Women's Issues Information Centre - Seminars & conferences

The right not to be abused is one of the basic human rights. Violence against women is violation of her human rights and the main reason of her inequality in the society.

Last year the General Assembly of the United Nations passed a resolution in which 25 November was officially proclaimed the Day of Eliminating Violence Against Women.

Mass media - if it is used in the right way - is an ideal instrument for attracting the public attention to this problem.
Mass media can address thousands of people.
The duty of mass media is to reflect reality and not merely report sensational events.
Mass media informs and influences the society so we must ensure that the society gets the right information without trying to make it an exaggerated sensation.

The Open Society Institute every year initiates and supports an international 16 days campaign in mass media with the purpose of attracting attention to the problem of violence against women.

The campaign "16 Days of Opposing Violence Against Women" this year is organized in our country by the Lithuanian Women's Society and the Women's Information Centre together with the Men's Crisis and Information Centre and the Lithuanian Journalists' Union.

The coordinators of the campaign addressed all the chiefs of the Lithuanian mass media and asked them to participate in it actively. We hope that all the mass media in the period from 25 November till 10 December will prepare at least one publication or program concerning violence against women.

We invite you to participate in the events which will be held during the campaign, to suggests topics for new publications, TV and radio broadcasts, to discuss them in your organizations, etc.

The coordinators hope for your help and active participation. Thus we shall encourage women not to put up with violence, to change the traditional stereotyped attitudes.