Today, Human Rights Monitoring Institute (HRMI) has presented results and conclusions of public opinion poll which had been carried out by the Market and Opinion Research Centre Vilmorus.
The aims of the opinion poll conducted on November 7-15, 2008 on the basis of questionnaire developed by HRMI were to find out the level of popular knowledge about possibilities to defend human rights and to determine the extent of confidence in existing mechanisms for the protection of human rights. In addition, Lithuanians were requested to ascertain which traditional social groups are most discriminated and which aspects of private life are most sensitive. Similar opinion polls were carried out in 2004 and in 2006.
The comparison of the results of this year’s survey with the previous two shows that, on the one hand, Lithuanians are better informed about existing protection mechanisms (49% of respondents answered they know were to seek remedy for violation of their rights compared to 42% in 2006) but, on the other hand, the confidence that state institutions will provide an efficient remedy is decreasing. According to the results of this year’s survey, four fifths of the respondents who believed that their rights were violated did not seek any remedy. Among them, about 80% did not do so in disbelief that they can get effecient remedy. In 2006, the number was less than 74%.
In this context, it is no surprise that 40% of all the respondents who sought to defend their rights (since 2006 the number of those seeking recourse decreased from 26% to 21%) did not petition either courts, prosecutorial offices, police or even parliament and the media, but turn for help “elsewhere”. Among “elsewhere” dominate non-governmental organizations.
Lithuanians are increasingly aware about the competency of particular institutions, e.g. the number of people who know that the Court is a proper institution to determine the guilt in criminal offence has significantly increased (83% of respondents chose the correct answer this year, 71% were right in 2006, and in 2004 there were 64% of correct answers), but, at the same time,courts are considered to be one of the three least trusted and most abusive institutions. In addition, among civil and political rights the most vulnerable human right is considered to be the right to fair trial (65% of the respondents). The right to fair trial was mentioned as the most vulnerable right in the surveys of 2004 and 2006 as well. The other two institutions considered most abusive are the police and the court bailiffs. Thus, it is no wonder that significant number of Lithuanians do not seek recourse for violations of their rights, although they increasingly know where to apply.
Regarding discrimination, respondents felt that the situation of all listed social groups has worsened. The novelty is that unlike in 2004 and 2006 individuals with mental disability are seen as the most discriminated group. Previosly aged were considered to be the most discriminated people. This change is likely to reflect the recent increased media attention to issues associated with the rights of disabled, most probably triggered by several initiatives of non-governmental organizations. It should be mentioned that respondents had a choice among traditional social groups – aged, physically disabled, mentally disabled, children, women, national, and sexual minorities. There were no “new” minorities on the list, such as dark-skinned people or Muslims who increasingly suffer from intolerance and discrimination in Lithuania.
One more aim of the survey was to find out the private life aspects that Lithuanians are the most sensitive to. On a 10-point scale, respondents had to ascertain which hypothetical situation among a few presented would violate the right to respect for private life the most.
Similarly to 2006, respondents were most sensitive to a possibility of public anouncement about homosexuality of their offsprings (the average mark is 8.6; it was 8.8 two years ago). The installation of video surveillance systems on the streets is considered to be the least abusive (the average score is 3.8; in 2006 the number was 2.9). All in all, respondents became more sensitive to privacy abuse - for instance, increased numbers of respondents think a request to reveal personal identification number upon return of goods at the shop would violate their right to respect for private life. Interpreting responses on issues related to privacy, it is important to keep in mind that high sensitivity towards disclosure of homosexuality correlates with high degree of homophobia in Lithuanian society; conceivably, respondents’ answers were shaped by the fear of condemnation and other negative consequences.
See more about the presentation of opinion poll findings at the news portals Delfi, Alfa (in Lithuanian). The detailed results of the opinion poll (in Lithuanian) can be found here.
© 2012 Human Rights Monitoring Institute