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 OVERVIEW
OF GENDER EQUALITY ISSUES IN LITHUANIA
Prepared by the Office of Equal Opportunities Ombudsman, Lithuania
INTRODUCTION
The general principle of equal opportunities and equal treatment is
enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania (Article 29). This
principle is also stated in the laws of Lithuania: Law on Elections, Law on
Referendum, Law on Public Service, Labour Code, Law on Support for the
Unemployed, Law on Safety and Health of Workers, as well as in many other laws
concerning issues of employment and social protection. The new Criminal Code
that entered into force in 2003 explicitly prohibits discrimination.
In 1998 the Seimas (Parliament) adopted the Law on Equal Opportunities for
Women and Men. The Law prohibits both direct and indirect discrimination
against men and women and establishes a legal obligation for state and private
institutions to implement gender equality principles in employment, education,
science, etc. The amendments to the Law of 2002 extended the scope of the
application of the afore-mentioned Law establishing that equal opportunities for
women and men have to be guaranteed and implemented in the field of consumers’
rights. In addition to a prohibition giving priority to one of the sexes in
employment and education advertisements employers were obliged not to ask job
seekers about their age, marital status, private life and family plans. The Law
on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men is not applied to family and private
life.
The following cases are not considered to be discriminatory by law:
- special protection of women during pregnancy, childbirth and
nursing;
- compulsory military service prescribed by the law exclusively
for men;
- different retirement age for women and men;
- requirements for safety at work applicable to women aimed at
protecting women’s health owing to their physiological properties;
- specific work which can be performed only by a person of a
particular sex;
- special temporary measures foreseen in the laws, which are
applied to accelerate the implementation of de facto equality
between women and men and are to be cancelled when equal
opportunities for women and men are realised;
- different rules and conditions when implementing specific
punishments.
The National Programme on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men 2003–2004
adopted by the Government in 2003 is a complex programme, covering the
implementation of concrete different measures aimed at improving gender equality
in employment, education and science, politics and decision making, combating
violence against women and trafficking of women, health protection and the
environment. The Programme includes means to overcome stereotypes, raising
awareness and others. The implementation of area-specific measures is prescribed
to a competent ministry. Each of them has already undertaken certain activities,
mostly in cooperation with NGO’s.
GENDER EQUALITY MACHINERY
The gender equality structure (limiting it to the institutions, which are
specifically dealing with gender issues) is provided in Picture 5.
Parliamentary Commission for Family and Child Affairs has been
functioning since 1996. The Commission actively participates in the
decision-making procedure by initiating and considering laws or their
amendments, which concern: the rights of women and child, family policy and
others in that way contributing to gender equality initiatives within the
parliament.
Group of Women Parliamentarians comprises all women
parliamentarians representing each of the parliamentary factions. The aim of
this informal group is to promote women’s and gender equality issues in
parliamentary activities and in society at large.
Parliamentary Human Rights Committee has been officially appointed to
work on gender equality legislation in the process of its initiation and
consideration. It has already registered amendments to the Law on Equal
Opportunities as well as other legal acts which were successfully passed by the
members of parliament.
The Office of Equal Opportunities Ombudsman (functions since 1999), which
is an independent state institution answerable to the Parliament, is one of the
key institutions within the gender equality machinery. It takes overall
responsibility for the supervision and implementation of the Law on Equal
Opportunities for Women and Men in Lithuania. The Ombudsman investigates
individual complaints on gender discrimination and sexual harassment; submits
recommendations and proposals to the Parliament, governmental institutions on
the priorities of gender equality policy, including recommendations on
amendments to relevant legislation. In cooperation with other office officials
the Ombudsman supervises mass media so that it does not place discriminatory
advertisements and does not treat one gender as in any way superior or better in
regard to the other. Additionally, the Ombudsman may participate at the
interviews for a job and admission tests at educational institutions as an
observer. The Office is actively working to raise public awareness on gender
equality issues.
The decisions of the Ombudsman in cases of discrimination on grounds of sex
include the right to refer the material of the complaints to the pre-trial
investigation bodies; to address the institutions with a recommendation to
discontinue the violations of the Law on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men.
The Ombudsman has a right to investigate administrative cases and impose
administrative sanctions for violations of the Law on Equal Opportunities for
Women and Men, which is one of the most important and effective tools of the
Lithuanian gender equality policy.
The financial independence of the Office ensured by independent annual
allocations to the Office set forth in the Law on State Budget. When actively
participating in the projects it also receives additional financial resources to
implement the planned project activities.
The Equal Opportunities Ombudsman is appointed by the parliament for a four-year
term. Currently the Office employs 6 other employees (3 advisers, 2 specialists,
1 accountant). The Office has no further structural units.
All natural and legal persons have a right to file complaints to the Ombudsman’s
Office by post, e-mail or fax. If the complaint has been received by word of
mouth or if the Equal Opportunities Ombudsman has found indications of violation
of equal rights in the press, mass media or other sources of information, the
Equal Opportunities Ombudsman may initiate an investigation on his/her own
initiative.
Until 2003, the Equal Opportunities Ombudsman had investigated 218 complaints
and conducted 53 investigations on its own initiative. Statistics by gender vary
each year. On average, more complaints are submitted by women, though men are
active as well.
The Office provides no mediation services. Nevertheless it forwards complaints
which are not in its competence to the relevant institutions. The Office
provides no legal representation for victims of discrimination, but it can give
legal advice to persons who experience gender discrimination. The requests of
the Equal Opportunities Ombudsman have a binding character, and persons
obstructing the Ombudsman from exercising his/her duties are held liable under
the law and face administrative sanctions.
