Vilnius, 12-14 November 2019
European Network of Migrant Women took part, in the capacity of representative of European Women’s Lobby (EWL), in the international conference and an expert meeting, We are Safe in Our City, organised by the Lithuanian National Association of Women Rights, Women’s Issues Information Centre and the Klaipeda Social and Psychological Services Centre. The Conference was dedicated to discussing the manifestations of violence against women, its consequences, legal effects and liability, with a particular focus on sexual violence, sharing the best practices on prevention, assistance to the victims of violence and interinstitutional cooperation. It brought together international experts and professionals working in the field from Icelandic, Latvian, Estonian, Swedish, Ukrainian, UK and US non-governmental and victim support organizations and specialists of the Specialized Assistance Centers, stakeholders from regional law enforcement authorities, Ministries representatives.
Our contribution to this timely conference, where international legal framework on Violence against women was discussed in conjunction with national legislatures, best practices on the ground and critical areas needing to be addressed, was introducing the Istanbul Convention as the most comprehensive and binding legal tool that currently exists internationally, on preventing and combatting Violence against Women, at the intersections with other areas of discrimination such as migrant status, ethnicity and age.
Gudrun Jonsdottir, spokesperson of Icelandic feminist NGO Stigamot, sharing their groundbreaking practices of victim assistance and campaigns in Iceland
Dalia Lienarte, former chair of CEDAW and current chair of CEDAW’s Committee on Trafficking, giving an overview of CEDAW’s decades of work in the area of sexual and domestic violence against women.