The Vilnius Women's House (VWH) has finalised a communication and advocacy project on the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combatting violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul Convention). The project, which ran from March to August 2023, was selected under the call for proposals and funded by the Council of Europe’s “Ending Violence against Women: Multi-Country Programme”.
The project aimed at promoting values, aims and provisions of the Istanbul Convention dispelling myths and misinformation about it among the Lithuanian general public, Vilnius city residents and tourists, professionals, civil society organisations, members of Parliament and other decision makers. It was carried out using methodology developed by the Council of Europe Gender Equality Division, Women Against Violence Europe Network (WAVE) and UN Women.
A national-wide “Lithuanian StepUp campaign” reached over 1,000,000 people and included a social media campaign “We have signed – ratify and implement!”, street actions, myth-busting webinars, translations and adaptations of Council of Europe materials and media coverage via national TV and radio.
"We believe that the campaign contributed to the mobilisation of other Lithuanian NGOs into action. Notably, 150 Lithuanian NGOs, including Vilnius Women’s House, joined forces to petition members of the Parliament of the Republic of Lithuania, urging them to initiate an appeal to the Constitutional Court to determine whether the provisions of the Istanbul Convention are in line with the Constitution of Lithuania. Throughout the project's implementation, we experienced significant support from the public and the media. Many participants in our street actions expressed their gratitude for our dedication to raising awareness and educating the public. Furthermore, governmental and municipal institutions have endorsed the materials created during the project's implementation and promised to look for ways to share them." said Dr. Zuzana Vasiliauskaitė, Board member and project manager of the Vilnius Women’s House.
