Lithuanian initiatives on promoting gender equality and democracy in cooperation with NGOs

Aušrinė Burneikienė

Equal Opportunities Ombudsperson

Role of NGOs Important generators of innovative ideas/ state policies/

projects

Big lobby potential

Facilitators of public discussions on different aspects of gender equality

Main implementers of initiatives

Catalysts of change as they are their activities essence of civil society developments

Activators of women’s activity

2007 – European Year for Equal Opportunities

The NGOs are being consulted on the initiatives to be implemented during the Year

The representatives of NGOs constitute a consultative committee of the Year

The NGOs would receive possibility to take part in the call for proposals to be implemented during the Year.

National Programme of Equal Opportunities for Women and Men NGOs are important partners for the

implementation of the measures foreseen in the Programme

Cooperation with NGOs of the Office of Equal Opportunities Ombudsperson:

Several practices Modern Men in Enlarged Europe:

Developing Innovative Gender Equality Strategies

Modern Men in Enlarged Europe II:

Family-Friendly Policies

Raising awareness of lawyers

Changing gender stereotypes

“Modern Men in Enlarged Europe:Developing Innovative Gender Equality Strategies”Objectives:

To foster sustainable change in gender identities and stereotypes

To encourage men to take up new gender roles and overcome hegemonic masculinity

To develop images of men as care-givers

Partners: NGOs in Lithuania Iceland, Denmark, Malta

Research: Fathers on paternity leave For most fathers, paternity leave did not present any

threat to their masculinity

A change in male identities is felt: men devote more attention to their role as care-givers despite often negative reactions from their environment

Being a father as a pleasurable thing

Tensions between family and professional life remain

Research II: decision makers Issues of gender equality on political level are usually connected to

participation of both genders in public life, disregarding the private sphere

The issues of paternity in the programs of ruling parties are discussed in the context of family security and social welfare (gender discourse is lacking)

Representatives of Ministries were much more skeptical about the opportunity to individualize parents’ rights to parental leave

Almost half of the MPs agree that the legalized participation of men in child care could help to achieve real gender equality in Lithuania

Quite traditional in their gender attitudes, but women‘s primary role in child care is no longer taken for granted

There is new spaces for social change

Public campaign in Lithuania: Father’s Day

Public campaign in Lithuania:Posters in public spaces

Public campaign in Lithuania: www.dadcomehome.org

Results

A lot of information in the mass media

Start of a discourse on men as care-givers

Changing male identities – more of them take the paternity leave

New law: ensuring bigger benefit for mothers and fathers on parental

leave father’s got the right for 100 % paid leave until their child is

1 month old

Modern Men in Enlarged Europe II:Family Friendly Policies Objectives: To promote family friendly work environment

To build better knowledge on how employee, employer and the whole society benefits from work and family reconciliation policies

To encourage employers to implement family friendly arrangements at work for both genders

To foster public debate on reconciliation of work and private life by making this a male issue as well

Partners: Lithuanian NGOs, Iceland, Denmark, Italy

Research:

A qualitative research and sociological survey were conducted in Lithuania in 2006:

Exploring the possibilities of fathers to reconcile their family and working life

Indicating the main obstacles

Exploring employer’s attitudes towards work-life balance

Exploring attitudes of society towards male and female roles

Main outcomes: interviewed men The interviewed men and women experience conflict between their

work and family responsibilities – stress, being tired and exhausted – although they usually do not recognise it

Working too long/ unflexible hours is especially problematic for men

Although priority was given to family, the breadwinner’s role was most important for men

For men, work and career are the most important means of their self-realization and self-fulfilment

Interviewed men usually attempted to adapt their family responsibilities to their work, and women, on the contrary, changed their work requirements to fit their family needs.

More women (69.8 %) than men (30.2 %) experience a work-family conflict

Women receive only supplementary help from their husbands in their domestic affairs.

Who prepares food? – more than 70 % women Who repairs home appliances? – 85 % men

For most of the families the egalitarian family model was more a declared ideal than an accomplished reality

Employer’s attitudes

Family-friendly policies were usually negotiated on interpersonal level and that much depended on the employers’ goodwill

The men did not feel as secure about the employers’ view of men taking an extended paternity leave.

Small companies were more family friendly than large ones

Cooperation with Lithuanian Human Rights Office

20 lawyers explicitly trained on discrimination issues

Awareness raising campaign in 2007, including training of lawyers

Cooperation with the help of Structural funds

Project “Implementing the principle of equal opportunities”

Surveys Seminars TV programme Posters in public