One of the advisors to the Prime Minister is Advisor on Family, Children,
Youth, Gender Equality Issues and Relevant NGOs. Normally the person in this
position has considerable experience of working on gender issues and is actively
involved in gender equality initiatives.
In 2001 the Minister of Social Security and Labour was entrusted with the
co-ordination of gender equality issues in all spheres, implying that this
person has been actually acting as the Minister of Gender Equality. Moreover,
all ministries in Lithuania are responsible for the implementation of gender
equality issues in the area of their particular competence through preparation
and carrying a national programme on equal opportunities as well as
international and local projects.
Picture 5. Gender Equality Machinery in Lithuania
Ministry of Social Security and Labour is responsible for the
implementation of equal opportunities for women and men in the areas of
employment and social security. The main activities of the ministry in the field
of gender equality include the drafting of legislation, implementation of
relevant laws and other legal acts, aimed at ensuring equal opportunities for
women and men. It is also answerable for the overall coordination of activities
carried out on the governmental level, preparation of national reports to a
number international organisations as well as raising public awareness on the
issue. The Division of Labour Market and Equal Opportunities within the ministry
has been appointed to co-ordinate the gender equality activities of the
ministry. The Ministry closely cooperates with other components of national
machinery and relevant NGO’s.
Inter-Ministerial Commission on Equal Opportunities of Women and Men
consists of representatives of all ministries and the Statistics Department. The
Commission is the main body responsible for gender mainstreaming policies. The
Commission is accountable to the Minister of Social Security and Labour and its
activities can be monitored by the Equal Opportunities Ombudsman. It
co-ordinates the implementation of the National Programme on Equal Opportunities
for Women and Men as well as other gender-related measures at ministerial level.
Within its area of competence the Commission can submit proposals and
recommendations concerning gender equality to the Government. It works in close
cooperation with other components of gender equality machinery, especially the
Office of the Equal Opportunities Ombudsman, Advisor to the Prime Minister,
NGO’s.
Since 1997 the Department of Statistics under the Government has been
compiling, analyzing and publishing data on gender statistics. The annual
publication “Women and Men in Lithuania” has been published annually since 1997.
Gender-segregated statistical data provided to all the state institutions and
made known to the public, offers the possibility to identify gender equality
problems in different fields and to take appropriate measures to combat
inequalities.
The gender equality work at municipal level has only been started. Nevertheless,
the Vilnius municipality has already appointed one of its employees to
execute tasks in the field of gender equality. A number of municipalities have
taken part in projects in the field of equal opportunities.
Social partners and non-governmental organizations. The majority of the
biggest trade unions have Women’s councils. Women’s councils play an important
role in the implementation of equal opportunities and equal treatment provisions
in the labour market, ensuring awareness raising on the issue and promoting the
rights of women in the employment area and education.
There are more then 80 women’s NGO’s and one male crisis centre in Lithuania,
which in their daily work draw the attention of society to the needs and
problems of women. Carrying out projects on equal opportunities in such fields
as employment, education, politics and decision-making, combating violence
against women and trafficking in women, the NGOs positively influence the
development of a gender-equal society. We can mention some of most active NGOs
working on the promotion of gender equality issues: Women’s Information Centre,
Kaunas Women’s Employment Information Centre, Elderly Women Activities Centre,
Social Innovation Fond, Alytus Women Crises Centre, Kretinga Women Information
and Training Centre. In 2000 the Social Innovation Fund initiated the
establishment of the informal NGOs Coalition for the Protection of Women’s
Human Rights in Lithuania. The aim of the Coalition is to unite the NGOs in
Lithuania in order to put equal rights for men and women into practice. Today
the Coalition unites 61 NGOs. The Social Innovation Fund has been approved as
the co-ordinator of the Coalition.
National Consultative Women’s Forum was established in 2003 at the
Parliamentary Commission on Family and Child Affairs. The Forum aims at dialogue
between women (organized and not organized) and the policy makers. The Forum has
elected its Board which works permanently, confirmed the regulation, and has
periodic Forum meetings with free participation. The Forum organizes discussions
on “hot” issues; it has proclaimed the Vision of the Development of Lithuanian
Egalitarian Society.
CHALLENGES TO GENDER EQUALITY
Institutions working in the field of gender equality implement some mutual
policies and projects. They are also answerable for separate segments of the
equal opportunities policy; therefore there is an objective need for them to
cooperate. There is a need to strengthen social dialogue in the field and
implement more training on various aspects of gender equality in all the
Lithuanian administrative districts. Local level initiatives mainly come from
NGOs, but not from local municipalities themselves.
There are no structural units responsible for the implementation of the gender
equality principal at local level, apart from within the Vilnius municipality.
The local women’s NGO’s are nevertheless trying to fill in the gap, but they are
not strong enough because they do not have sufficient funding from local or
national authorities.
It is also very important to continue efforts to raise public awareness on the
issues, legal tools available and encouraging people to address public
authorities in cases of discrimination. During previous elections to Parliament,
the number of women parliamentarians has decreased. New elections will be held
in autumn of 2004 and more efforts should be focused on public awareness
campaigns during these elections.
Gender mainstreaming is still quite a new issue within Lithuanian society as
well as amongst decision-makers, and this has to be tackled head on by the
responsible institutions. The National Programme on Equal Opportunities
represents a great example in this regard, but efforts to implemented gender
perspective in all fields of life need to continue.
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