„On this International Women's Solidarity Day, we would like to publicly ask all presidential candidates whether you support the ratification of the Istanbul Convention in Lithuania? We want to address this question in particular to the current President of the country, Gitanas Nausėda, who has so far failed to state his position on the ratification of the Istanbul Convention and who has not used his moral authority for the ratification of the Istanbul Convention in the five years of his presidency,“ Jūratė Juškaitė, the Head of the Centre, told a press conference held on Friday.
She also notes that violence against women in Lithuania is still a severe and acute problem. According to Juškaitė, one in three women has experienced domestic violence in her lifetime.
„Therefore, on this International Women's Solidarity Day, we call on all candidates not to smother their social media accounts with tulips but to answer one fundamental question – do they support the ratification of the Istanbul Convention?“ – said Juškaitė.
ELTA recalls that Lithuania signed the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence in June 2013. Still, the Seimas have not yet ratified the Convention.
In the absence of consensus in society and among politicians on the need to ratify this document, the Seimas appealed to the Constitutional Court (KT) last autumn on the compatibility of the Istanbul Convention with the Constitution. The Court is being asked to assess the Convention's provisions on gender from a social perspective, gender-based violence against women and the inclusion of material on non-stereotypical gender roles in the official education curriculum.
On 4 March this year, the KT announced that it would open a case on request from the Seimas on the constitutionality of the Istanbul Convention. According to Mr Raskevičius, because the KT's decision will be announced during the Spring Session of the Seimas, the Freedom Group sees the need to include the draft law „On the Ratification of the Council of Europe's Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence“ in the programme of work for the Spring Session of the Seimas.
However, some representatives in the Seimas believe that there are already sufficient legal tools in place to combat domestic violence in Lithuania. Therefore, according to sceptics of the Istanbul Convention, Lithuania does not need to ratify the document.
