25th February 2025
At the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) pre-sessional meeting in Geneva, Lithuania’s Equal Opportunities Ombudsperson Birutė Sabatauskaitė presented Lithuania’s progress and challenges in achieving gender equality. She emphasized that, despite certain advancements, gender equality policies in Lithuania remain fragmented, and existing measures are insufficient to bring about real change.
“Although gender mainstreaming is defined as a horizontal principle in strategic documents, its implementation in practice is inconsistent. There is a lack of a strategic approach to integrating gender equality, while gender stereotypes and gender-based violence prevention in education remain isolated initiatives without long-term state involvement. There is also a significant lack of gender equality and gender-based violence prevention topics across all levels of education,” B. Sabatauskaitė stated.
Presenting legal challenges at the UN Office, the Ombudsperson highlighted that Lithuania’s law on domestic violence lacks a gender-sensitive approach, and the ratification of the Istanbul Convention has stalled due to political resistance and widespread disinformation.
Another major issue is the insufficient collection of gender-disaggregated data. Lithuania still does not have detailed data on victims of gender-based violence, including their disability status, relationship to the perpetrator, or migration status. This lack of information hinders the development of effective gender equality policies and assistance systems.
B. Sabatauskaitė also pointed out the insufficient funding for prevention of gender-based discrimination and violence at both national and municipal levels. While various initiatives—such as promoting work-life balance, reducing gender stereotypes in education, and analyzing access to support services – are yielding positive results, their implementation largely depends on temporary funding and individual projects. Prevention programs are not integrated into long-term strategies, making it difficult to systematically and effectively address gender inequality.
Reviewing Lithuania’s current situation, the Ombudsperson also emphasized the persistent gender pay gap. Women in Lithuania still earn approximately 13.5% less than men, with the largest gap observed in the 31–40 age group, when many women take career breaks for childcare. This disparity carries into retirement, with women’s average pensions being 19% lower than men’s. Additionally, women aged 65 and older face a higher risk of poverty compared to men of the same age group. Household and childcare responsibilities also remain unequally distributed, with 65% of women performing daily household chores, compared to only 29% of men.
B. Sabatauskaitė stressed that real progress will not happen without strategic measures, including the systematic implementation of gender equality policies at both national and municipal levels, a review of school curricula, stronger legal frameworks, and adequate funding. “Lithuania has all the tools to ensure gender equality, but political will and long-term commitment are essential. Without them, progress will remain slow and fragmented,” she said.