On May 28, a group of Lithuanian NGOs published comments on the Draft National Agreement on Family Issues prepared by the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs.
NGOs note that measures to support families will be ineffective if based on certain ideology, instead of analysis of social and economical factors that influence family well-being. Opportunities for women to participate in the labour market is the essential factor in reducing poverty and ensuring economic stability for families. It is crucial, therefore, to develop social services that would assist women of employable age to combine family and work obligations.
NGO's believe that family can not adequately fulfill its purpose if the issue of domestic violence is not properly addressed. According to statistics, domestic violence mostly affects women and children. What is needed is an integrated assistance to victims of violence, including legal protection, punishment of abusers and prevention of recurrence of the violent behaviour.
NGOs underline that family based on marriage is not the only family model deserving State support. Unmarried couples and their children, single-parent families, distance families and other forms of family lives exist and should not be marginalized. NGOs strongly oppose discriminatory attitude towards variety of family models and call to stop creating family hierarchies which will lead to exclusions and marginalisation.
© 2012 Human Rights Monitoring Institute