The package of amendments under consideration at the submission stage provides for a clear ban on luring children online, equalizes penalties for sexual violence against women and men, provides penalties for sexual harassment of colleagues at work and fines for sexual harassment in public places, and also defines sexual violence through the absence of voluntary consent.
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“The state cannot be present alongside violence at night, but it must do everything to restore justice in the morning. Today, the laws regulating sexual violence no longer reflect what science knows about human reactions to trauma from violence, and some of the existing norms simply do not work. The proposed reform is not just a legal change – it is an opportunity to create a more sensitive, trauma-informed model of justice and support,” says Rugilė Butkevičiūtė, head of the non-governmental organization “Ribologija.”
The organizations and associations supporting the appeal unite more than 150 organizations across Lithuania.
“The Seimas can repay the debt to all victims, strengthen trust in the system and legal means to combat impunity for sexual violence. Therefore, we urge party leaders and members of the Seimas to listen to the arguments of organizations working in human rights, youth, women’s rights, poverty, disability, and other fields and to support the amendments,” says Jūratė Juškaitė, director of the Lithuanian Human Rights Center.
The appeal was sent to Mindaugas Sinkevičius, chairman of the Lithuanian Social Democrats, Laurynas Kasčiūnas, chairman of the Homeland Union-Lithuanian Christian Democrats, Remigijus Žemaitaitis, chairman of “Nemuno aušra,” Virginijus Sinkevičius, acting chairman of the Democratic Union “For Lithuania,” Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen, chairwoman of the Liberal Movement, Aurelijus Veryga, chairman of the Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union, and Valdemar Tomaševski, chairman of the Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania-Christian Families Alliance.
Last week and this week, support for the amendments going to the Seimas was also expressed, and the petition supporting them was encouraged to be signed by well-known public figures and opinion leaders – Viktorija Siegel, Indrė Bareikienė, Daina Bosas, Paulius Samoška, Lauryna Einorytė, Nerijus xKhen, Kayra, Rokas Yan, Kristijonas Ribaitis, Benas Lastauskas, and others.
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