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Lithuania, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, U.S. Department of State, 28 February 2005. Section 5 of the report contains a paragraph on the status of women in Lithuania, and a subsection on trafficking.
Human Rights in the OSCE Region: Europe, Central Asia and North America, Report 2004 (Events of 2004), International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights, 23 June 2004. (PDF, 9 pages). This report discusses the situation of human rights in Lithuania.
2003 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Lithuania, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, U.S. Department of State, 25 February 2004. This annual report describes the overall situation of human rights in Lithuania, including women's rights and trafficking in persons.
Human Rights in the OSCE region: Europe, Central Asia and North America, Report 2003 (Events of 2002), International Helsiniki Federation for Human Rights, 24 June 2003. (PDF, 9 pages). This is an annual report by IHF on human rights violations in the region, including Lithuania. It describes the incidence and situation of human trafficking in Lithuania. This report also reflects the views of the society, as well as the governmental efforts to solve the problem of human trafficking in Lithuania.
Integration of the Human Rights of Women and the Gender Perspective - Violence Against Women, Addendum 1, Radhika Coomaraswamy, Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, 27 Feb. 2003. (PDF, 435 pages). This report has information regarding the status of women in Lithuania. Information on Lithuania can be found on page 366.
Monitoring the EU Accession Process: Equal Opportunities for Women and Men, Open Society Institute, 2002. This report describes the legal framework in Lithuania, as well as its compliance with each of the relevant EU Directives. Information on Lithuania begins on page 297. An Overview is available (PDF, 47 pages).
A Human Rights Report on Trafficking in Human Beings Especially Women and Children: Lithuania, Protection Project, March 2002. This report provides background information of trafficking in Lithuania. The report also describes the domestic and international law governing trafficking in Lithuania.
Prevention of Trafficking in Women in the Baltic States, International Organization for Migration, 2002. (PDF, 25 pages). This report presents IOM's regional information campaign against trafficking in women. The purpose of the campaign was to increase awareness about trafficking in women in the Baltic States and prevent future trafficking from the region. The project targeted the general public, focusing on potential victims, as well as the relevant authorities and NGOs in the Baltic States.
Public Perception and Awareness of Trafficking of Women in the Baltic States, International Organization for Migration, 2002. (PDF, 39 pages). Also available in Lithuanian: Prekyba moterimis Baltijos salyse: visuomenes poziuris ir informuotumas. This report compares the results of two public opinion surveys focusing on the problems of trafficking in women in the Baltic States. The surveys were carried out in 2001 and 2002 and address not only public attitudes and the level of awareness concerning trafficking in women, but also addressed related topics, like the perceived reasons for women's migration from the Baltics, and information sources used when searching for employment abroad. The second poll also included questions designed to evaluate the effectiveness of the IOM prevention campaign against trafficking in women that was carried out from 2001 to 2002.
Women 2000 - An Investigation into the Status of Women's Rights in Central and South-Eastern Europe and the Newly Independent States, International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights, 5 November 2000. (PDF, 26 pages). This report describes the status of women in Lithuania in the context of different forms of violence against women. It also provides a legal framework on these issues.
A Form of Slavery: Trafficking in Women in OSCE Member States, International Helsiniki Federation for Human Rights,19 June 2000. This report is based on information collected by regional coordinators and local rapporteurs participating in the IHF "Project to Investigate the Status of Women's Human Rights in Eastern Europe and the N.I.S." This projects contains data in trafficking in women in the countries including Lithuania.
Overview of the Socio-Economic Position of Rural Women in Selected Central and Eastern European Countries - Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia, Food and Agriculture Organisation, 1996. This report examines the role of rural women on the farm and in the family, their participation in education, training, and services, their knowledge of home economics, their level of household technology, problems, priorities, social security and legal issues they face, and domestic research and development programs on rural women. Section 10.3 specifically addresses Lithuania.
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