At the intersection of gender & disability: to talk, inspire & act

Project duration: 3rd November, 2020 – 2nd July, 2023

An analysis of the situation of people affected by disability shows that women and girls face double discrimination: they are more vulnerable due both to their disability and gender. They are more likely to experience gender-based violence, discrimination in education, employment, social policy, civic participation, decision-making, sexuality, prejudice, social representation, motherhood, family, and other areas. However, a relatively large proportion of women affected by disability show little recognition of discrimination on the grounds of both disability and gender, and do not reflect on the vulnerabilities that arise in their intersection. Most of them vote in elections, but participation in other areas of political and public life is low. This shows the segregation of women with disabilities and encourages the search for ways to reduce it.

Project aim: To empower women affected by disability to defend their rights by strengthening their capacity, to build links between women and disability civil society organizations and change public discourse.

Project activities:

- working with women affected by disability in regions – actualization of problems, mobilization, development and empowerment of initiative groups, which in turn educate the wider community and take specific advocacy actions at the local level;

- raising the competencies of the civil society organization sector in order to strengthen their motivation to represent specific issues arising from the intersection of disability and gender, to promote mutual cooperation;

- forming discourse, changing public attitudes, reducing stigmas and prejudices associated with women with disability, organizing an awareness-raising campaign – preparing articles, radio programs, podcasts, visual material and developing and disseminating an women-with-disability-adapted information package on women’s rights and domestic violence.

Project objectives:

- strengthen the capacity of women affected by disability to represent their needs;

- improve the quality of services provided by civil society organizations;

- promote cooperation between civil society organizations working with women and people with disabilities;

- highlight in public discourse the problems faced by women affected by disability and change public attitudes towards this group.

Everybody’s Talking: Work-Life Balance Goes Mainstream

Duration: 18th May 2020 – 17th May 2022

Since 2011, gender pay gap in Lithuania has been increasing consistently. One of the main reasons for that is the imbalance of time devoted to childcare between both parents. Once the decision to start a family is made, gender norms and the design of childcare policies pressure women into making career breaks, which have a negative impact on women’s economic independence and their capacity to participate in social life. All of this has long-term consequences for a woman’s career and her general well-being, but shared responsibilities of raising a child could benefit both the families and the state. A shared parental leave would also create the opportunity for the father to get involved in his child’s life at an early stage, therefore the emotional connection between the father and the child would be much stronger.

The aim of this project is to improve reconciliation between work and private life for everyone and to overcome policy, work-related, social, psychological, behavioral barriers and gender norms regarding equal share in work-life balance for women and men.

Objectives of the project:

1) to review existing legislation on work-life balance;

2) to suggest the course of actions for improvements in national policies;

3) to advocate for necessary legal amendments;

4) to develop and apply mechanisms for work-life balance at the company level;

5) to create favorable social environment and working culture for better work-life balance;

6) to promote the idea of a shared parental leave;

7) to redefine the definition of modern masculinity and fatherhood;

8) to help the mothers overcome maternal guilt and highlight the benefits of an early involvement by the fathers;

9) to raise public awareness/discussions and promote behavioral changes for a better work-life reconciliation.

These objectives will be achieved by:

• performing a revision of the existing legislation on work-life balance;
• determining the barriers employers themselves face when initiating work-life balance measures and (or) policies in their organizations;
• carrying out a representative survey on public knowledge and attitudes towards work-life balance;
• organizing advocacy meetings with Parliament members and policymakers;
• choosing a pilot company for the action and setting and implementing the action plan for promoting work-life balance in the chosen pilot company;
• running a motivational campaign for employees of the pilot company;
• providing recommendations on work-life balance implementation in other companies;
• organizing an international conference;
• launching a website for the employers and the employees, containing essential information on reconciliation between work and private life;
• carrying out national awareness raising campaigns.

BRIDGE: connecting local community members for effective gender based violence solutions

Project duration: September 2019 – August 2021

Project aim – to strengthen the response of local communities to gender based violence and to ensure an effective prevention system is in place.

Expected results:

1) Contextualized and tailored algorithm to adhere the needs and capacities of professionals of different sectors on local level developed;
2) Built capacities and improved knowledge of school communities (teachers, school administration and students);
3) Raised awareness of school and local communities and society in general.

Activities:

• Mapping the needs and capacities of different professionals in pilot municipalities to be active agents in multi-agency cooperation in the field of prevention of gender based violence (GBV);
• In cooperation with different professionals creating an algorithm for GBV intervention in three pilot municipalities;
• Capacity building for professionals on GBV and algorithm;
• Round table for different professionals to discuss the algorithm;
• Assess attitudes on gender stereotypes and GBV in local schools;
• Capacity building for teachers and administration staff for pilot schools about GBV;
• Building up a support system in school “Equality lab”;
• Preparation of learning package “School free of gender stereotypes”;
• Forum theater activities in schools;
• Capacity building activities for students in schools;
• Recommendations for the Ministry of Education;
• Survey on attitudes regarding GBV in local communities in three municipalities;
• Awareness raising campaigns for residents of municipalities;
• Informational campaign for professionals in pilot municipalities;
• Drafting, piloting and finalizing an awareness raising tool for pupils’ audiences for nation-wide use using an online educational platform “Inconvenient Film Class”.
• Organizing educational and information events of Inconvenient films.
• Organizing a national conference

Activities will be held in 3 pilot municipalities: city of Alytus, Jonava region and Ukmergė region. Best practice will be presented to other municipalities and decision makers.

Project partners: Office of the Equal Opportunities Ombudsperson, Lithuanian Centre for Human Rights and Nomoshiti.

PARENT: Promotion, Awareness Raising and Engagement of men in Nurture Transformations

Duration of the project: 2019 February – 2021 February

Aim of the project: Promotion of change in social attitudes and behavior regarding gender roles in caregiving

Objectives of the project:
1. To promote gender-transformative and synchronized approaches by engaging men in co-responsible parenting and caregiving and promoting the equal share of unpaid care work in 4 European countries (Lithuania, Portugal, Italy, Austria).
2. Contribute to the prevention of domestic and intra-family gender based violence.

The main activities:
1. To design a guide for health sector workers to help engage with men in health sector and promote active fatherhood, especially paying attention to male refugees and migrants.
2. Organize group education activities for fathers and their partners, including refugees and migrants in order to promote questioning of traditional concepts on gender roles.
3. To mobilize the community and implement national campaigns with the goal to raise the awareness of the importance of men’s involvement in non-violence, caregiving, parental and maternal health, displaying the diversity of masculinities.