Domestic violence is the second most common crime in Lithuania and remains a serious problem. The Lithuanian police reported 53 thousand cases of domestic violence in 2019, an increase from 41.5 thousand reported cases in 2018.
About the project
The project focuses on improving legislation and policies to prevent domestic violence in Lithuania. The aim of the project is to strengthen:
- The capacities of justice chain professionals
- Interinstitutional cooperation and effective allocation of functions within the justice chain
- The protection of victims of domestic and gender-based violence.
The project was signed in July 2020 and the project activities started recently.
How does this project contribute to combat domestic and gender-based violence?
The aim of the project is to combat domestic and gender-based violence through:
- Preparation of a study on the implementation of legal regulations concerning gender-based violence and domestic violence.
- Development of a manual for justice chain professionals on evidence collection and evaluation.
- Training of justice chain professionals and representatives of NGOs.
- Raising awareness among the public to promote a zero-tolerance approach to domestic violence.
- Joint meetings between justice chain authorities, social partners and local municipalities.
- Creation of a risk management information system, which will help police officers identify potential perpetrators and start preventive pro-active operations.
- Equipping police officers with body-worn cameras.
Who have been your collaborators in the project, and in what way is this collaboration across sectors and countries important?
Project partners are Oslo Police District, the National Courts Administration and the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Republic of Lithuania.
Oslo Police District (donor project partner) will share its knowledge and best practice on domestic and gender-based violence during the workshops organized within the project. The involvement of the Prosecutor General’s Office and the National Courts Administration will ensure synergies between justice chain authorities.
Collaboration with NGOs will be ensured through the implementation of project activities. Such collaboration is needed as justice chain actors have limited experience with cooperation with NGOs on domestic and gender-based violence cases.
In what way do you think the SYNERGY Network is an important tool to combat domestic and gender-based violence?
The SYNERGY Network is a platform on which different countries can share their experience and present practices related to domestic and gender-based violence and learn from each other – so it is a useful instrument for strengthening the network between the beneficiary countries.
Reported by: Central Project Management Agency, Program operator