On 2 December, on the occasion of the international campaign “16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence”, the Faculty of Law of Vilnius University hosted a discussion “Prevention of Violence against Women in the Lithuanian, Polish and Italian Societies”, organised by the Polish Law School, which was attended by representatives of the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) Janine McGinn and Diana Esteve Alguacil, Dr. Magdalena Grzyb from the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Dr. Giulia Lausi fellow of the MSCA (ERA programme) and Dr. Elena Masnevaitė from the VU Faculty of Law. The discussion was moderated by Dr. Ilona Michailovič.
Ms Janine Mc Ginn and Ms Diana Esteve Alguacil, EIGE experts, presented the results of an official survey on gender-based violence experienced by women in European Union (EU) countries. The survey involved women aged 18-74 from all over the EU, and showed that one in three women in the EU has experienced violence in her lifetime. According to the survey, 1 in 4 women in Lithuania have experienced violence. One of the most important questions in the survey was whether women who have experienced gender-based violence are aware of the available (legal) support services. The vast majority of women respondents said that they were aware, but only a small proportion of them had ever used these services, i.e. sought professional help or reported having experienced discrimination. Thus, one of the main problems with gender-based violence is the problem of non-reporting.
Dr Magdalena Grzyb spoke about the problems with Polish legislation on non-discrimination and protection against gender-based violence and presented an overview of the legal and political situation in Poland in the context of the protection of women against violence. Speaking from an interdisciplinary perspective, Dr Giulia Lausi gave an overview of the prevalence of violence against women in Italy and the challenges of preventing it. Dr Elena Masnevaitė presented the results of a study she conducted together with student Austina Tarvydaite during her summer internship on the peculiarities of Lithuanian legislation against domestic violence and the results of the analysis of case law.
